15+ Employees recount actions from their managers that caused morale to plummet: 'Boss made a big speech about austerity measures and no raises this year'

When poor management tries to boost team morale, it usually has the opposite effect. That's because the standard ways of motivating everyone—pizza parties, happy hour events, etc.—are obvious and lame in 2025. Sure, employees could use some of that bonding time, but that's not going to get people to work harder than they're already working with no extra perks. 

There really is only one effective way to get employees to work harder and that's to offer them fair compensation. Most of the time, poor management will do everything in its power to avoid providing raises and promotions. They will pretend like the added responsibilities they are piling onto their employees were always part of initial job descriptions. They will continue to dangle that carrot for as long as they can until their employees come to realize that they are being manipulated.

Now, sometimes, management isn't even trying and failing to boost morale. Sometimes, in the name of putting their foot down, they are quite simply letting morale plummet. Take a look at these anecdotes from employees whose managers caused a wave of discontent.

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