5 Ways Micromanaging Could Be Hurting Your Employees

A women micromanaging a woman working in front of a computer

Typically, a business owner or manager wishes the best for their organization, and part of that entails ensuring their staff members give it their all. However, there’s a fine line between supporting or motivating and micromanaging employees.

Micromanagement is a management approach characterized by intensely careful supervision and control over minute parts of an employee’s work. Many inspirational speakers speak about this and showcase how it can have a detrimental impact on your staff. Read on to learn how it can affect your business as a whole.

Low Morale

Micromanaged employees feel their work autonomy slipping away. Ultimately, it leads to employees who cannot take pride in their work and the results they produce. They may no longer wish to go above and beyond for their organization.

Motivational speakers consider micromanagement a morale killer. Whether on purpose or not, those who engage in micromanagement neglect the skills and information that staff members have developed throughout their careers. This prevents the latter from pursuing additional career-related growth.

A woman leaning on her laptop

Low Productivity Levels

Maximum productivity is challenging to accomplish under constant observation. Micromanagers frequently interrupt their staff by asking questions and making arbitrary changes to their work.

Employees are compelled to slow down and reschedule important tasks to accommodate ongoing input and modifications to their procedures. Additionally, micromanagement can make workers doubt their skills and knowledge, ultimately increasing their reliance on supervisors for direction. Keynote speakers highlight the employee’s importance and how their creativity is important for a company to operate well.

Poor Mental Health

Great effort goes into maintaining proper mental health at work, but micromanagement strongly affects people’s emotional well-being and makes them feel unappreciated in the workplace. Professional motivational speakers emphasize the significance of mental health in the workplace. Although it may sound severe, employers can incur an annual productivity loss expense of up to $51 billion due to their staff’s mental health struggles.

Higher Employee Turnover

Micromanagement can cause people to leave a company as they become exhausted by constant and relentless monitoring. A business’s momentum could decrease further when employees leave—due to the need to train new personnel and retrain current staff for new responsibilities. Motivational speakers suggest companies recruit and hire the right people who don’t showcase micromanagement abilities.

Low Creativity And Engagement Levels

Creativity is driven by engagement. Workers will feel less responsible for an organization’s success if they’re alienated and disempowered due to constant micromanagement. Since micromanagement hinders employees’ ability to innovate, it gives them little to no room to reflect on their own performance and work toward improvement. The most prosperous companies grow when many people present ideas and thoughts for their improvement.

Teamwork also declines due to a micromanager’s judgment and opinions. Teamwork fosters improved communication, increased creativity and organization, and general contentment inside an organization. In comparison, a lack of cooperation and synergy can substantially harm your business over time.

Steve Gilliland is a professional keynote speaker who has inspired countless employees worldwide to become a better version of themselves. He reveals ways to retain your employees, be more productive, and become better managers with the help of his powerful presentations and Motivation Bites. Book Steve and get an inspirational, motivational, and comedian speaker at the same time.

“I was right on the money when I decided to book Steve for our Annual Convention. The group absolutely loved him. His message was magnificent.”

– Hal Miller, President, Mississippi Trucking Association