50 Examples of Employee Issues

John Spacey, August 10, 2021

An employee issue is a problem or risk to an employee's performance or conformance to the policies and principles of a firm. These can be minor to major and are typically communicated to the employee and documented in performance management artifacts such as performance reviews and performance improvement plans. The following are common examples of employee issues.

Absenteeism	Breaks a Law
Brings Politics to Work (external politics)	Communication Problems
Cronyism (e.g. promotes unqualified friends)	Discrimination
Dishonesty	Dispute Between Employee and Firm
Disregards Information Security Practices	Disrespectful to Customers, Partners or Coworkers
Doesn't Comply to Policy	Fails to Achieve Objectives
Fails to Act in the Best Interests of the Firm	Fails to Collaborate with Team
Fails to Control Costs	Fails to Engage Stakeholders
Fails to Reflect the Values of the Firm Outside Working Hours	Failure to Deliver to Commitments
Fraud	Harassment
Health & Safety Violations	Hostile to Customers
Ignores Internal Controls	Inappropriate Expenses
Inappropriately Harsh Communication	Interpersonal Conflict
Lack of Financial Diligence and Control	Late For Work / Meetings
Leaks Information	Low Customer Satisfaction
Low Productivity	Low Work Throughput
Media Consumption at Work	Overly Political (internal politics)
Passive Aggressive Behavior	Personal Hygiene
Poor Attention to Detail	Poor Work Quality
Preaches an Ideology at Work	Resists Change
Shirks Accountability & Responsibility	Skills / Knowledge Shortfall
Slow Response to Requests	Spreads Gossip
Swearing	Unethical Conduct
Unprofessional Attire	Unprofessional Conduct
Unreachable During Work Hours	Workplace Bullying

Policy can be over-enforced. For example, an HR department that is always writing everyone up every time they have a minor lapse is likely to create a toxic work environment whereby employees become disengaged and hostile to the firm. Likewise, penalizing high performing talent for minor issues such as being late is likely to backfire.

Underenforcement of policy can also create a toxic culture. For example, an executive who disregards ethics may set the tone for similar behavior across your entire organization.

Writing up employees up for something they have done outside working hours is reserved for serious ethical lapses. Employees typically find monitoring outside working hours to be oppressive and dark. The reason firms employ people is to create value not to control employees.

50 Examples of Employee Issues

Employee Performance

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