50 Times People Did Their Jobs So Poorly That It Was Almost Impressive (New Pics)

According to Talenlio, a whopping 85% of people report feeling disengaged at work. And considering the fact that we spend about one third of our adult lives working, hating all of those hours will likely decrease overall life satisfaction. When it comes to why exactly most workers quit their jobs, three quarters say that they were pushed to leave because of their boss rather than their actual position.

But plenty of employees also believe that their work just isn’t meaningful, so it’s hard for them to find any motivation. Other issues negatively impacting worker motivation are lack of recognition, a toxic work environment, lack of professional growth, a low salary, and lack of communication. Feeling like you’re alone in your company is never a good sign.   

Now, if you’re a business owner or manager who supervises employees, it’s your job to ensure that they don’t become complacent at work. Blaming them won’t solve the problem, it will likely only increase employee turnover. Instead, Diversio recommends some strategies for getting your workers engaged in their roles.

First, they suggest conducting meaningful conversations with your workers. Provide feedback, and make sure that you understand how your employees are feeling. If you never check in with them, you might not be aware of how miserable they really are. It’s also a good idea to make each job intrinsically rewarding. This might require adding in some variety to each and every day, but it will be worth it if it boosts motivation and productivity. 

Another way bosses can motivate their workers is by recognizing and rewarding their hard work. Don’t act like working hard is just the expectation. Employees want to feel appreciated. And if you want to keep them around for years, it’s important that you don’t ignore their progress and growth. If they’re helping the company meet meaningful goals, they should know that the company has their back too.

Have you ever been worried that you were going to get fired? Depending on where you live, what kind of industry you work in and how long you’ve been in the field, you might be able to get away with a lot before your employer would consider cutting you loose. Perhaps there’s nobody else in the company who could handle your level of responsibility. Then you’ve got great job security! 

But unfortunately, this isn’t the case for everyone. A survey from Airtasker found that over a quarter of workers will experience being laid off during their career. Meanwhile, over 15% of people say that they’ve been fired, and 17% admit that they’ve experienced both.

When it comes to the most common reasons why employees get fired, Airtasker reports that personality conflicts are actually number one. Other reasons often cited are bosses being jerks, office politics, poor performance, budget issues, tardiness or poor attendance, being disliked by upper management, being underqualified, breaking office policy, and making too many errors. Also, over 40% of workers who have been fired admit that they deserved it. I wonder if any of the workers featured on this list would feel the same way…

Now, we can’t all be star employees. There’s a pretty good chance that someone reading this article isn’t great at their job. And that’s totally fine! But you don’t want your performance to be so poor that you’re at risk of getting fired. So if you’re wondering whether or not you’re a valuable employee, Chris Williams, former VP of HR at Microsoft, shared some insight with Business Insider. 

First, he notes that the easiest way to realize that you’re not doing well is by listening to the feedback from your manager. “If the feedback is specific, detailed, and — importantly — accurate, you need to listen. There really is an issue with your work,” he warns.