What are some common employee performance issues?

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You have people working for you. You count on them to get the job done, because the success of your business depends, in large part, on their performance. One of the most important — and often unpleasant — parts of your job is to ensure that your people do their jobs well.

Most people do a good job most of the time. A few of them cause occasional problems. All of them probably screw up every once in a while. You need to handle problems and screw ups. You might say, “I don't have the time. I have too many other things to do — budgets, reports, dealing with customers, etc.” Nothing could be further from the truth. You have to get things done through your people. You can't do it all yourself. You have to make time to fix performance problems.

In more than 30 years as a management consultant and executive coach, I have had one type of request for service more than any other: fixing performance problems. While I have assisted many business owners and managers in fixing these problems, I prefer to teach them how to do it themselves and not rely on me. Business today is competitive. You have to get the best out of the people who work for you.

Performance problems vary from individual to individual and situation to situation. Just as no two problems are exactly the same, there is no silver bullet, no one best way of fixing them. On the other hand, I have found that most performance problems fall into one of 11 categories. You can use a similar approach to fix problems that fall into a specific category.

There's no one fix to all performance problems. Each one is unique to the individual and situation. In this article, I'll describe each of the 11 categories, explain the reasons behind them and then suggest what to do to fix performance problems that fall into each category. When you finish reading, you should have a good idea of how to identify the 11 most common types of performance problems, why they happen and how to fix them.

Problem 1: The people who work for you don't know what they are supposed to do.

Why This Happens: You have not set and communicated clear expectations and standards. You have not reinforced the importance of the expectations and standards you've set.

Solution: Explain exactly what you expect them to do and how they need to do it. Clearly describe what good performance looks like.

Problem 2: The people who work for you don't know why they should do what they are supposed to do.

Why This Happens: You haven't explained the business reasons for your expectations and standards. You haven't explained the personal benefits your people will see if they meet your expectations and standards.

Solution: Explain the reasoning behind performance standards. Make sure people understand why they are being asked to do what they are supposed to do.

Problem 3: The people who work for you don't know how to do what they are supposed to do.

Why This Happens: You make incorrect assumptions about the knowledge and skill level of the people who work for you. You've haven't trained your people well. People haven't used a specific skill in some time. Job requirements have changed. People have lapsed into bad habits and have forgotten the correct way of doing things.

Solution: Teach people how to do the job correctly: 1) Tell them how to do it. 2) Show them how to do it. 3) Observe them as they attempt to do it. 4) Reinforce what they do well. 5) Redirect what they do poorly or incorrectly. Make sure they can correctly do what they need to do.

Problem 4: The people who work for you think your way does not work or that their way is better.

Why This Happens: Today's employees think for themselves. They are more likely to challenge instructions that don't make sense to them. You don't deal with employee challenges and concerns in an open and respectful manner.

Solution: Listen to their concerns. Use their ideas if possible. Make sure they accept what they need to do and how they should do it.

Problem 5: The people who work for you think other tasks and activities are more important.

Why This Happens: Most jobs have multiple, competing priorities. Often, people focus on one task — to the exclusion (and expense) of others. People sometime become victims of the “tyranny of the or,” i.e., “What do you want, speed or quality? I can't do both.” “What's more important, making sales calls or filling out reports? I can't do both.”

Solution: Don't accept the “tyranny of the or.” Teach people the “genius of the and.” Hold everyone responsible for meeting or exceeding all of the standards associated with the job.

Problem 6: The people who work for you think that they are performing in an acceptable manner.

Why This Happens: You don't provide regular and adequate performance feedback. In the absence of feedback, people think they are doing a good job.

Solution: Provide everyone who works for you with honest feedback on how well they're doing on a regular basis.

Problem 7: You reward nonperformance.

Why This Happens: You don't hold people accountable for meeting job expectations. Employees are allowed to avoid difficult or unpleasant jobs they do poorly. You give these tasks to others. You promote or transfer people to get them out of your work group. You give problem performers a lot of attention.

Solution: Hold people responsible for doing their jobs. Don't clean up people's messes for them. Keep the workload even and balanced. Adopt the DBMAPWOAS (Don't Bring Me A Problem Without A Solution) philosophy. Fix problems — don't promote or transfer them.

Problem 8: Good performance feels like punishment.

Why This Happens: You give good performers (the people you trust and rely on) more work and the most difficult and unpleasant jobs. You don't monetarily reward high performers, using the excuse “it's the system.” You take your high performers for granted. You don't listen to your high performers.

Solution: Don't punish your good performers by overworking them. Don't use the excuse “it's the system” to punish your good performers. Listen to your people when they suggest ways to handle problems. Don't make their work more difficult by ignoring their suggestions.

Problem 9: You don't reward good performance.

Why This Happens: You are uncomfortable paying compliments. You assume people know you think they're doing a good job. You think that money is the only way to reward somebody.

Solution: Money is not the only way to reward good performance. Tune into WII- FM (What's In It For Me). People continue to do the things for which they get rewarded. Reward good performance. Be timely. Be specific. Be sincere. Explain how the good performance fits into the big picture.

Problem 10: You sanction poor performance.

Why This Happens: You don't like to punish employees who are not doing a good job.

Solution: Most people will perform well as long as they know what to do and how to do it. The great majority of people will need little more than a gentle nudge (a conversation about how they are failing to meet expectations) to get them back on track. When a nudge doesn't work, a kick in the butt (an explicit statement of the potential negative consequences) usually does the trick. When a kick in the butt doesn't work, a 2X4 to the head (the experience of negative consequences) might be necessary. Deliver negative consequences when you must. Take it slowly, step by step. Don't use a kick in the butt or a 2X4 to the head when a gentle nudge will do.

Problem 11: The people who work for you encounter obstacles they cannot control.

Why This Happens: There are organizational policies, procedures and practices that prevent people from performing at a high level. People don't realize they have the wherewithal to remove or overcome an obstacle. People lack the skills necessary to do what it takes to perform well.

Solution: Make it easy for your people to do their jobs. Identify and change policies, procedures and practices that are, in reality, obstacles to good performance. Listen to your people when they point out something that needs changing so they can do their job better. Make sure people have the skills and tools to do a good job.

There you have it: 11 types of performance problems, why they happen and what to do about them. Hopefully, you have some new knowledge. But as I tell audiences when I speak, “knowing's not enough.” Here's hoping you'll take this knowledge and use it.

Bud Bilanich has a reputation as the Common Sense Guy. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University and offers common sense solutions to tough business problems. Contact Bud at 303/393-0446 or Bud@BudBilanich. com. You can also visit www.BudBilanich.com or read his blog at www.CommonSenseGuy.com.

Getting the best out of the employees is not only important but also necessary for your organization. But with Filipinos being among the most emotional people in the world, dealing with performance problems in the workplace become a little challenging for managers and employers.

The success of any business depends largely on employees’ performance. However unpleasant, one of the most important parts of your job is to ensure that your people are getting their jobs done—and well.

In this article, we identified six (6) of scenarios that show performance problems in the workplace, cited possible factors why they happen, and offered solutions you may adapt to deal with each of them.

Check out if you encounter the following performance problems with your employees:

1. Your employees produce low-quality output.

Possible Reason/s: Your people may not know what to do or how to do the tasks you assigned them. They may have insufficient knowledge about the task at hand. Or, you may have incorrectly assumed your employees’ skill level.

What To Do: Train (or re-train) your people on how to do get the job done. Set and communicate clear expectations.  Then, reinforce the importance of the standards you’ve set.

Just because they failed to meet your expectations doesn’t mean your employees are incompetent. It’s possible that they may have not used a specific skill for a certain period and need a refresher course. Sometimes, job requirements may have changed, and an advanced skill set should be learned.

2. Your employees are always late or absent.

Possible Reason/s: Lost time affects productivity. Behaviors like being late or absent most days of the week and excessive procrastination can be attributed to lack of motivation at work. If that’s not the case, your employees may be encountering uncontrollable obstacles in the workplace.

What To Do: Workplace demotivation is often caused by stress. There are effective ways to motivate employees, although stressors may differ for every situation. While you’re not obligated to address each of them, it’s important that you understand them at the very least.

Sometimes, the cause of stress include organizational policies and procedures that prevent employees from performing well. Obstacles like this, if can be simplified, will help your employees do a good job.

3. Your employees fail to finish tasks on time.

Possible Reason/s: When your employee has multiple tasks in a day, chances are they focus only on one task at the expense of others. They become trapped in the speed-or-quality dilemma and don’t prioritize tasks properly.

What To Do: Teach your employees the concept of the ‘genius of the AND’ or the ability to embrace both extremes. There shouldn’t be a battle between speed OR quality. It should be speed AND quality.

That is, of course, given that you give them a reasonable workload.

4. Your employees lack commitment.

Possible Reason/s: It’s not clear to your employees why they need to do what they are supposed to do. Or, they may be going through a tough time and need to be understood.

What To Do: Explain the business reasons for your standards. Keep your employees engaged and loyal. Let them know about the personal benefits they can get once they meet your expectations. Majority of employees, during times like this, need a gentle nudge to get themselves back on track.

Have a direct conversation with them about how they are failing to meet your expectations. If that doesn’t work, let them know and experience the negative consequences that come with their underperformance. But make sure to take it slowly. Don’t punish employees immediately for not doing a good job.

5. Your employees don’t listen and refuse to do what you ask of them.

Possible Reason/s: You may be micromanaging them, controlling everything they are doing down to the last detail. They may have ideas they think are helpful, but you refuse to listen.

What To Do: You have your people to help you. Let them. It’s possible that they challenge your instructions because it doesn’t make sense to them. Really listen to their ideas. Use—or at least try—their ideas instead of rejecting it outright. If they have concerns, address them.

One of the clichés we often forget or fail to understand is that respect goes both ways. Deal with performance challenges like this in an open and respectful manner.

6. Your employees are hostile and they create unnecessary tension within the team.

Possible Reason/s: Bad workplace relations can be brought about by a variety of factors. Few of them are behaviors like gossiping/bullying, office politics, clashing of ideas, or stressful environment. Employee disputes can infect the workplace and ultimately affect employee performance.

What To Do: As a business leader, you should get an initial read on what's at the heart of the matter in order to avoid or resolve conflicts. Listen to both sides. Once you understand the core problem, you should be able to encourage your people to work it out themselves. In extreme situations where you'll be forced to step in, you have to nip it in the bud as quickly as you can. Let them know that, regardless of position or tenure, their bad behavior can lead to disciplinary action.

Final Thoughts

Performance problems vary per organization. No two problems are going to be exactly the same. It’s going to be different for every employee, every situation. Understanding why these common performance problems happen is key to properly addressing them.

Nonetheless, it’s one thing to know what to do. It’s another thing to go ahead and actually do it. You may think, “I’m too busy for this. I have other important tasks to do.” And that’s true. But remember: you have to get things done through your people. You won’t be able to do everything by yourself. It’s part of the job to fix performance problems.

Read Related Article: 3 Most Common Employee Relation Issues in the Philippines

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“How to increase traffic to your website?”

As digital marketers, this is a question that demands to be answered with results. We’ve done everything in our bag of tricks already: choose long-tail keywords, build backlinks, pay attention to on-page SEO, maximize the power of social media.

Name it. We’ve done it.

Still, the question remains. And it evolves: how to increase traffic to your website, given that we’ve already tried every ‘method’ there is?

Here are 5 effective ways you can to do effectively drive traffic to your website.

1. Look for unexplored keywords with high search volume and less competition.

You’ve been using Google Keyword Planner to find possible search terms for your blog posts already. Just up the search game a little higher and you’ll nail this one.

Come up with a few uncommon topics that will be relevant for your target audience. Run a keyword search and let yourself be surprised with new keywords that carry high potential to increase your website traffic.

Keywords with high search volume yet low competition can mean two things:

• there’s no quality content published about these topics, or
• there’s no content about these keywords at all

Take advantage of such opportunities. In this way, your content can easily find itself on the first page on search engine result pages (SERPs).

2. Partner with establishments that complement your brand.

There are a lot of advantages that come with affiliate marketing.

Case in point: Grab Philippines, a popular ride-hailing platform in Southeast Asia.

Over the past years, Grab Philippines has been in partnership with different brands. Through GrabFood, their food delivery service platform, they were able to connect with the most sought-after food establishments. Additionally, GrabRewards, their loyalty program, allowed them to collaborate with different lifestyle brands from shopping, entertainment, and travel industries.

Partnerships like these produce significant results for Grab, even up to this day. Every time they partner with an establishment, their partners promote them in their own marketing channels, increasing visits to their platform exponentially.

There are also other creative executions that brands can explore through affiliate partnerships. For starters, they can exchange marketing banners, give special discount codes, hold giveaways, or contribute content. As long as the two parties can reach an agreement that brings mutual benefits for both of their businesses, that's good to go.

Through business partnerships, you don’t just provide competitive and high-quality offers to your customers. You also expand your reach and introduce yourself to the loyal audience your business partners have. All that’s left for you to do is make sure that the user experience will not be compromised.

3. Localize your search keywords.

Website localization is another user-friendly way to increase traffic to your website. With the overwhelming competition of various online industries today, 75% of online users now prefer to read and shop in their local-specific content.

With this, Google has been taking a more local-first approach when ranking search results. Businesses with a local listing are now being favored because they are near the person conducting the search. It makes total sense because people tend to look for businesses near them first. Search volume may not be huge, but it has the potential to deliver traffic with high purchase intent.

When searching for local keywords, take into consideration where your target audience lives or works. This will allow you to increase your website traffic by creating content relevant to them.

4. Find your micro-influencers.

For sure, you’ve been getting ‘influencers’ to promote your brand. But have you ever identified who your micro-influencers are?

Micro-influencers are social media users who publish content at least twice on a daily basis. They have followers ranging from 1,000 to 10,000, which we can refer to as their ‘tribe.’ Tribes recognize micro-influencers as experts in a particular topic and will most likely trust an opinion or recommendation from them.

One of the new tricks you can put in the bag is micro-influencer marketing. It generates higher engagement and conversion, is comparatively cheaper than getting celebrities, and allows you to tap into very specific, niche markets.

Imagine the quality organic clicks you can get from thousands of tribes once you get micro-influencers who trust your brand. When approached strategically, micro-influencer marketing may not just help you increase traffic to your website. It can also help you build authenticity and relevance for your business.

5. Create a drip campaign.

E-mail marketing has always been a part of a digital marketer’s plan. It is efficient. It’s cost-effective. However, the world is now on a technological point when sending scheduled e-mails to your newsletter subscribers is no longer enough.

You should now delve deeper into drip marketing.

Drip campaigns, in e-mail marketing, are sets of queued e-mails that get sent out based on predetermined timelines or user actions. It allows you to set up an email to be sent as soon as someone signs up, then two days later, an email about your most popular content. If a customer has been navigating a product page for a few days already, that can also be a trigger for an email about reasons to buy the product your customer was looking at.

Drip campaigns are often called ‘behavioral e-mails’ for a reason. 'Dripping' your content allows you to nurture leads and keep targeted readers engaged. It lets you be with your audience every step of their journey with your brand.

There’s no need to manually write and send each e-mail. You just have to determine and set up the triggers, and your drip campaign should do the job.

Final Thoughts

Finding new ways to answer the question “How to increase traffic to your website?” is critical for any business. The growth of a business is dependent on the new customers visiting your website and going back again. Old strategies become eventually ineffective if everybody else is doing it. But looking at these old tricks with a new perspective can improve your strategy to drive traffic.

Search engines are getting smarter. So, you’ve got to be smarter, too.

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