If people are dissatisfied at work, it’s usually because there’s something that bothers them. They may think they are underpaid, they may feel pressured because the other people’s expectations are unrealistic, or perhaps they don’t feel valued or heard.

Good managers know what demotivates each one of their people, and work with them to get their needs met. This doesn’t mean that they will wave a magic wand a make all of their wishes come true. No, in most cases the manager’s job will be to enable the individual to reach their goal.

For example, an employee who wants to be paid more could take on more responsibility, which will increase her contributions, and therefore her salary.

For this to work though, the manager and the employee need to trust each other, and the expectations needs to be clear. If one party does their part, and the other one doesn’t keep their promise, the things can get even worse than before, and the damage could be irreversible.

But if it works out, it will make the employee feel trusted, appreciated and respected. On a larger scale, the team performance and retention will increase, and the people will be more engaged and focused (because now they don’t have to focus on that thing that bothered them).