5 Characteristics of Problematic Personnel

In our New Year's blog post, 2016: New Year, New Staffing Goals That Are SMART for Your Business, we talked about a few SMART goals that you can incorporate in your overall company goals for 2016 - one of which was about hiring the right people. People that understand and share the same vision you have for your company will be more productive and develop better relationships with their coworkers. This is why it is so important to get the right people through the door from the get-go, but employees that seemed great upon hiring can develop bad habits or grow to be bitter, disengaged, and unproductive based on how they feel in the workplace.



To help identify this, here are 5 characteristics of problematic personnel to watch out for:

1. Employees feel they can't go to their manager and speak openly about issues.

Whether it's about a conflict with a coworker, help with their workload, or a compensation request - employees should feel comfortable going to their manager to discuss issues and seek help without repercussions. If an employee is afraid to go to their manager, it is likely they will become unhappy, which will affect their work and lead to them either leaving on their own or forcing the company to let them go. Avoid this problem by hiring the right people in management positions and providing ongoing training on how to properly deal with employee issues.

2. Employees feel overworked and are growing bitter.

Overworked employees can turn into bitter employees, so it's critical that managers keep an eye on workloads and that employees are encouraged to speak up if they feel bogged down. Weekly workload reviews between manager and employee can help identify issues as well as ensure a balanced workload.

3. Employees are bored and rarely feel challenged.

Gamification is a term you might have heard without necessarily understanding what it’s all about. Basically, it involves turning everyday tasks and activities into a game. In a work setting, this would involve adding attributes to your task that make completing it more like a game. Try coming up with a system of points and rewards for the accomplishments you need to get done— the bigger the accomplishment, the bigger the reward. There are also plenty of apps out there that can help you with gamifying by enabling you to set reminders and track your points.

4. Employees don't feel like they are a part of the team.

It's not always easy to develop great relationships with your co-workers while at work. Everyone is busy, focused on deadlines and whatever they need to do to get through the day and meet their goals. That's why it's important to plan activities outside of work. Whether it's a team dinner or a trip to a theme park, having fun outside of work with your team can create great friendships. This is important in creating a positive environment, especially when you work with the same people, day in and day out, 40+ hours a week.

5. Employees don't feel respected.

Respect has a clear impact on an employee - when employees feel they are not respected at work, their level of engagement and work performance is low. Promoting a culture of respect and civility is not only important - it's vital. Feeling valued also plays a key role in whether or not an employee feels respected, so it should be instilled in all employees to take the time out and show each other they both value and respect one another.

Everyone Needs to Know

Everyone at your company plays a role in the company culture. Making sure that everyone knows and understands this as well as watching out and addressing the five points listed above can help your employees - and your company - be at their best.

Need help hiring the right people? Contact us today!