Anyone can turn out to be a problem employee for different reasons. There are instances when an employee is responsible for the problem, while in other cases, the environment or the supervisor could be the main driving force behind it. There are also situations when the problem is caused by a mixture of those three factors. There might be a hundred and one employee problems, so for this article, we’ll discuss only the most common problems and what you can do to solve it.

Wrong Job

When a person isn’t suited for his job, then he will not be able to perform to the best of his abilities. At the same time, the work that needs to be done won’t be done correctly. This is one of the most common employee problems, even in big companies. How can an employee be the wrong person for the job? He got hired, right? Well, getting hired doesn’t mean that the person is perfect for the job. A candidate might have been given the job because his resume looks like a perfect fit for the job description, or maybe the job description was wrong or incomplete in the first place. And even if the candidate is perfect for the job description, he can still be the wrong person for the job if he can’t adapt to the environment or team he’s working with. To prevent this from happening, you should always:

• Screen applicants
• Create a detailed job description that includes not only the tasks and skills needed, but also a quick description of the company and the team where the new-hire will work.

Too Much Work

Employee problems can also stem from too much work. Yes, there is such a thing as too much work. When an employee is constantly overloaded with projects and to-dos, he will eventually get stressed, tired, and resentful. Yes, resentful. There’s a big chance that he’ll resent his supervisor or whoever is handling his workload. Who doesn’t hate a supervisor who assigns too much work?

Having too much work will cause a burnout, and that can make an employee unhappy with his job. This unhappiness can lead to deteriorating work-relationships and more errors at work. In order to prevent this, managers and supervisors should assign just the right amount of work and delegate tasks equally to every member of the team.

Hate, Resentment, Anger and other Negative Feelings towards the Boss

It is not uncommon for an employee to have negative feelings for their boss. Often times not liking the boss doesn’t really affect one’s quality of work. However, when the feeling of dislike becomes too strong, work problems and communication problems really start to kick in. The best solution to this is to talk to the employee and ask if a change of supervisor will improve his performance.

Poor Supervision

Students won’t learn well from a poor teacher, and similar to an educational institution; employees won’t flourish under a poor manager. A manager without much experience may not be able to guide his team to success. Without a good leader, employees won’t be able to learn new things and increase their performance. You can avoid this by ensuring all your managers and supervisors are trained properly in leading employees. To expect the best output, you must also have the best leaders.

In most cases, employee problems arise right when they realize that they aren’t happy with their job. This is why it is important to create a healthy workplace. With these tips, you can eliminate the major causes of work problems in your office and expect an improvement starting with next month’s performance.

© 2013 Incedo Group, LLC