12.7 Types of Performance Issues
As you know, the time and money investment in a new employee is significant. The cost to select, hire, and train a new employee is staggering. But what if that new employee is not working out? This next section will provide some examples of performance issues and examples of processes to handle these types of employee problems.
One of the most difficult parts of managing others is not when they are doing a great job—it is when they are not doing a good job. In this section, we will address some examples of performance issues and how to handle them.
- Constantly late or leaves early. While we know that flexible schedules can provide a work-life balance, managing this flexible schedule is key. Some employees may take advantage, and instead of working at home, perform non-work-related tasks instead.
- Too much time spent doing personal things at work. Most companies have a policy about using a computer or phone for personal use. For most companies, some personal use is acceptable, but it can become a problem if someone does not know where to draw the line.
- Inability to handle proprietary information. Many companies handle important client and patient information. The ability to keep this information private for the protection of others is important to the success of the company.
- Absenteeism. This is defined as a habitual pattern of not being at work. There could be a number of personal or professional reasons for an employee being absent from work.
- Drug and alcohol abuse. Substance abuse can cause obvious problems, such as tardiness, absenteeism, and nonperformance, but it can also result in accidents or other more serious issues.
- Non-performing. Sometimes employees are just not performing at their peak. Some causes may include family or personal issues, but frequently it can mean motivational issues or lack of tools and/or ability to do their current job.
- Conflicts with management or other employees. While it is normal to have the occasional conflict at work, some employees seem to have more than the average owing to personality issues. Of course, this affects an organization’s productivity.
- Theft. Employees sometimes engage in theft at work. This may involve the theft of money, of goods or the theft of time.
- Ethical breaches. Sharing certain proprietary information when it is against company policy and violating non-compete agreements are considered ethical violations. Other examples of ethical breaches include theft of time by way of submitting inaccurate hours of work for payroll processing, inappropriate employee behaviour such as falsifying a sales report or lying to a colleague.
- Harassment. Engagement of sexual harassment, bullying, or other types of harassment is illegal and must be dealt with in a timely manner.
- Employee conduct outside the workplace. Speaking poorly of the organization on blogs or Facebook is an example of conduct occurring outside the workplace that could violate company policy.
While certainly not exhaustive, this list provides some insight into the types of problems that may be experienced. As you can see, some of these problems are more serious than others. Some issues may only require a warning, while some may require immediate dismissal.
What Influences Performance?
When an employee is not performing as expected, it can be very disappointing. When you consider the amount of time it takes to recruit, hire, and train someone, it can be disappointing to find that a person has performance issues. Sometimes performance issues can be related to something personal, but often it is a combination of factors. Some of these factors can be internal while others may be external. Internal factors may include the following:
- Career goals are not being met with the job.
- There is conflict with other employees or the manager.
- The goals or expectations are not in line with the employee’s abilities.
- The employee views unfairness in the workplace.
- The employee manages time poorly.
- The employee is dissatisfied with the job.
Some of the external factors may include the following:
- The employee does not have the correct equipment or tools to perform the job.
- The job design is incorrect.
- External motivation factors are absent.
- There is a lack of management support.
- The employee’s skills and job are mismatched.
All the internal reasons speak to the importance once again of hiring the right person from the start. The external reasons may be something that can be easily addressed and fixed. Whether the reason is internal or external, performance issues must be handled promptly.
“Managing Performance Issues” in Human Resources Management – 2nd Ontario Edition by Elizabeth Cameron is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
