5 Common Characteristics of Unproductive Employees

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By Megan Lacombe

Topics: unproductive employees

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5_Common_Characteristics_of_Unproductive_Employees.jpgUnproductive employees can change your whole company's productivity, efficiency, and morale. Even one bad apple can result in a negative domino effect to the rest of your workers. 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. Here are five common characteristics of unproductive employees, so that you can recognize them immediately.

1. They Complain

If your employee constantly complains, this is a red flag. Complaining illustrates that the employee is not willing to work, or make a change. Not only that, but complaining about a task just wastes time. Ideal employees will not dwell on the problem, but will work right away to find a solution.

2. Make Excuses

Like complaining, making excuses is just another way that unproductive employees waste time. When an employee starts making excuses for why a project isn't complete, or if they make excuses for why they are late to work, it's a clear sign that they are a bad candidate for your business.

3. Procrastinate

While many professionals procrastinate here and there, if you find that your employee procrastinates and doesn't complete any tasks at all, that's a huge problem. Your productivity levels will drop, your team will fall behind, and profits will decrease exponentially. You may find yourself scrambling to hire temp workers to make up for it, instead of fixing the problem (letting the unproductive employee go). It's important to make sure you recognize the major procrastinators at your company.

4. Pass Responsibilities to Others

While you may delegate tasks to your employees, you may not realize that unproductive employees usually pass on their responsibilities to coworkers. If projects are being completed on time, you're probably not going to ask which employee completed what task. It's imperative that you make sure this type of behaviour doesn't go under the radar. Watch out for this and ask other workers for their feedback.

5. Have No Motivation/Passion

Perhaps you have hired someone who has worked for you for years, and has become a little too comfortable in their position. So much so that they don't feel the need to be productive because they have job stability no matter what. Or, perhaps they have worked at your company for so long that they have lost motivation/passion for their work. If this is the case, it's time to let them go.

Are you looking for qualified, productive, and hard working employees for your company? Avoid hiring unproductive employees by contacting Liberty Staffing today!

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Megan Lacombe

Megan is a Media Communications professional at Liberty Staffing. She has experience working as a Freelance Writer for a variety of companies online. In her free time, she enjoys crafting, photography, running, and kayaking. An avid reader, she reads anything, anywhere. She puts creativity and passion into everything that she does. Her favourite quote is “Create the things you wish existed” by Anonymous.

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