Here is another valuable Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review. To sign up for a free subscription to any/all HBR newsletters, please click here.

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No one likes to manage unhappy employees.

They can be tough to motivate and resistant to change. But giving up isn’t the solution either. Here are three counterintuitive ways to bring your most disillusioned back into the fold:

o Try harder to inspire. Double down on your efforts. Keep the conversation positive. Set expectations high so they’ll become more invested.

o Develop them. Don’t leave the underachievers out when distributing stretch assignments. Career development should not focus only on high potentials.

o Take them to lunch. Managers spend more time with people they like, but you may make your unhappy employees feel excluded. Make an effort to spread your attention around.

Today’s Management Tip was adapted from “Are You Creating Disgruntled Employees?” by Joseph Folkman.

To read that article and join the discussion, please click here.

Also, you may wish to check out Management Tips from Harvard Business Review by clicking here.

In my opinion, “disgruntled” employees range from those who have legitimate reasons for being unhappy, frustrated, etc. to those who are “toxic”: actively engaged in undermining the work of the given organization. The challenge, obviously, is to understand who among the disgruntled is which and then respond accordingly.