You hired them because you saw something special. Maybe it was the way they naturally connected with people during the interview, or how they lit up when talking about helping others. They had that spark—the energy to become one of your stars.

But six months later, that spark is barely a flicker. They’re going through the motions, doing the minimum, and you’re wondering what happened to the person you hired. Did you make a mistake?

Maybe. Sometimes hiring decisions don’t work out despite our best efforts. But before you assume it’s a bad fit, consider this: your future star may have been slowly drained by energy vampires—and many of these vampires don’t even work for your organization.

When The Spark Gets Drained Away

In service industries, we often focus on identifying and retaining our obvious stars. But what about the team members who could become stars if they weren’t constantly fighting to keep their energy above empty? What about the naturally caring people who want to create meaningful connections but feel too depleted to try?

These are your future stars, and they’re often the most vulnerable to energy vampires because:

  • They care deeply (which makes them targets)
  • They haven’t yet learned to protect their energy
  • They want to prove themselves (so they say yes to everything)
  • They’re still developing confidence in their abilities

When energy vampires attack these developing stars, we lose not just current performance—we lose future energy. The activities coordinator who could have created magical moments becomes task-focused. The front desk agent who had natural warmth becomes transactional. The caregiver who genuinely loves helping people starts counting down to quitting time.

Understanding Your Energy Ball

Picture your energy as a ball inside you. Some days it’s as big as a beach ball—you feel capable, confident, and ready to handle whatever comes your way. Other days it’s deflated, and you can barely get through basic tasks without feeling depleted.

Energy vampires are what make that ball shrink. And here’s the crucial part: when your team’s energy balls are consistently deflated, they default to mechanical service because it’s all they can manage. The magic disappears. The authentic connections that create memorable experiences become impossible.

Your stars—current and future—become the biggest targets because they care deeply, give generously, and often struggle to protect themselves from those who would drain their energy.

Some Energy Vampires Don’t Clock In

Here’s what many organizations miss: some of your most damaging energy vampires never set foot in your building. They drain your stars from the outside, leaving them depleted before their shifts even begin.

External Work-Related Vampires: The demanding family member who calls your caregiver at home with non-urgent concerns. The guest who has your concierge’s personal number and uses it inappropriately. The online critic who attacks your team personally. The guest who follows staff to the parking lot with complaints or treats your team as servants rather than professionals.

Life Vampires: Your stars also face energy drains that have nothing to do with work: family drama at home, financial stress from transportation costs or medical bills, relationship problems, or health issues. A future star might arrive at work already running on empty because their car broke down, their child was sick all night, or they’re worried about paying rent.

These external vampires are particularly dangerous because your developing stars often don’t feel empowered to set boundaries with people they’re supposed to serve, and they might not be able to control the life circumstances that drain their energy before they even walk through your doors.

The Internal Vampires That Finish the Job

While external vampires start the energy drain, internal vampires often finish it:

The Overwhelmed Manager: So stressed themselves that they become energy drains—constantly in crisis mode, unable to provide clear direction, or so focused on problems they forget to acknowledge what’s going right.

The Veteran Cynic: The long-time employee who’s lost their spark and wants everyone else to lose theirs too. They poison new hires with negativity and make caring seem naive. They thrive on recruiting others into their negativity—after all, misery loves miserable company.

The Broken System: Technology that doesn’t work, processes that make simple tasks complicated, or policies that prevent your stars from actually helping people the way they want to.

Spotting the Drain Before It’s Too Late

Your developing stars rarely come to you and say, “I’m being drained by energy vampires.” Right? Instead, they show you:

  • The naturally warm person becomes cooler and more distant
  • Someone who used to contribute ideas stops offering suggestions
  • They start avoiding certain people or situations
  • Their enthusiasm for going above and beyond disappears
  • They begin talking about the job differently—more negative, less hopeful
  • They seem tired the majority of the time

These aren’t attitude problems. These are energy problems. And energy problems require energy solutions, not more training or stricter supervision.

What Your Stars Need to Flourish

Permission to Protect Their Energy Your developing stars need to know it’s not just okay—it’s expected—that they protect their energy. This means clear policies about what constitutes reasonable requests versus energy-draining demands, and management support when boundaries need to be enforced.

The Inner “Best Friend” Voice Energy vampires amplify the inner bully voice that tells your stars they’re not good enough, not doing enough, not caring enough. Help them develop the inner “best friend” voice that says, “You’re learning,” “You care deeply and that matters,” and “You don’t have to sacrifice yourself to serve others well.”

Energy Restoration Opportunities Your stars need ways to refill their energy balls. This might be as simple as a quiet space to decompress between difficult interactions, or as intentional as pairing them with energizing colleagues who lift them up rather than drain them down.

Protection from Above When external energy vampires cross lines, your stars need to see you step in. When a family member becomes abusive, when a guest makes inappropriate demands, when online critics attack your team personally—your response tells your stars whether you value their energy or consider them expendable.

Building Energy Protection Strategies

The organizations that keep their stars and develop new ones understand that energy management is a core business strategy. They:

Address What They Can Control: Create clear boundaries around work-related interactions, fix broken systems that waste energy, and train managers to be energy-givers rather than energy-drains.

Support What They Can’t Control: Acknowledge that your team members have lives outside work that impact their energy. This might mean flexible scheduling for someone dealing with family issues, or employee assistance programs that help with other stressors (financial, childcare, health, and more).

Create Energy Restoration Practices: Regular breaks that actually allow for restoration, opportunities to do energizing work, recognition that acknowledges effort not just results, and time to connect with colleagues who lift them up.

Train Everyone on Energy Awareness: Help your entire team understand how energy drain works and their role in either depleting or restoring their colleagues’ energy.

The Hidden Cost of Energy Vampires

Research shows that only 21% of employees globally are engaged at work. In service industries, where authentic connection drives results, this disengagement is catastrophic. When energy vampires operate unchecked, they don’t just affect their immediate victims—they create a ripple effect that damages entire teams.

With hospitality services  facing 70-80% annual turnover and senior living experiencing 50% employee churn, protecting your team’s energy isn’t just nice to have—it’s essential for survival. Recent SHRM data shows voluntary turnover across all industries remains elevated at 12% in 2025, still above pre-pandemic levels of 9%. Despite organizations investing more heavily in HR than ever—with HR budgets increasing over 9% in 2025 and expenses doubling since 2022—turnover remains stubbornly high. The cost of replacing an employee averages nearly $4,700, often ballooning to 3-4 times the position’s salary when including recruiting, onboarding, and training.

The Energy Multiplier Effect

Here’s what happens when you successfully protect your stars from energy vampires: their natural energy starts to multiply. They begin creating the magical moments that make people remember your organization. Their enthusiasm becomes contagious, lifting up other team members.

Research indicates that 89% of customers value authentic interactions over perfect service. When your team has the energy to be authentic, to connect genuinely, to adapt creatively to serve people better, that’s when service magic happens.

Your stars stop burning out and start believing again. They remember why they chose service work in the first place. They feel empowered to use their natural talents instead of just following scripts. They feel supported instead of criticized.

Your Energy Investment Strategy

Protecting your stars from energy vampires is a sound business strategy. When you devote energy and money into preserving and restoring your team’s energy, you’re investing in:

  • Higher retention rates (energy-depleted people leave)
  • Better service quality (energized people create magic)
  • Stronger team culture (energy is contagious)
  • Improved reputation (both as an employer and service provider)
  • Sustainable excellence (energy preservation prevents burnout)

The business case for energy protection has never been stronger. With organizations now spending 45% of their operating expenses on salaries and offering higher merit increases than in previous years, losing energized talent to energy vampires represents massive wasted investment. Revenue per employee has reached record highs of $172,926 in 2025, but only when people have the energy to bring their full capabilities to work.

The organizations that thrive in service industries aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or fanciest facilities. They’re the ones that understand energy management and protect their people’s capacity to care.

Your stars came to you with energy and heart. Whether they stay energized and engaged depends largely on how well you protect them from the vampires that would drain that precious resource away.

The choice is yours: let the vampires win, or protect the energy that creates everything special about your organization.

Ready to shield your stars from energy vampires? WORTH@WORK provides the tools and strategies to protect your team’s energy while building the authentic confidence that creates lasting service magic.


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