4 Reasons Talented Employees Don’t Reach Their Potential

By | May 29, 2019

[May 29, 2019] As a manager, it falls to you to bring out the full potential of each and every one of your employees, and not just because you want to get the best possible performance from them in the workplace. You have a moral obligation to offer support to people – and the hope would be that if the roles were reversed, they’d do the same for you.

Identifying the ways in which your employees are being held back isn’t easy, but once you know what’s wrong then you can go ahead and take steps to correct the problem. You can’t fix a problem that you don’t know about, and it’s like GI Joe said: knowing is half the battle.

And so without further ado, let’s go ahead and take a look at what stops talented employees from reaching their full potential.

4 Reasons Talented Employees Don’t Reach Their Potential

  1. Stifling culture

Arguably the number one thing stopping people from reaching their full potential is the fact that many workplaces are stifling their creativity. Unless you’re super lucky, the chances are that you’ve worked for a company like this yourself. Combatting a stifling culture isn’t easy, but it’s pretty easy to spot one. All you need to do is to ask employees what they think about the culture and to pay attention to what they say and how they say it.

  1. Self-doubt

One of the biggest reasons that college students turn to essay writing services for custom essay writings is the fact that they’re held back by self-doubt. Self-doubt can also become a self-fulfilling prophecy, so if you think that you can’t do something, the chances are that you’re not going to be able to do it. That’s why Sylvia Plath famously said, “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

  1. Lack of feedback

When we’re making a purchase online, we tend to take a look at the reviews, and this holds true whether we’re looking at book reviews or whether we’re looking at essayhave reviews. Feedback helps us to make purchasing decisions, but it can also help us to become better people and better employees. Ongoing feedback is vital for personal development, and it’s not enough to simply give employees an annual review.

  1. No development or direction

Employees need to have something to work towards, even if that’s just a pay rise or a promotion. Without career direction and personal development opportunities, people are left coming to work every day with no motivation other than the financial one. Before long, they’ll be running on autopilot and dropping behind when it comes to quality control.

Conclusion

Now that you know what stops employees from reaching their full potential, it falls to you to take steps to rectify the situation. For example, if you’re worried that self-doubt is holding people back then you can go out of your way to provide support and guidance. And if your company culture is stifling people, perhaps it’s time to rethink the way that you do business.

So go ahead and take a long, hard look at your company and see if you can identify what’s holding your employees back. Once you’ve identified those factors, you can take steps to combat them, and before you know it, you’ll be able to see the difference you’ve made in your employees’ attitudes and the way that they approach their work. Good luck.

Author: Jacob Dillion

Jacob Dillon is a professional writer and distinctive journalist from Sydney, Australia. Being passionate about what he does, Jacob likes to discuss stirring events as well as express his opinion about technological advancements and evolution of society. Find Jacob on Twitter and Facebook.

9 thoughts on “4 Reasons Talented Employees Don’t Reach Their Potential

  1. Max Foster

    I’m not so sure about “self-doubt” being one of the reasons that employees are held back. If we are talking about ‘good’ employees, it is usually something within the organization that is the problem. It could be a lack of resources or poor leadership (very common reason). Lack of leadership is usually the problem. Today, managers think they are leaders when in reality, they are nothing of the sort. The confusion is one of the problems today in many businesses.

    Reply
  2. Willie Shrumburger

    Jacob, good article. What I like about it is that it is succinct and on a relevant topic. Whenever I go to Gen. Satterfield’s leadership blog that is what I expect and always have. Thanks.

    Reply
  3. Eric Coda

    Thanks Jacob. The responsibility of a leader worth their salt is to overcome these problems. Not easy to do. But that is why they are leaders.

    Reply
    1. Georgie M.

      There are obstacles that prevent employees from reaching their potential but it takes more – of course. It also takes guidance and motivation to push employees to be better than they would normally be. Loved the article Jacob. Thanks Eric!

      Reply
  4. Fred Weber

    Another good article worthy of reading this morning. Lots of things that real leaders actually do to be better at carrying out their responsibilities. Well done, Jacob!

    Reply
    1. Ronny Fisher

      I thought that this article would identify key issues that block (or retard) the advancement of good employees and it didn’t disappoint. Jacob, your previous article was also spot on. Good also to hear from our neighbors down under.
      🙂 🙂 🙂

      Reply

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