What Causes Under Performance in Employees?

Underperformance is not something that is uncommon. It happens when an employee does not meet the required standard set for his/her role. Your team might start their day full of energy and ready to take on any challenge that is thrown at them – but by the end of the day, you’ll still sense a lack of productivity.

What could be the possible reason? Let’s analyze a few causes why your employees could suffer underperformance and not make enough of an effort.

Also Read: Why Employee Productivity Monitoring is Important for Business Growth?

Most common causes for underperformance among employees:

1. Personal issues:

Studies show that 47% of employees face problems in their personal life that affect their work performance. Employees facing personal challenges show tardiness, make constant mistakes, feel distracted and have little patience with the things that are going on around them. The relationship with colleagues and boss deteriorates, which in turn will have a greater impact on employee productivity as well as the overall team performance.

2. Office environment:

Indoor office environment can have a direct impact on employee productivity, well-being, and mindset - because employees (working from office) tend to spend most of their time in a building. Few factors like temperature, excessive air-conditioning, lack of natural light, clustered workspace, noise conditions can disrupt focus and could cause employees to underperform to a greater degree.

3. Lack of skills and motivation:

Sometimes, employees simply lack the required skills or motivation that inhibits them from completing their assignments. They might constantly seek others' help, procrastinate or take too long to complete tasks that are assigned to them. Chances are employees might have been poorly matched with their jobs or they might be working on things that are too demanding for them. A quick fix for such issues will only make the problems worse with too much time being wasted. So, it is extremely important to identify and fix the root cause before it influences the entire team’s productivity.

4. Unclear roles and responsibilities:

Oftentimes, the management fails to notify employees of their roles and responsibilities or set parameters for the job they’ve been assigned to. In those cases, employees tend to set goals/targets for themselves – which might be totally different from what is expected for their role. In the worst case scenario, employees become lethargic (or unmotivated) and do not perform when goals and expectations are undefined.

5. Work related stress:

Employees tend to develop stress when they are overwhelmed with too many tasks or lack guidance in a particular situation. In those cases, most employees extend their shifts, work during weekends, try multi-tasking or juggle between tasks - in order to ensure deliverables. Some employees compartmentalize personal struggles (with a coworker) and keep it to themselves – may be due to fear of opening up to superiors or other hidden factors. These actions not only hamper employee productivity but also affect their well-being in the long run.

6. Boredom:

It is normal for employees to get bored at work – especially when assigned with repetitive, unfamiliar or menial sets of tasks. Over a certain period of time, it gets monotonous and employees tend to lose motivation and start procrastinating tasks. Some employees may feel their job is not challenging or interesting and doesn’t add value to their career path. They look for other options or simply exhibit attributes of underperformance.

7. Inadequate supervision:

Supervision is important for effective resource management and to sustain (improve) employee productivity in the workplace. Without adequate supervision or guidance, employees feel left out in the cold and lack clarity as to where they are headed to. Most employees tend to take accountability and perform well when they know they are being supervised. Such employees require frequent follow ups or a gentle push in order to derive motivation and get things done.

Tackle underperformance and improve employee productivity the right way:

Don’t forget to be an understanding leader:

Apply the formula of an understanding leader and overcome employee productivity challenges. Here are a few things you can implement to help your employees successfully navigate through the workplace challenges.

• Check in regularly
• Listen to what your employees have to say
• Offer solution and provide support
• Get to the bottom of why your employee is stonewalled
• Stop the blame game if you notice lack of performance instead take appropriate action

Try implementing employee productivity monitoring software:

Most employees try to deliver results based on the effectiveness of training programs, understanding of the project and tools available at their disposal. But still the issues about lack of employee productivity crops up every now and then. With the current working scenario, it has become crucial that employers find a way to stay on top of employee performance in order to sustain growth and stability.

To gain insight on employee productivity, work pattern and performance the best option would be to implement employee monitoring and productivity software like Handdy. Using Handdy, you can analyze your employee work pattern on a much granular level and understand how they spend their time during working hours. Start with a free demo of Handdy employee productivity monitoring software and decide for yourself.