?? 20 things that really p*$$ employers off ??

Ok, so if we're honest:

Most of what we cover in our blogs and emails are things employers need to do to provide engaging, productive, and successful workplaces.

But...

I keep getting asked to provide info from the other side...

That is: what employees need to be aware of that irritate employers.

Rather than just what employers need to do.

So, to start this conversation, I put together a list of 20 of the most common frustrations we hear from employers.

That's right, we're listing things that absolutely tick employers off:

• How many of these frustrations have you experienced?
• How many of these employee sins have you committed yourself?

P.S. This doesn’t mean that employer responsibility is eliminated. But hopefully it will bring awareness to both parties. And let employers know that they're not alone!

Employer Frustrations: Top 20 Highlights

Here are some of the things that frustrate employers the most.

1. Candidates applying for positions for which they are clearly not a fit for—nor even interested in. They don’t have the skills, haven’t checked the location, aren’t actually interested in working or fulfilling the requirements of role such as they can’t work full-time hours or part-time hours listed in posting.

2. Any element of lying, but particularly claiming ‘they developed something from scratch’ or ‘delivered particular results’ they have had very little to do with.

3. Candidates who rock up late or don’t show up to an interview at all, with no communication.

4. Candidates who complain about previous employers in an interview, or have stolen intellectual property to show a new employer.

5. Job candidates who don’t have any true commitment to their decision to join a company (i.e. accepting and signing a contract doesn’t mean they'll actually start and starting doesn’t mean they’ll stay longer than 4 weeks).

6. Candidates who still attend interviews elsewhere after signing with you, and have no hesitation in accepting a different offer despite your company purchasing equipment, business cards, ordering logins and cancelling appointments to provide induction.

7. Employees who don’t communicate at all if they are sick or not able to attend work on time. And when you call to check on them to make sure they are ok, they don’t pick their phone up. Or when they simply resign via text saying: "not coming back."

8. Requesting to book holidays with no leave accrued and getting upset if this is rejected or not approved immediately.

9. Booking and paying for travel or an overseas trip without checking first to see if the time is convenient or if anyone else is off during that time, or wanting to book 4-6 weeks holidays without even thinking of the disruption and inconvenience to cover them while away.

10. Every single personal issue being treated as an emergency which requires having to leave work or take a mental health day.

11. Predictable sick leave after public holidays (or choosing to stay out late and get drunk when you know you have to work the next day — considering it a reasonable sick leave excuse that is equivalent to the flu).

Bonus points: if they post photos on social media of themselves at home hungover or at the beach getting over the hangover.

12. Large annual salary increase expectations. To note: most companies generally allow for CPI which could be between 1-3% and even that is subject to how the company / industry has performed. 

However... some employees now are expecting a minimum $5k raise for doing the job they’re already paid (and/or just signed on to do).

On top of that: every salary review each year is turning into an annual renegotiation war with no consideration of company results, actual budget provisions for increases, or revenue required to cover increases (which also have impact on additional super, payroll tax and other on-costs).

And another frustration on similar line... An expectation that as company revenue increases, salaries should increase proportionately, despite the tripling of marketing budgets, additional resources required or spend the employers have made in other areas to generate increase. 

13. No longer grateful for fruit, birthday cake, morning teas, Melbourne cup, Christmas lunches or staff dinners and other events.

They’ve become just minimum expectation that are not often met with any thanks or gratitude with no thought of how much these things actually cost.

For example, a one-hour lunch with all staff off to watch the race not only costs all of the employees time, their possible lost billable time, but also catering and lack of productivity afterward.

14. Expecting automatic progression within one year and ‘professional development budgets,’ even though companies generally invest over $15k on average for induction periods.

15. Coming to work ten minutes late or returning back from lunch late is ‘no real biggie.’ 

16. When employees are frustrated at not being made to feel inspired each and every day.

17. Every discussion asking staff to do something different or providing any type of feedback is difficult. It turns into a two-hour counselling session that the staff end up having to approve the managers' delivery, or can result in staff taking the rest of the week off sick.

18. Informal language and texts to their boss and clients, or inappropriate or disrespectful comments or talk back to their supervisors as ‘normal conversation’ without any concern of reprimand.

19. Inappropriate personal sharing with clients or complaining about their employer to clients.

20. When staff do a job that they’re already being paid well for, but also expect a parade of acknowledgment all the time in order to keep them motivated (but heaven forbid you raise something they can do better more than once).

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So employees, if you’re reading this: be aware that some of these things may cause major frustration for your employer...

And you might be able to win some brownie points if you avoid doing them.

Employers:

Have I missed any common frustrations? Which one irritates you the most?

Share in the comments below! I'd love to hear them.

Now, employers, I know how some of you must be feeling right now. 

Maybe you're feeling relieved because I have just purged for you... And that's great...

But I hate to break the bad news that just because I’ve listed those frustrations doesn’t mean they’ll go away and that they don’t still require strategies.

Sharpen your management skills 

Join me at my next Leadership & Success or Management Essentials 1-Day Intensives to pick up the skills to take your leadership game to the next level. 

They're on this month and they're not to be missed:

***

1-DAY LEADERSHIP & SUCCESS INTENSIVE

Perfect for leaders responsible for teams and who want to be the best leader they can be.

• Success Principles
• Personal and Leadership Brand
• Networking for Success
• Leadership Models
• DISC and Influencing Key Stakeholders
• Building High Performance Teams
• Building Trust and Accountability

When: Thursday, 22nd February 2018 

***

1-DAY MANAGEMENT ESSENTIALS INTENSIVE

Perfect for any manager or supervisor who is responsible for people and wants to learn more about key management practices.

• Learning Styles
• Fast Track Process
• Running Effective Meetings
• Effective Communication
• Giving and Receiving Feedback
• Managing Performance and Conduct
• Managing Conflict
• Recruitment / Interviewing skills

When: Friday, 23rd February 2018 

*****

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paulette Kolarz is widely recognised as one of Australia's leading authorities in Human Resource Management and Leadership Development.

Having been awarded the Telstra Business Women of the Year, the PricewaterhouseCoopers Young Business Women of the Year and the Hudson Private and Corporate Business Women of the Year in SA, she has spoken to thousands of people on the topics of effective leadership, maximising individual and team potential, human resources strategies, business growth and more.

Today Paulette leads the BespokeHR team, with a mission of empowering small and medium sized businesses with world class HR strategies and processes, leadership development, executive coaching and recruitment solutions.

Paulette can be reached at [email protected] or on +61 412 393 068.