I understand how you feel Starlord.
Many people feel they're just protecting themselves from disappointment. But that won't work. I've been down that road before and all it does is create distress and depression with the people working for me and in the end, the whole project fell apart.

You need to encourage good behavior, not just punish bad (or in this case, just underwhelming) behavior.

Lets hope they are getting paychecks to make them feel good about themselves.
There's more to feeling good about yourself at work than just getting money.