Every business when they hire an applicant to join the organization they set certain standards for an applicant to join the company. This is not an easy process; proper interviewing and careful analysis are part of the process to hire an applicant. At this stage an applicant sets their best foot forward to impress, but why are some right applicants when hired tend to have poor performance in the long run?
According to Bernard Marr , Bestselling Author, Keynote Speaker and Leading Business and Data expert there are 7 causes of Poor employee Performance https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-causes-poor-employee-performance-how-address-them-bernard-marr
The first four causes are:
Lack of Ability
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Resources - If employees lack important things needed like time, right budget (money), manpower or supplies needed to complete the task, as much as he wants to accomplish it before the deadline, he won’t be able to finish.
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Obstacles – Includes lack of communication with other departments or any situation that is out of the employee’s control.
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Skills - Lack of skills or an employee was promoted or was assigned to a task that he has no experience or wasn’t ready yet.
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Expectations– If no clear goals have been set this can be a major cause of poor performance. If they don’t know what is expected because policies or rules are not clear to them or has not been set at all.
The second sets of causes are:
Lack of Motivation
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No carrots - If employee’s performance is not recognized or was not rewarded this may be a cause for an employee to lose interest.
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No sticks – The opposite of no carrots. If there are no penalties implemented for poor performance employees may tend to be very relax and will not improve. An example is coming to work late or doesn’t meet deadlines.
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Burnout - this may due to work overload, unhealthy working environment or conflicts with co -employees.
A Business success doesn’t depend only on the degree of profit it gains but also lies to the employee’s performance. It may tend to diminished productivity and lose new and loyal customers.
For example, in a Call Center industry, the customer service is the front liner and sets the company’s reputation when it comes to dealing with customers. When a customer is not satisfied with the service he gets, expect that the bad reviews are twice as bad as he experienced.
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Study – Study your employees. Be aware of their work and how they are on the job. Record times, dates and incidents of their bad behavior or poor performance. This will help you assess on how you can help improve the employee and address the issue if it is due to lack of skills or lack of willingness to improve.
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Strategies – Set a meeting with your employee and discuss your concerns. Make sure to take note of their reasons and help them in any way you can to improve their performance. You may review to them their job descriptions or the company’s policy and set a meeting after a month to reassess.
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Review and decide – After the given time, meet again with your employees to review. If they are doing well and has improved, make sure to commend and recognize the changes and stick to that strategy. If there is a slow improvement but you observed changes, motivate them more or look for other task on where they are more comfortable and that you can make us of their skills. If there are no changes and they are still consistent with their poor performance, let go of them.
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Be a leader, not a manager - Help motivate your employees, inspire them and make sure you are open to feedbacks and suggestions.
Employees’ poor performance can be changed and improved, but leaders should also know when to hold and let go of these employees. If it’s no longer helping the company and does not benefit both the employee and the organization then it’s about time to look for the one that best fits the job.
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