by Gerald L. DeSalvo
Are you having difficulty getting some employees to perform up to expectations and are not sure why? This article will discuss the wide variety of factors that can affect their performance.
Consideration of these factors in your analysis of the employee’s performance should help you find the solutions for them. It should also help you to focus on those factors that you can realistically influence, while minimizing time and effort on factors outside of your control.
Factors Effecting Employee Performance
How an employee performs at work is subject to numerous factors such as: individual ability and personal circumstances, the organizational design, culture and support for performance, and external influences outside of the work environment. Trying to determine which influences are causing substandard performance can be both confusing and time consuming, as few workplace performance situations involve just one or two influencing factors. In many cases, there may be one prominent cause but many secondary causes.
One common mistake managers make when looking at substandard performance is to reflexively blame the problem on a lack of training. This tendency to prematurely identify a lack of training as the underlying cause of a workplace performance deficiency is sometimes due to a lack of
understanding of the many non-training factors contributing to performance.
Often, this tendency to prematurely select training as a solution is a result of pressure from superiors or other stakeholders to “do something” quickly. Counting “butts in the seats” of a training program provides easily quantifiable proof that the organization is doing something about performance issues, even if a lack of training is not the primary cause. You can readily observe this tendency to quickly identify “training” as the solution to performance problems in many public safety related incidents that are reported in the media every week.
This is not to say, however, that training, when properly developed and delivered, cannot be an appropriate solution to many performance problems. It is a very effective method when addressing knowledge and skill deficiencies (Knowledge = information that can be directly applied to the performance of a task/Skill = an observable ability to perform a learned psychomotor task).
Some Non-Training Related Causes of Poor Workplace Performance
So, what are some of the “non-training” related causes of poor performance? Some of the non-training related causes of workplace performance problems are:
Individual Worker Factors That Affect Performance
a. a worker who is physically and/or mentally unable to perform the task (temporarily or permanently)
b. a poor work ethic or attitude on the part of the employee
c. an employee’s personal situation (e.g., family issues, physical and mental health, finances – important to determine if long or short term as that adds context)
Organizational Factors That Affect Performance
a. a lack of effective leadership and management (e.g., unqualified or unsuitable leaders/managers [lack of job knowledge, experience, training, leadership traits])
b. a poorly designed organizational structure (e.g., no clear chain of command, duplication of effort)
c. staff shortages and budget shortfalls
d. a lack of effective recruiting, selection and hiring procedures (e.g., a haphazard hiring process resulting in employees poorly suited to the organization’s needs)
e. a lack of effective written policies and procedures on how to do a job correctly and covering the standards of professional conduct
f. no consistent understanding and/or enforcement of, the performance policies, standards and procedures (e.g., ineffective dissemination of policies, inadequate disciplinary system)
g. a hostile work environment (e.g., sexual harassment, discriminatory practices)
h. poorly designed and implemented training programs (in those organizations that have them)
i. a lack of task familiarity and workplace performance support (e.g., task not required on frequent basis, lack of practice, complex task with many steps but inadequate workplace support [e.g., lack of needed job aids, flowcharts, step-by-step guides, operation manuals])
j. a lack of effective and timely performance feedback to the employee (e.g., via a standardized employee performance evaluation process)
k. a lack of positive incentives (e.g., salary, benefits, recognition and awards)
l. disincentives to good performance (e.g., the better job performance the more work assigned, assignments/promotions based on who you know rather than performance)
m. unethical, illegal, and/or corrupt practices within the organization
n. a negative or dysfunctional organizational culture (e.g., one that emphasizes individual success over team success or the broader organizational goals)
o. poor working conditions (e.g., substandard and/or poorly maintained facilities, equipment)
p. a lack of needed equipment and technology (e.g., including effective IT systems/software and hardware)
q. external hostility directed against the organization and its employees (e.g., from customers, clients, internal and external stakeholders, the public, special interest groups)
In Conclusion
As we can observe from the long list of non-training related causes of poor worker performance, there are many factors that can influence individual and/or group performance. Understanding and identifying the correct causes of the worker performance gap are key factors in selecting successful solutions. Managers who can do this in an effective and timely manner will have an advantage in today’s constantly changing and complex workplace. Hopefully, this article will help you with that difficult task.
Author: Gerald L. DeSalvo is the Managing Director of WGSG. He has more than 40 years of international security management, law enforcement and military intelligence experience. He has lived and worked overseas for 15 years, including 10+ years in Latin America.
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