What if your business doesn’t have an employee performance problem? What if you have talented people doing work that doesn’t align with their natural strengths?
For business owners and CEOs, the consequences can be expensive. Reduced productivity, workplace conflict, employee disengagement, and missed revenue opportunities can all stem from behavioral differences that leadership hasn’t recognized or addressed.
Sometimes the solution isn’t hiring better employees. It’s helping the employees you already have perform better.
When Employee Performance Problems Are Really Behavioral Problems
In a recent episode of The Workforce Alchemy Show, I interviewed Leon Morales, President and Chief Energy Officer of DNA Behavior International, about the connection between human behavior, leadership effectiveness, and business performance.
Leon explained that employees naturally differ in how they communicate, process information, approach problems, and make decisions.
For example, a highly creative employee may struggle in a role requiring strict adherence to repetitive procedures. Meanwhile, an employee who excels at precision and consistency may become frustrated in a position requiring constant improvisation.
Neither employee necessarily lacks talent.
The problem may be a mismatch between their natural strengths and their assigned responsibilities.
When business leaders overlook these differences, the resulting friction can undermine productivity, employee engagement, and teamwork.
How a Struggling 30-Person Team Turned Around in 60 Days
One of the most revealing examples Leon shared involved a 30-person business analytics department.
The team’s performance had deteriorated to the point that senior leadership was considering replacing the entire department.
Instead, the organization evaluated employees’ behavioral characteristics and discovered that several talented individuals were performing responsibilities that didn’t align with their strengths.
Leadership made relatively small adjustments to those responsibilities rather than replacing the employees.
Within 60 days, the team experienced a remarkable performance turnaround.
Same employees. Same department. Better alignment of responsibilities.
The example illustrates an important lesson for CEOs: Before replacing an underperforming employee or dismantling a struggling team, investigate whether the work itself is properly aligned with the people responsible for completing it.
Poor Workplace Communication Can Cost Your Business Revenue
During our conversation, I shared an example involving a printing company where the heads of sales and operations weren’t communicating effectively.
A salesperson routinely referred profitable printing opportunities to a competitor because he believed his company couldn’t provide those services.
During a casual conversation, a production employee revealed that the company could, in fact, handle the work.
The company was losing potential revenue because its own employees didn’t understand what other departments could deliver.
This wasn’t a pricing problem, a marketing problem, or a lack of customer demand.
It was a communication problem.
For business owners, this raises an uncomfortable question: How much potential revenue could your company be losing because of unnecessary conflict, departmental silos, or poor communication?
What CEOs Can Do to Improve Employee Performance
Improving team performance begins with understanding the people responsible for producing results.
Business owners and executives can start by examining whether employees’ responsibilities match their strengths, identifying communication barriers between departments, and creating an environment where employees feel comfortable contributing ideas or raising concerns.
Leaders must also be willing to address destructive behavior, even when it comes from employees delivering strong individual results.
An employee who achieves impressive sales or productivity numbers while creating fear, conflict, or disengagement can undermine the performance of an entire team.
As Leon emphasized during our interview, one of the most valuable leadership qualities is curiosity.
Instead of immediately deciding who’s responsible when results fall short, ask better questions about what’s preventing people from succeeding.
Watch or Listen to the Full Interview
Could your organization achieve better results with the employees you already have?
In this episode of The Workforce Alchemy Show, Leon Morales and I explore practical ways to identify behavioral differences, improve executive decision-making, reduce workplace conflict, and help employees contribute at a higher level.
Watch the interview on YouTube:
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
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About the Author: Mason Duchatschek is the host of The Workforce Alchemy Show, where business owners, CEOs, and executives discover practical strategies to select, engage, and retain their best employees.
Connect with Mason: https://masonduchatschek.com/
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