Why employees underperform: the warning signs surveys can reveal

A quick insight: Employees rarely underperform for one simple reason. Sometimes it is a capability issue, but often the warning signs sit in the wider employee experience: unclear expectations, weak manager support, low confidence, poor team culture, burnout or a lack of psychological safety. Employee surveys help leaders see the difference before performance issues become formal problems.

When an employee starts to underperform, the first instinct is often to look at the individual.

Are they capable? Are they motivated? Are they trying hard enough? Do they need clearer performance management?

Sometimes, those are fair questions. But they are rarely the only ones leaders should be asking.

Underperformance can be a sign of an individual capability gap. It can also be a symptom of something happening around the employee: unclear priorities, poor onboarding, low morale, weak manager support, burnout, fractured team relationships or a culture where people do not feel safe to speak up.

That distinction is important. If the issue is capability, the right response might be coaching, development or clearer expectations. If the issue is environmental, a performance improvement plan may only treat the visible symptom while leaving the real blocker untouched.

This is where employee surveys can help. They give leaders a clearer view of the conditions people are working in, the support they are receiving and the barriers that might be getting in the way of good performance.

Before we dive in to how employee listening can be used to help with performance management and productivity, let’s first take a look at the main reasons why employees underperform in the first place.

Why employees underperform

Employees underperform for many reasons. Some are personal to the individual, but many are shaped by the systems, relationships and working conditions around them.

Common reasons include:

• unclear expectations
• poor onboarding
• lack of confidence
• weak manager support
• limited feedback
• low morale
• burnout or unsustainable workload
• lack of recognition
• poor communication
• team conflict
• low psychological safety
• lack of training, tools or resources
• limited belief that speaking up leads to change

When leaders only look at output, they risk missing the conditions behind that output. A missed deadline, drop in quality or change in behaviour may be the visible sign of a much wider issue.

For example, an employee who looks disengaged may not understand how their work connects to organisational goals. Someone who seems resistant to change may feel they have not been heard. A team member who is making mistakes may not have had the training, feedback or psychological safety they need to ask for help.

This is also why leaders need to understand the wider drivers of employee engagement before assuming underperformance sits purely with the individual.

That does not remove personal responsibility. Employees still need to own their performance. But organisations have a responsibility to understand whether the conditions for good performance are actually in place.

Is it capability, clarity or confidence?

Before simply assuming someone can’t do the job, leaders should ask a more useful question:

Is this a capability issue, a clarity issue or a confidence issue?

Capability

A capability issue means the employee does not yet have the skills, knowledge or experience needed to perform well. This might require training, coaching, mentoring or role-specific development.

Survey data can help identify whether capability issues are isolated or more widespread. If several employees in the same team say they cannot access the training and development they need, the problem may not sit with one individual.

According to our 2025 global benchmark data, 69% of employees said they can get the training and development they need to do their job. That leaves a sizeable group who may be trying to perform without the right development support.

For organisations looking at this more broadly, employee learning and development is a key part of building performance, confidence and retention over time.

Global benchmark snapshot:

69% of employees said they can get the training and development they need to do their job

Clarity

A clarity issue means the employee does not fully understand what is expected, how success is measured or how their work connects to wider priorities.

This can happen when organisational goals are not communicated clearly, priorities change too often or managers assume expectations are obvious when they are not.

Our benchmark data shows 82% of employees understand the aims of their organisation, but only 60% say they know how well their organisation is doing against its objectives. That gap is important in performance terms. People may understand the broad ambition, but not have enough line of sight to understand progress, priorities or trade-offs.

This is where better communication at work can make a real difference. When communication is clear, consistent and honest, people are more likely to understand what good performance looks like and how their work contributes.

Global benchmark snapshot:

82% of employees understand the aims of their organisation, but only 60% say they know how well their organisation is doing against its objectives.

Confidence

A confidence issue means the employee may have the ability, but does not feel safe, supported or empowered enough to perform at their best.

Confidence is shaped by feedback, trust, recognition and psychological safety. If people are worried about getting things wrong, being blamed or asking for help, performance can drop even when the underlying capability is there.

Only 69% of employees say their line manager gives them regular feedback on how they are doing. Even fewer, 64%, said their line manager takes time to coach them and develop their skills.

That creates a real risk. Without regular feedback and coaching, employees may not know where they stand until a problem has already escalated.

A stronger performance management process should help employees understand expectations, receive useful feedback and build confidence before issues become formal.

Global benchmark snapshot:

Only 69% of employees say their line manager gives them regular feedback on how they are doing. Even fewer, 64%, said their line manager takes time to coach them and develop their skills.

When underperformance points to a management issue

Not all underperformance is caused by poor management. But management is often part of the picture.

Line managers shape the day-to-day employee experience. They clarify priorities, give feedback, spot early warning signs, remove blockers and help people connect their work to the bigger picture.

When that support is missing, performance problems can build quietly.

An employee may start to underperform because they are not receiving enough guidance. A team may lose momentum because priorities keep shifting. People may avoid raising problems because their manager does not create space for honest conversation.

The survey data can help leaders spot where manager capability needs attention.

For example, if a team scores low on feedback, coaching, workload or communication, it may be unfair to treat underperformance as purely an individual issue. The better response may be to support the manager, strengthen team routines and create clearer action planning.

Our benchmark data shows:

• 69% of employees say their line manager gives regular feedback
• 64% say their line manager takes time to coach them and develop their skills
• 84% say their line manager treats them fairly and with respect
• 65% say their opinion is sought on decisions that affect their work

These figures show both strengths and warning signs. Respectful management may be relatively strong, but coaching, feedback and involvement still leave room for improvement.

For leaders, the question is not simply “Why is this employee underperforming?” It is also “Has this person had the clarity, feedback, development and support they need to succeed?”

This is where manager development, coaching leadership and regular employee listening can all help. A good manager is not just someone who notices underperformance. They are someone who helps prevent it by creating the right conditions for people to do their best work.

How team culture can quietly damage performance

Underperformance can also be a team culture issue.

People do better work when they feel supported, included and able to speak honestly. When team culture is poor, performance can suffer in less obvious ways. Employees may withhold ideas, avoid difficult conversations, stop asking for help or disengage from shared goals.

That can look like individual underperformance on the surface. In reality, the employee may be responding to an environment where it feels easier to stay quiet, keep their head down or avoid risk.

Psychological safety is especially important here. If people do not feel safe to say “I’m struggling”, “I don’t understand” or “I think this is going wrong”, problems stay hidden until they affect performance, wellbeing or retention.

Our global benchmark data highlights a useful warning sign: only 53% of employees agreed that people communicate openly regardless of position or level. That is down from 60% in 2024.

That decline is worth paying attention to. Open communication is one of the conditions that helps teams catch problems early. When it weakens, employees may be less likely to raise blockers before they become performance issues.

Another related figure is communication between teams. Just 46% of employees said communications are good between different teams. Poor cross-team communication can create delays, duplicated work, confusion and frustration. Over time, those conditions can undermine performance, even among capable employees.

If this is showing up in your organisation, it may be worth looking more closely at psychological safety and the practical steps needed to build a more psychologically safe workplace.

Global benchmark snapshot:

Just 46% of employees say communications are good between different teams

Burnout and workload: when people cannot sustain performance

Unsurprisingly, employees sometimes underperform because they are overwhelmed.

Burnout does not always look dramatic at first. It can show up as slower work, more mistakes, lower patience, reduced creativity, missed deadlines or withdrawal from team conversations.

If leaders only focus on the output, they may misread burnout as lack of effort.

Survey data can help identify whether workload is becoming a performance risk. In the 2025 benchmark, 64% of employees said they can comfortably cope with their workload. That means more than a third may not feel fully comfortable with the demands placed on them.

Workload issues often sit alongside other warning signs. For example:

• people do not have the resources they need
• priorities are unclear
• teams are understaffed
• managers are not having regular workload conversations
• employees feel unable to push back
• recognition is low
• people do not believe action will be taken

These factors can compound quickly. A capable employee in an overloaded system may still struggle to perform well.

That is why acting early is so important. Once someone reaches the point of formal performance management, the organisation may already have missed several chances to understand what was happening.

For organisations seeing signs of exhaustion or reduced capacity, it may be useful to review how to prevent burnout and how to improve employee wellbeing in a way that connects directly to performance, culture and retention.

Global benchmark snapshot:

64% of employees say they can comfortably cope with their workload

How employee surveys reveal hidden blockers

Employee surveys help leaders move beyond assumptions.

A good survey will not tell you everything about one person’s performance. It should not be used to diagnose individual employees. But it can reveal patterns in the environment around performance.

For example, survey data can show whether a team is struggling with:

• unclear direction
• low trust in leadership
• poor manager feedback
• limited development opportunities
• weak communication
• low recognition
• workload pressure
• low confidence in action after feedback
• poor collaboration across teams
• lack of psychological safety

These patterns help leaders understand whether underperformance is isolated or systemic.

If one employee is struggling but the wider team scores strongly on clarity, support and workload, the response may need to focus more on individual development. If several employees are struggling and the survey shows low scores for manager feedback, open communication or workload, leaders need to look at the system around the work.

People Insight’s employee survey platform helps organisations connect these dots. Survey results, comments and trends give leaders a clearer view of where performance blockers may be sitting. Prism, our integrated AI, supports this by helping teams interpret feedback, understand patterns and identify where focus is most needed. It supports professional judgement rather than replacing it, helping leaders move from broad feedback to focused action.

That is the smarter action part of the work: not just collecting employee voice, but using it to make better decisions.

How to act before a PIP is needed

A performance improvement plan may be necessary in some cases. But it should not be the first moment an employee gets clear feedback, support or structure.

Employee surveys can help organisations act earlier, before issues become formal and harder to repair.

1. Look for patterns, not just problems

Do not treat survey scores as isolated data points. Look across related themes.

For example, if a team has low scores for workload, feedback and open communication, the issue may not be motivation. It may be that people are stretched, unsupported and reluctant to speak up.

If you are not sure where to start, our guide on how to interpret employee survey results explores how to turn survey data into a clearer understanding of what is happening across your organisation.

2. Equip managers to have better conversations

Managers need support to turn survey insight into practical team conversations.

This might include helping managers discuss results openly, explore root causes, agree priorities and create action plans with their teams. Without that support, survey results can become another report rather than a route to improvement.

This is where the right survey implementation support and consultancy can help teams move from results to meaningful improvement.

3. Close the loop with employees

One of the strongest predictors of future participation and trust is whether people believe their feedback leads to visible action.

In the 2025 benchmark, only 53% of employees said they believe action will be taken as a result of the survey. That should concern any organisation trying to improve performance. If people do not believe feedback leads anywhere, they are less likely to share the information leaders need.

Closing the loop does not mean promising to fix everything. It means being clear about what was heard, what will happen next, what cannot change immediately and how progress will be reviewed.

A strong employee feedback loop helps rebuild trust because people can see how their voice has shaped decisions.

Global benchmark snapshot:

Only  53% of employees believe action will be taken as a result of a survey 

4. Focus on the conditions for good performance

Performance improves when people have the clarity, support, tools and confidence to do good work.

The benchmark data shows 72% of employees say they have the equipment and resources they need to do their work properly. That is positive, but it still leaves a meaningful proportion of people who may be working around practical barriers.

Before escalating performance concerns, leaders should check whether the basics are in place:

• Does the employee understand what is expected?
• Have they had regular feedback?
• Do they have the tools and resources they need?
• Are workload expectations realistic?
• Do they feel able to ask for help?
• Has the manager explored what might be getting in the way?
• Has the team acted on relevant survey feedback?

5. Use action planning to prevent repeat issues

The goal is not just to help one person improve. It is to learn from the warning signs and reduce the risk of similar issues happening again.

If employee surveys reveal recurring blockers, action planning should focus on removing those blockers in a practical, visible way. That might mean improving manager capability, clarifying priorities, strengthening onboarding, addressing workload pressure or rebuilding trust in employee voice.

For practical next steps, our guide on creating a post-survey action plan explains how to turn employee feedback into focused action.

From performance problems to better listening

When employees underperform, it can be tempting to move straight to correction. But better performance often starts with better listening.

Leaders need to understand whether employees have the right conditions to succeed. Are expectations clear? Do people have enough feedback? Are managers coaching effectively? Is workload sustainable? Can people speak openly? Do employees believe their feedback leads to change?

Employee surveys help answer those questions at scale. They give leaders the evidence they need to separate individual capability issues from wider environment issues.

That does not make performance management less important. It makes it more informed, more human and more likely to lead to meaningful improvement.

Want to understand what is really affecting performance in your organisation? Get in touch with People Insight to learn how our employee surveys, expert consultants and Prism support sharper listening, smarter action and practical improvement.