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12 Signs you might be a terrible employee

leadership restoration small business staffing Aug 23, 2022

 The title should be 12 signs that you are a great employee. That is of course if we weren’t rebels and we listened to what all marketing professionals say about positioning your content from the affirmative.

We are rebels at heart.

You know this by now. 

Back to normal programming.


Most people will try to show you why you are a good employee. But in the work that we do, where we speak to lots of restoration contractors on the daily, and all we hear about is how hard it is to find GOOD people. 

So we saw this graphic and thought we’d be the bad guys and tell everyone out there who consumes our content about what they are doing wrong, and signs that you should look for to see how can self identify issues. 

Lets jump in:

1 You are not punctual

  • This isn’t about showing up for the morning meetings every day. This is about managing your time well. Its about answering the call in the middle of the night, and getting on scene ASAP so you can lock that job in. In order to do that well, you’ve got to prepare before you go to sleep by doing inventory on the truck, and getting everything ready to respond.
    Its about responding to phone calls from the team, or providing proper training so that they know how to perform their tasks without you, so that when they do call you know its super important. 

2. You always make excuses

  • We are huge fans of the book Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink. In nearly every situation in life, we have the ability to impact or control some aspect of situations that arise around us. We need to learn how to own what we can control, and speak about what we can do or could have done to change or impact the situation at hand, rather than waste time on excuses and shirking responsibility/accountability. 

3. You do the bare minimum

  • Its often said, if you aren’t falling, you aren’t trying. Are you doing just enough to get paid? Or are you taking a little risk and doing a little more than what your role requires? If you aren’t doing a little more, you have to ask yourself if you even want to be in the role you are in, maybe even at the company that you are at. If that is a relevant question, see if you can talk to management and identify other job opportunities in the company that might be more interesting to you. Or, ask the hard question, “Is it time for me to move somewhere else where I am fulfilled and I am able to perform at a high level rather than just doing enough?”

4. You love to gossip

  • This one should be common sense. But do a little introspection and see if what is about to come out of your mouth is constructive and necessary. 

5. You think you’re the smartest person in the office

  • The day you stop learning is the day you start decaying - Issac Asimov
  • There is something to be learned from everyone you come in contact with. A little humility goes a long way with your team. 

6. You don’t believe your company’s mission or values

  • Conflict arises when there is a conflict in mission and values. The whole team needs to be on board with the mission and values. We’ve seen it happen time and time again when an employee has to be let go for performance issues. 99% of the time it is because the employee didn’t uphold or agree with the company mission and values. We actually coach our clients to build an employee onboarding program that includes discovering what the prospects personal mission and values are, even if they cannot articulate them to you. We have processes by which our clients can learn what the values of their employees are. 

7. You’re noticeably less productive than your colleagues

  • This one is a dead give away. If you can look around and see that your peers are more productive than you… there isn’t much to be said here. Your options at this point are to dig deep and find your why, or to go find a place that you can be fulfilled. 

8. You don’t get along with anyone at the company

  • I (Toby) have a very vivid memory of playing dodge ball with a bunch of friends at a party when I was a kid. There was this one kid that was ANGRY with everyone about everything. His horrible attitude was (in his mind) everyone else's problem. I distinctly remember knowing that I would remember this moment for the rest of my life. I thought to myself, if I’m ever in a situation where I feel like everyone else has the problem and I believe myself to be the only one that is right, I may need to look in the mirror and do some soul searching.

9. You find yourself regularly apologizing to people.

  • If you are apologizing regularly, at least there is some semblance of humility. If you have enough humility to apologize for your mistakes and you find yourself apologizing regularly, you should ask yourself if you care enough about the job to perform it well. If not, you will likely find fulfillment in another role or another company. Most of the time this results in being a better employee. 

10. You’re always looking for a way out

  • Your personal why oftentimes will connect you to the right job for you. If you are not fulfilled or satisfied with your current role, you will constantly be looking for a way out. This lack of focus and desire to succeed will bleed over to the rest of the team, and bring everyone down with you. Have a discussion with your manager, see if there is a better fit for you within the organization. 

11. You’re constantly making demands

  • Making demands that you believe will make your job better is a mirage. Suggestions with a cost benefit/justification analysis come from a place of mutual benefit for the organization. But demands are from a place of self service and are often detrimental to the organization, from a financial standpoint but also a cultural perspective. 

12. You have no drive

  • You aren’t connected to the job, or there are stressors that are eliminating the connection. Its helpful to identify the stressors, but if they aren’t there, its best for you to find a role that keeps you coming back. A lack of motivation often means that you are not being fulfilled. You need to connect with the things that keep you coming back for more. 

After reading these 12 items, take some time to reflect on how you can help your organization grow by taking ownership of your role, and your contribution.
If you identify with most or all of these, then you may be a prime candidate for another role that will bring you more fulfillment that will allow you to be the best version of yourself.

If you are a business owner, and have employees that fit many of these descriptions, let us know below. 

If you’d like to get on a call and discuss how we can help you organize your business to make sure your people are right for your organization and in the best seat for their personal goals and ambitions let us know that too! 

We help restoration companies organize to have a culture that attracts top talent with maximum profitability!



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