Why do people don't meet expectations at work?

People work when they are asked to but many times when they do not deliver as per your expectations, we take it as their unprofessionalism, lack of understanding or lack of experience. But is that always the reason for the default? Or is it happening, while you have a question why they don't work, they have questions on why they should?

• Am I the right person to do this?

A graphic designer is asked to come up with content for the marketing materials but despite efforts, she is unable to deliver the expected outcome as its not writing but design that she is an expert of.

• Is this the right way to do it?

A company follows a legacy approach to managing project but the new manager believes in Agile approach. The old approach is not working well and the manager wonders why the change is not appreciated.

• Are you acting in my best interest?

An employee feels that the manager assigns her tasks not to help her grow but to merely fill gaps, making her question the manager's motives and her future in the company.

• Am I learning something valuable?

Despite working on multiple projects that go beyond the assigned KRA and attending numerous training sessions, nothing seems to help her go close to her future career aspirations.

• Are my skills rightly utilized?

A sales executive with a knack for client relations, finds himself spending more time on administrative paperwork than engaging with clients, and is unable to utilize his skills the best way.

• Am I given the space to express my concerns?

A new employee tries to voice her concerns about the team's lack of response and participation in meetings, but her points are consistently overlooked, making her feel undervalued.

• Are my words being heard and taken seriously?

A new manager offers suggestions for improvement and even creates documentation to support change but her work is never paid attention to and she is asked to focus on other things that are on higher priority.

• Is this going as planned for me or is random?

You join a new company with a clear career path in mind, but after several random project assignments, you feel that your career trajectory is becoming increasingly uncertain.

• Are my work-life balance and health affected?

Your work hours extending far into the night to meet project deadlines, affecting your health and personal life, and also affecting your performance negatively.

Your employees could be asking these questions to themselves and the responses they get when interacting with an organization, a manager, or a leader, determine their level of interest, motivation, willingness, and enthusiasm to work.

If the answers are not satisfactory, their responses to delegated would be -

- They work silently keeping concerns to themselves as they find no hope of improvement (They are dissatisfied)

Your employee repeatedly sees no change after giving feedback and decides it's better to stay silent and disengage from work whenever possible.

- They act a bit dumb showing more of their incapabilities than capabilities (They don't want to do it)

If your employee is continuously overlooked for roles that match one's skill set, one may stop showcasing full capabilities and only meet the minimum requirement.

- They will resist and delay deliveries (They don't want to work with you)

A team member disagrees with the direction of a project but feels her opinion won't matter; she begins to procrastinate, causing delays in her deliverables.

- They do what you say but inside their mind is a plan to escape (They do not trust you)

After feeling undervalued for months, an empploee starts doing exactly as he's told while actively searching for job opportunities elsewhere.

- They stop giving their best to work (Their voices are unheard despite screams)

Once passionate about her job, a promising employee finds her suggestions ignored and begins to do just enough to get by, no longer striving for excellence.

- They deliver quantity as asked without worrying about quality ( Their values are compromised by the way of work)

Under pressure to meet targets, a salesperson starts to focus on meeting numbers rather than ensuring the quality of his work, leading to subpar outcomes.

These challenges when faced go far beyond the purview of training and are not eas to solve because they are the outcome of the shape of the company's DNA. Less of individual development and more of organizational development would be required. Of course the resolution will not be straight and neither would be the path to it.

1. A full diagnostics has o be run to understand which questions are causing trouble and what expectations are unmet

An anonymous company-wide survey can help gauge employee satisfaction, engagement, and the effectiveness of current management practices. Conduting focus groups and one-on-one interviews can delve deeper into specific concerns to identify key areas where expectations are unmet and significant gaps that are seen in communication or understanding between employees and management.

2. An intervention is required to resolve conflicts between the parties concerned and this has to go beyond just a talk between two people

After identifying a recurring conflict between the sales and marketing departments at a Company, an external mediator can be brought in to re-align both departments towards common goals, improving cooperation and communication.

3. We must understand that we might have started resolving conflicts individual but the problem at hand might be company wide and thus, we require a plan to replicate what brings resolution across the organization.

Once one workshop or development intervention shows a positive impact in resolving conflicts, the HR department may devlop a company-wide training program on conflict resolution, communication skills, and teamwork, drawing from the successful strategies used in the initial intervention.

4. While we know what to do, we need a concrete plan that also addresses areas of how to do, when to do, who to involve, how to measure success, and so on. In short we need a plan and we need metrics to measure.

An IT company decides to implement a new project management system to improve efficiency and communication across teams. They outline a detailed plan including timelines for training, implementation phases, responsible parties for each stage, and specific metrics for success such as a reduction in project overruns, improved employee satisfaction scores related to interdepartmental cooperation, and increased project delivery rates.

5. A plan without proper execution is of no use and to execute it well, it must follow a structure with progress monitoring and tracking in place to ensure that the teams are on toes.

Your company introduces a new policy to enhance work-life balance. A project team is established to take care of the rollout, including setting up a system for employees to provide regular feedback on the policy's effectiveness and any issues faced. Progress is monitored through monthly reviews assessing metrics such as employee turnover rates, absenteeism, and feedback from employee satisfaction surveys.

6. Last but not the least, any initiative may sound appealing at start but its true potential is unconfirmed until results are seen. The metrics that were defined earlier should come to play and support the management in taking decisions about the capability of the strategy and plan in delivering desired outcomes.

After implementing a flexible working hours initiative, the company uses a few defined metrics (employee productivity, satisfaction levels, and customer service ratings) to evaluate the initiative's success. The management team reviews these metrics quarterly to decide if the flexible hours policy is achieving its intended outcomes or if adjustments are necessary.

7. If the results are not acheived as expected, a correction is required followed by another iteration where changes will be brought about.

A company introduces a new digital tool intended to streamline client management processes. Initial feedback and metrics indicate low adoption rates and dissatisfaction due to the tool's complexity. Recognizing this, the company decides to invest in additional training, simplify certain features of the tool, and launch a second iteration. They plan to reassess the tool's effectiveness after these changes, ready to make further adjustments as needed.