What Annoys Employees
at Work? 

Sarita’s Informal Survey

 In the 18+ years that I’ve spoken at companies, campuses and conferences on staying positive and working together better, I have received feedback from hundreds of employees on what annoys them at work.

 This feedback falls into four categories:

 1. Lack of appreciation

2. No big picture

3. Lack of belonging

4. Slackers not confronted

Let’s look at what employees had to say about each of these.

1.  LACK OF APPRECIATION

 Employees felt that it was taken for granted that they would do their jobs, and in recent years have grown weary of hearing the comment “at least you have a job!”  One woman told me that she had been working for the same company for 15 years and had not even once been told “good job” or “thank you.”  She said that although she had to comply with the boss’ requests to keep her job, she did just enough to get by.

2.   NO BIG PICTURE

 Many employees say that they toil away day after day in their own cubicle, often unaware of how their tasks fit into the organization’s bigger picture.  They want to know that what they are doing has a purpose and makes a difference.

3.   LACK OF BELONGING

 We’ve all heard the expression “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  Employees want to feel that they are part of a team that cares about them as a person.  Most people will go out of their way to support someone they care about, but may not do the same for someone they perceive as distant and uncaring.

What are YOU doing to show your team you care?

4.   SLACKERS NOT CONFRONTED

 This is the #1 complaint I hear from employees at companies large and small.  As one person put it:  “People are getting away with stuff and no one is doing anything about it!” or another: “Why should I work so hard when everyone else is slacking off?”

So…how do we know which, if any of these, are annoying our employees?

I’ll refer back to my recent Ask for More blog and suggest that we ask employees for their opinions AND be open to listening to what they have to say…even if we don’t like what we hear!