Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed to Do and What to Do About It

Not knowing why a task should be undertaken is the one reason for employee nonperformance that most managers find the easiest to accept-it's logical and needs no explanation. Today's managers know that it is perfectly acceptable for an employee to ask "Why?" However, many employees fail to perform adequately because most managers fail to address that question before it's asked.The employee needs specific information about why a task is important. Detail the problems and goals, discuss the solutions, and explain the expected benefits of success and the consequences of failure.Not knowing how to do something is the second most common reason employees don't do what they are supposed to do. This usually occurs because managers assume that the employee knows how to perform a particular task, believe that telling is teaching, and frequently assign training to an experienced employee who doesn't necessarily know how to teach.Employees sometimes don't know there is a specific task they should perform, i.e., they don't know what they are supposed to do. This occurs because there is a wide discrepancy between what the manager thinks is the employee's responsibility and what the em-ployee feels it to be. A worker who responds to the boss's request by saying, "That's not my job," is probably indicating that he or she hasn't been told what the job is.