14 Situations 

Here are fourteen reasons why people don’t perform; fourteen reasons that likely cover 99% of all
performance situations you might face.  
  
Performance Problem  Is it a training problem? 
 OK, this is
a learning opportunity,
and training is certainly one
important way to enable
1. They (employees, workers, team members, etc.) don’t learning. You also may add
know how to perform.  informational, collaborative, and
experiential/simulation
components to your learning
solution, in addition to an
instructional component.
 These two
are standards issues. Some
people believe that what they
are doing – and the quality level
with which they are doing it – is
what is expected.
Communicating clear
2. They don’t know how well to perform.  expectations about the level
and quality of the performance
3. They think they are already  performing. 
may be all that’s needed. Try
this first, before you train. And if
you have no performance
standards, forget training until
you do, because without
standards, how do you know
what your training goals should
be?
 Here, a
good communications strategy
, from the organization down to
immediate supervisors, can be
much more helpful, and
4. They don’t know they should  perform. 
efficient, than training.
Sometimes people are skilled at
a job or task but don’t perform
simply because they didn’t
know they should.
 Here, you are looking to
create commitment. It’s a
change-management challenge
rather than a training challenge.
5. They don’t know why they should perform.  You can train people to do
something different or new, but
6. They don’t believe in it, or don’t think it will work. 
if they are not convinced that
7. They have too much invested in the status quo.  it’s the right way to go, it will feel
like you are constantly pushing
a rock uphill. Getting buy-in first
will make any training you do a
lot more effective, and easier.
  Priorities and time
management are the culprits
here. If people have no time to
do something, or it’s too low on
8. They are too busy.  their task list, they won’t do it in
spite of any training you do.
Often, freeing up the
performer’s time is all that’s
needed.
 Here, the focus should be
in incentives. If doing
something new or different is
9. They are not rewarded for the right performance.  perceived to be more painful,
10. They are punished for the right performance.  less appreciated, or simply
more of a hassle than doing it
11. There are no (or weak)consequences for doing it wrong,
the way it was always done in
or not at all.  the past, you’re going nowhere.
We often find a bad
organizational culture will defeat
the best-intended training.
 Training people to do
something and then denying
them the resources to do it is
all too common. Sometimes
smart people can overcome
12. They don’t have the financial, technical, workplace, or meager or non-existent
resources, but don’t bet on it.
staff resources to perform. 
Give people the tools and
resources, including
performance support, they need
to perform to a standard, and
you may find additional training
unnecessary.
 After trying everything,
sometimes it’s just a mismatch
between the job and capability.
This is not a question of
disability, as many disabled
workers are fine performers. It
13. They don’t have the capacity to perform.  is an issue of competence, and
it leads to a reasonable
conclusion that the person,
even after training,
will never perform to standard.
Replacing the worker may be
the only alternative.
14. The job or task is poorly designed, or impossible.   It’s not likely that you can train
someone to do the impossible,
or to be successful in a process
or task so convoluted and
poorly designed as to make
even experts throw their hands
up in frustration. Job design (or
redesign), not training people
 on “work-arounds,” will go a
long way to improving
performance.