#motivation

And yet, we know that loyalty is rewarded with a layoff sooner or later. I saw some truly great people let go, and I have zero motivation left. What’s the point?

With the ongoing game of moving the goal posts every year to deny nearly everyone who earned an exceeds rating from ever getting one, in the spirit of the Olympics, I say “Go for the Bronze “ in 2026 - there is simply no incentive to do more and if they really want to RIF you, that will likely happen regardless of your performance. In the end you will at least have prioritized your life balance and not fallen for yet another false promise.

Best exec team to turn us into next Sun Microsystems

Serious question. How are fellow employees staying motivated after low to zero expected rewards?

I spent most of my career going all in, staying late, fixing things no one asked me to fix. Lately I’m realizing the extra effort rarely changes outcomes or benefits me all that much, it just burns me out faster. I’m trying to do what’s required, not everything possible, and reminding myself work doesn’t deserve all my energy. In other words, I'm trying to give back exactly as much as I'm getting.

Used to grind: stay late, extra projects, crush it. Reward? Emoji thumbs-up, 2% raise (lol inflation), then piled with more work.
Meanwhile minimum-effort crew dips at 5 and skates by fine.
Loyalty’s a one-way scam; hard work = free labor.
Fu-k going above and beyond. Act your wage, do the bare minimum, guard your sanity.
Who else quit hustling and started coasting?

I'm in pure "collect the paycheck" mode now. Minimal effort, zero overtime. The last year and a half have been a masterclass in how dedication is rewarded here. It isn't. My only remaining goal is to get a decent severance and never look back.

Morale ..
Satisfaction ..
Motivation ..
Stock price ..

Stock down to 28. U-k!
We have no mega paid people that actually provide leadership.
No motivation, no nothing.
What a terrible start to 26/

Hope this helps.

“ We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Don’t let an email take away your never ending hope and promise for a greater tomorrow!

Look, I'm over fifty and I've seen the cycles here. You bust your gut for years, hit your targets, and then watch rounds of layoffs target the highest pay brackets anyway. It really makes you question why you should pour extra energy into a place that seems to value your cost over your contribution. Frankly, most of us at this stage are protecting our energy and just meeting expectations while we plan. It’s hard to stay motivated with that hanging over you.

May the odds be ever in your favor!

It’s funny how uncertainty flips a switch. Suddenly my resume’s polished, alerts are on, and I’m paying attention again, looking for any opportunity to leave. Not exactly the motivation I wanted, but I’ll take it.

That might work for a short while, but over time it becomes completely mind-numbing and demotivating. It starts to feel like taking pride in your work is somehow shameful. Since we spend basically half our lives at work, is it really too much to ask that it actually means something?

It feels like the whole enterprise is designed to make you dislike your job and prevent you from ever progressing or accomplishing anything of substance. And I mean real substance, not a promotion or a raise. It seems like corporate leadership doesn’t actually want people to perform well, just to stay within narrow boxes defined by shallow metrics. Limited thinking, stuck in numbers and charts.

Can we just work harder?

We now know that nothing matters, so why do anything?

Everything has been mismanaged so badly over the past couple of years that it would take some kind of radical jumpstart, driven by an exceptionally creative and courageous group of people, to propel us upward. And we all know that isn’t going to happen. I survived all the layoffs only to watch a steady decline and neglect of everything that actually matters - how people are treated, retention of talent, development of ideas, attention to creativity and detail, and motivation built on real stakes. Sure, the business may limp along, maybe even grow sales from time to time, but we’ve turned into a run-of-the-mill corporation peddling products. At some point, the question of why we even exist will answer itself.

Deep cuts need to happen in tech even though that won’t fix sales.
The problem is that any survivors will have no motivation to work if the same tech leadership is in place. AC, ES (all vp down to sr managers and in some cases managers. None of them talk to each other and no root cause tech issues are ever fixed.
Truly weak leaders that micro manage or are completely checked out and no, a manager 101 course will not fix that.

Supervisors in CTC have been told that under no account should they ever give 2x EE. If they want to they need approval from JK

How's that for motivation?

Another year, another Excellent ranking, 0% last year and 3% this year. I think the only motivation is to getting PIPd and really I don’t think that’s too hard. Just be friendly. I’m going to try doing the bare minimum next year but remaining friendly and see what happens. Hard work clearly isn’t being rewarded so I’m done with that.

Now that feels like a foggy memory. It was never perfect, and I never expected major career growth. Advancement was already limited when I joined. But things were better organized, more efficient, less harsh, and at least somewhat logical. Doing a good job actually meant something.

Today it’s a drag, with constant chaos, growing obstacles to helping clients, and the axe always spinning overhead. Any motivation, encouragement, or respect has been stripped out of how leadership treats employees. I honestly think they’re counting on most of us being decent people who still try to do our jobs responsibly, because there’s no external incentive left. The only thing keeping anyone dedicated now is personal ethics.

have a lot of hope for the new year. clearly there are quite a few malcontents here that might want to consider greener pastures. but for the dedicated fiserv loyalists, the new year is going to rock!!!!

Every time the cuts hit, it feels like they're pulling names out of a hat because skills and performance and dedication never seem to matter in the final call. It turns the whole thing into a layoff lottery, and after watching that play out over and over, it's hard to feel motivated to give everything you've got when it clearly doesn't affect who stays or who gets pushed out.

I think every single one of us should be doing it.

I’ve been through 4 layoffs at 3 different companies, unfortunately it’s a common corporate playbook for those working in IT

The first layoff, my theme song was - It’s My Life by Bon Jovi. Played that so loud on repeat, and it kept me going

This layoff, it’s - Unstoppable by Sia

What’s your theme song, one that gives you energy and motivates you, that will power you thru this storm?

whats the use of spending hours and filling performance reviews..All we get is 2-3 % raise.
stock is already down , dunno y and how they motivate people to come in and work in the office 5 days, 9 hours.ppl who spent long time here lost even more..for me its the 3 erd year, but the worst company I worked for so far in 20 plus years.

is a good day to get a jump on the week and log on to knock out emails and work items. hard work is how we come back

I wish I’d recorded our faces while he went on about “dedication” and “hard work.” Even he couldn’t hide that he didn’t believe a single word coming out of his mouth. I honestly don’t get how these corpos still think this kind of theatrics works. Are they really that out of touch? Incredible. And on top of it all, he wasted half an hour of our time.

Don’t let darkness go all the way inside you.

Keep some distance from it all. Don’t give it more real estate in your head than it deserves. Keep it little away!

It’s all cyclical. Bad times come then they leave. Nothing stays forever.

If you have a candle around, actually light it. It helps!

I have been having nightmares since the news broke out, Not able to focus, moral is low, zero motivation to do anything. Not willing to put in any effort until I know my fate next week. I mean whatever happens happens but next couple of days are going brutal!

A motivational and strategic leader. He lead the charge during covid and our response was better than most.

"We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing."
---Konstantin Josef Jireček---

My job is to sit in a seat for ~8 hours.

Hard work won’t save any of us from being laid off. So take it easy, at least until this round is over. Or better yet, always. It’s not like being reliable and dedicated has ever really paid off anyway.

Former tech project manager here. Now part of the deadwood population here that is too young to retire but ready to GTFO. Where does a guy like me go? I’m tired of being railed into the ground.

And I don’t even care anymore. I’ve given up on trying to make a difference because nothing changes no matter how hard you push. At this point, it’s just about getting through the day, collecting a paycheck, and hoping the next round of layoffs skips my name.

From Entrepreneur

Michael Dell Encourages Leaders to 'Make a Crisis' — Even If There Isn't One Already. Here's Why.
The 60-year-old CEO of Dell Technologies says crises motivate employees and bring about necessary changes.
——
This is the fastest way to create burnout. Apply pressure with no end while the CEO is on a private 787 jetting between on vacation spot to another. I’m sorry Michael, but this is not playing nice.

You may need an Apple News account. (Sorry)
https://stocks.apple.com/AupLrQI_HQ3OSCKZKzPUuHw

Yeah, Ford’s had its share of rough patches — nobody’s pretending otherwise. EV delays, reorganizations, the usual noise. But every once in a while something cuts through all that and reminds you why this place still matters.

Back in May, the Mustang GT3 owned the streets of Detroit, taking GTD-PRO victory on home turf:
👉 https://www.imsa.com/news/2025/05/31/ford-mustang-gt3-finds-gtd-pro-victory-lane-in-detroit/

Five months later, it crossed the Atlantic and made history at the Nürburgring with an overall win — one of the toughest tracks on earth:
👉 https://fordauthority.com/2025/10/ford-mustang-gt3-writes-history-with-hard-fought-nurburgring-win/

Two continents. Two legit wins. That’s what composure under pressure looks like. Feels good to see a Ford doing what it was built to do — win. 🔥🏆

Leaving was the hardest decision I’ve ever made, but it ended up being the right one. The first few months were rough, with anxiety, second guessing, and sleepless nights, but once the dust settled, I realized how much lighter life felt. For anyone stuck in that same place, know that leaving doesn’t make you reckless.