Problem Employees: Are Supervisors To Blame?

Think you are the reason why your employee is not the highly effective performer that you thought that you recruited?

Don't misunderstand me. Your staff is ultimately responsible for their own overall performance. But there are times when an employee may perhaps be failing due to your management approach.

So, how do you know whether it's your approach to management versus your employees skill set or attitude towards work is contributing to employee issues?

Take a moment to think about the following:

1. Did you take the time to orient your employee to the workplace when you hired him or her?

2. Does your employee know your business goals and how his or her role fits into helping you achieve those goals?

3. Does your employee know what resources are available within the company to help them successfully complete the tasks that they are responsible for? Do they know where to go to get additional support or resources when needed?

4. Was your employee given a job description and did you or your designee review the job description with him or her? Did your employee have the option to ask questions?

5. Do you pile on additional work to the point where your employee is always stressed and close to being burnt out?

6. Have you communicated your department or company goals and your vision for the company with your employee?

7. Do you expect your employees to be mind readers when it comes to your workplace expectations?

8. Do you send mixed messages to your employee; expecting them to take initiative on a project one day and then micromanaging their work the next?

If your answer is yes to even one of these questions, you may be helping to create a problem employee.

What's the solution? Think about:

*Training staff so that they understand the basics

*Crafting revised work descriptions for every single role in the organization that summarize the core skills and tasks for the position

*Being transparent so that employees understand what you need from them

*Providing resources to help employees be successful

*Making yourself accessible to employee inquiries

*Support additional training and professional development as appropriate for the role

It's not always easy to identify the underlying issue when it comes to your poor performers. But, if you are wondering why an employee who had so much promise when you first hired them seems to be floundering, be sure that you are not contributing to their inability to be successful in the role.

Dianne Shaddock helps small companies with employee management. Get more employee hiring and employee management solutions and stay ahead of the curve.