What causes employees to be unproductive?
James Olson
Updated on March 31, 2026
In most cases, unproductive employees is a result of bad hiring. Don’t beat yourself up about the bad hire. It’s important to recognize unproductive employees right away, so that you can fix the problem as quickly as possible, without losing profit and productivity levels.
How do I manage an unproductive employee?
You will get a more honest response and be more likely to develop an effective solution.
- Do: Evaluate the Employee’s Fit in the Job and Your Organization.
- Do: Set Goals.
- Do: Offer Incentives.
- Do: Provide Encouragement.
- Don’t: Immediately Fire Someone.
- Don’t: Embarrass the Employee.
- Don’t: Ignore the problem.
How might an employee show unproductive behavior in the workplace?
You can usually tell if people don’t have motivation or drive if they’re doing all of the things mentioned above–making excuses, putting things off, complaining, always bothering the boss, etc. In some cases, there is a lack of motivation and productivity simply because that employee was the wrong fit to begin with.
What are the consequences of wrong selection decision?
Therefore, hiring the wrong person for the job can have serious consequences – not only can it compromise the morale of the rest of your team and affect the engagement of those employees, but may increase levels of absenteeism, impact on customer service, reduce productivity and ultimately affect your profitability.
What is unproductive work behavior?
While it is impossible for employees to be productive 100 percent of the time, organizations must take steps to eliminate unproductive employee behaviors such as absenteeism, tardiness and distractions, which may be caused by anything from water-cooler conversations to inappropriate use of the Internet or social media.
How do you motivate an unproductive employee?
10 Ways to Motivate Unproductive Employees
- Restructure jobs.
- Focus on relationships.
- Make it meaningful.
- Set goals and celebrate them.
- Treat them like adults.
- Offer regular recognition.
- Tie rewards to results.
- Think small, but creative.
Why controlling bosses have unproductive employees?
In fact, if your employees consider you a controlling person, even an unconscious thought of you can have a negative effect on their performance. Researchers found that the subjects, having been subliminally exposed to these names, unconsciously did the opposite of work hard.
What is unproductive work Behaviour?
What is productive behavior in an organization?
Productive behavior is that behavior which fosters greater results in the workplace. Productive behaviors are measurable through performance measures such as output, quality of work, and other standards.
Why are some of my employees so unproductive?
Can you lose a lot by treating your employees fairly?
Treating them fairly means to be able to recognize those aspects and provide them with fair compensation, benefits and recognition. You cannot lose by being fair. You can and will lose a lot by painting everyone the same It’s not only about salary. It’s about being fair and having a total compensation package that is competitive.
What happens when you lose your best employee?
If they have to threaten you to get a more competitive offer, they might already be long gone. Losing your best employees doesn’t always mean having them quit; demotivation, loss of interest, and presenteeism are all also signs you’ve lost an employee.
Can a company lose employees by painting everyone the same?
You can and will lose a lot by painting everyone the same It’s not only about salary. It’s about being fair and having a total compensation package that is competitive. More and more people nowadays will leave their jobs because they feel like they could get more elsewhere.