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This is the question many frustrated CEOs and managers are asking about their employees. There are plenty of reasons why your business might be stuck in a rut or going pear shaped. But could it be due to employees not performing well, being misguided or not having enough training? Let’s have a look at some common issues and solutions.

Are your employees happy in their jobs? If they’re not happy, they could be working against you. Do they even know your organisation’s overall goals? Most employees can’t articulate the business mission statement. They don’t know what the business is trying to achieve. They come in every day and work in their own little world.

Unengaged employees are like dags. Do you know what a dag is? Let’s just say it has something to do with sheep. If you have unhappy and frustrated employees, you need to find a solution quickly or your dags will weigh you down forever.

So far I’ve put quite a lot of heat on the employees. Let’s switch the heat onto the CEO or manager. As the manager, it’s your job to make sure the employees are performing up to standard. If you are not making this happen, it’s your fault.

Don’t start blaming your employees for not keeping up with the times. They were hired to do a job and they’ve probably been doing it. I bet nowhere in their job description did it say “keep an eye on the market and change what you do accordingly, and while you’re there seek out new opportunities for future advancement and business improvement tools to keep things running smoothly”. No, that’s not something that goes into a standard job description because it is seen as a waste of time to have an employee doing unguided research. The employee should be doing at all times what they were employed to do.

Research shows that employees would rather be recognised for their extra efforts rather than have a pay rise and forgotten about. Think about it – they come in to your workplace and do work for you every day and it takes up the majority of their waking hours. Wouldn’t you want some kind of recognition if you put in extra effort for somebody else’s gain? Show other people in your business how the person put in an extra effort and how it helped the business. An outwardly appreciated employee is more likely to put in extra effort again and again. Other employees will observe this recognition and become motivated to put in extra effort, too.

The following are some other issues that must be attended to:

• Employees having difficulty communicating with other employees inside and outside their immediate division or department.
• Meetings not being attended.
• Employees usually have solutions to their problems but can’t act on them due to almost definite rejection by management. Get inside your employees’ heads!
• Employees avoiding responsibility and handballing tasks they don’t want to do, meaning another employee has to take up a task on top of their duties.
• New employees not getting enough specific training. This significantly slows down the employee’s ability to perform efficiently and also makes some employees appear incompetent at their job or feel embarrassed for not knowing simple procedures that are specific to the business.

So before you say, “What the f— is wrong with these people,” consider the points above and figure out who’s responsible for your workplace. Somebody needs to take control of these things. It’s your job to do that.

Show your employees you respect them and you want to help them succeed. In return they will respect you and feel happy and willing to succeed in their position. This is a simple concept but it’s often dismissed due to a manager on a power trip or simply not respecting those below.

Paul Groth is a marketing strategist, entrepreneur, and founder of www.marketingmixer.com.au. He is a strong believer in unconventional marketing using tactics such as persuasion, emotion, controversial content and getting the most bang for your buck using low-cost marketing methods. Follow Paul on twitter @paulMrG

Photo: Shane Gorsky