Why people fail at work

notnksnemor · Aug 19, 2017

660griz said:
I can say over my lengthy career, I have never seen talented and qualified people fail or get fired. I have seen them quit to move to greener pastures.

Agree.
Failure is simply quitting something too soon.

Some things may not be feasible to do for one reason or another, but if you run it to ground and find it is not feasible, that is not failure.
If you don't run it to ground and simply stop persuing it, that also is not failure, it's quitting.

Lukikus2 · Aug 19, 2017

Burn out
Bosses expecting more from someone than what he could ever do.
Bosses who are incompetent.
Incompetent supervisors.
Getting the blame for someone else's mistakes. (Including supers)
Never getting a raise.
Bad working conditions.
To name a few....

DAVE · Aug 20, 2017

People fail at work or get fired due to Racism or maybe they have a personality that sucks and nobody likes them.

dwhee87 · Aug 20, 2017

I think the biggest reason is lack of clear expectations, consequences and rewards. Very few managers in my 30 year career have provided clarity on any of these items. If everyone is on the same page going in, the probability of success increases exponentially.

Second reason is lack of ownership. There's a great book called "Extreme Ownership" that was written by two Navy seals. They show how battlefield strategies and management of team correlates to the business world. Their theory is that everyone should own 360 degrees of their 'battle space", meaning that if people around you, below you and above you aren't succeeding, then maybe its something you need to change. I've taken on this philosophy, and it's made me a much better communicator, up and down the chain of command.

Lukikus2 · Aug 20, 2017

DAVE said:
They have a personality that sucks and nobody likes them.

And they can't figure out why so they blame it on others.

champ · Aug 21, 2017

In manufacturing; it seems no one entering the field is up for any challenge whatsoever. I've read resumes that would justify six-figures, but the individual exhibits a lack of skill for simply plugging in a drop cord. Some we can coach into well skilled employees, others hang their selves with their own rope. This trend directly affects the seasoned employees as well. TIME will never be an incentive for pay increase, performance is the metric of merit I was taught to encourage compensation for achievements in the business. If employees shared costs and it was their money on the line, I believe we'd see a more successful workforce. Until then, they either want it; or they don't.

elfiii · Aug 21, 2017

My experience is the reason most people who fail at work fail is because their employer failed them in one way or another.

Over the years I have fired several people and I viewed each one as my fault because I was unable to motivate teach, train or convince them to perform up to their potential. Admittedly some people just weren't cut out for the job but that was my fault too for not recognizing the person I was hiring just wasn't the right person for the job.

Over the years I have learned to do a better job of vetting candidates and if I hire them I work at cultivating them because my success depends on them being successful first and failure is not a viable alternative for either of us.

jigman29 · Aug 21, 2017

I see a lot of this at my company. I see a few basic types of failures though.
People who are miserable no matter what they are handed. Work like a dog but anything good that happens is immediately broken down into negatives. Makes everyone around them miserable as well so they eventually get replaced or the people around them leave.
lack of drive or caring. I see this a lot in the younger generation but its in the older as well. They never care about the company or respect the fact that said company is providing the food and shelter for them and their family.
Lastly, and this is a huge one. My company has had a boom the last couple of years that is totally unheard of. We have went from making 17k control rods per year to 133k this year. We went through a really bad few years and even laid a few off. But the ones that hung in their and took care of the company are treated like crap. We lost our 401k matches and insurance is through the roof. not to mention our company has a lower average pay than most around us. But the company keeps acting like we should be happy to work there and we keep on hanging in. But I see this as the biggest reason people lose the drive they had for the company.

Crakajak · Aug 22, 2017

elfiii said:
My experience is the reason most people who fail at work fail is because their employer failed them in one way or another.

Over the years I have fired several people and I viewed each one as my fault because I was unable to motivate teach, train or convince them to perform up to their potential. Admittedly some people just weren't cut out for the job but that was my fault too for not recognizing the person I was hiring just wasn't the right person for the job.

Over the years I have learned to do a better job of vetting candidates and if I hire them I work at cultivating them because my success depends on them being successful first and failure is not a viable alternative for either of us.

That's the way I look at employees.
My longest employed person is 32 years. the newest is 7 years. I work the newer employees thru a temp service for at least 9 months.You can find out what they are all about in that time frame.

grouper throat · Aug 22, 2017

elfiii said:
My experience is the reason most people who fail at work fail is because their employer failed them in one way or another.
QUOTE]

That's how I view it too...or a manager failed to teach/cultivate them.

I had this happen with one entry level employee we hired as I was not there for her enough as a manager. I worked 3 days in a client's office 70 miles away and she was the type of employee that wanted me there for her to guide her, and not over the phone. I knew she would leave, and didn't blame her. She's kickin butt in Atlanta now

Culture, feeling like a team, etc. At one time we had a industry leading employee retention rate and in my group we still do. No one has under 10 years with the company and most have 15+.

joepuppy · Aug 22, 2017

I work in public service, and the turnover rate is terribly high. The biggest reason for us based on exit interviews is salary, job responsibilities(Being on call, taking a work capacity test, ect.), and benefits. Very few people with 10+ years in my line of work.

elfiii · Aug 22, 2017

Crakajak said:
That's the way I look at employees.
My longest employed person is 32 years. the newest is 7 years.

That's excellent retention. We have several 20 year+ folks and scads of 15 year+ people. We have 5 newbies hired in the last year but outside of that everybody is long term with us. We have 3 retiring at the end of the year and will be looking to replace them with more of the same.

Hooked On Quack · Aug 23, 2017

PMA will take you a long way. Positive Mental Attitude.

When you took a problem to my ex manager, he wanted you to give him at least 2 solutions. He said we knew our job better than he did, so why don't we solve the problem and he'd handle the rest .. he got fired. facepalm:

Seriously wouldn't you rather come up with a solution, or management??

Crakajak · Aug 23, 2017

Hooked On Quack said:
PMA will take you a long way. Positive Mental Attitude.

When you took a problem to my ex manager, he wanted you to give him at least 2 solutions. He said we knew our job better than he did, so why don't we solve the problem and he'd handle the rest .. he got fired.

Seriously wouldn't you rather come up with a solution, or management??

His bosses didn't like him letting you make decisions he was being paid to make. Go figure.My guys want to make their jobs as easy as possible,but still make the company money.I listen then research for the end result.

BabyIcanGuesstheRest · Aug 23, 2017

because they aint working at work?

BabyIcanGuesstheRest · Aug 23, 2017

I dont get it, I always thought " bust it out and get it done", day goes by sooner, you make more money, no room for slacking in my field ( literally ), up before the sun.

champ · Aug 24, 2017

I don't buy the 'manager failed' excuse. An individual must be willing to learn and assertive enough to soak up the knowledge for success. I do understand that strong leadership is key in retaining a productive workforce, but employees have to understand that success is earned.

NCHillbilly · Aug 24, 2017

Another factor is that in many workplaces, being a backstabber/brownoser is requisite to getting ahead. And often, managers continuously value those who are always atwitter, acting stressed, and appear to be busy all the time but actually not getting much of anything done over those who actually get the stuff done but aren't running around like a chicken with its head cut off. These do not contribute to good morale or company loyalty.

PappyHoel · Aug 24, 2017

elfiii said:
My experience is the reason most people who fail at work fail is because their employer failed them in one way or another.

Over the years I have fired several people and I viewed each one as my fault because I was unable to motivate teach, train or convince them to perform up to their potential. Admittedly some people just weren't cut out for the job but that was my fault too for not recognizing the person I was hiring just wasn't the right person for the job.

Over the years I have learned to do a better job of vetting candidates and if I hire them I work at cultivating them because my success depends on them being successful first and failure is not a viable alternative for either of us.

Spoken like a true leader. In my field people wash out quickly and it's usually due to lack of technical skills. Luckily when I started at the bottom the company wanted to train me. Today you sink, swim or come from India making less than the American

elfiii · Aug 24, 2017

PappyHoel said:
Spoken like a true leader.

I've been pretty successful at it based on profitability and employee morale. My people would walk through the gates of Hades, kill Satan dead as a carp and be home bragging about it by dinner time if I asked them to do it. I'd have a tip top dinner waiting on them and they would get something extra special in that next paycheck too.

Why people fail at work

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