The Fastest Way To Get Rid Of A Good Employee, According To A Frustrated Worker

It can be a never-ending cycle of frustration when you're playing a part in the unrealistic “grind” culture of many workplace environments. Whether they're facing unfulfilled promises of merit-based raises or a task list that takes much longer than a workday to complete, oftentimes employees feel burdened by unrealistic expectations within their roles. They’re stuck between wanting to be successful and combating burnout. 

Like Jaime, or @jaime.goesdigital, shared on TikTok, there are a few foundational ways for employers to lose their best and brightest employees. Unfortunately, it’s something that many know all too well. 

Overworking employees and then berating them for ‘not doing enough’ is the fastest way to lose great employees. 

“I don’t understand this at all,” Jaime wrote in the caption of her video about employee frustration. 

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While working full-time and managing a personal life feels almost impossible in the current age, many employers are making things much more difficult by expecting outrageous amounts of work. 

Almost 60% of American workers say that they regularly respond to work calls, emails, and messages outside of their working hours. In addition, 24% of workers say that they work too many hours each week, often experiencing higher rates of burnout and frustration with their positions. 

Turns out, the higher an employee’s income, the more likely they are to say they work too many hours in a week. For example, around 30% of upper-income workers say they work too much, compared to 12% of lower-income workers. 

Not only is this evidence of an increasing divide in work-life balance, especially in high-paying and aspirational positions, but it also illuminates the difficulty for many lower-income workers to receive the hours they need to sustain their lives.

Photo: fizkes / Canva Pro

Workplace expectations often exceed the capacity of one employee, making it hard to ever meet goals, let alone overachieve. 

For employees who feel regularly overworked, feedback from employers can make all the difference. For example, putting in a few extra hours at night to prepare for a meeting can feel worth it when you receive good feedback from your boss and recognition of the additional time sacrificed. 

However, in many roles, employees are getting opposite feedback. With impossibly high workloads, many employees have to put in extra time just to get the bare minimum done. To meet minimum expectations, they’re already having to sacrifice personal time. So, when employers “berate” them for still not “being good enough,” it takes away any incentive or motivation to do better work. 

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To combat unrealistic expectations, this worker suggested documenting your workload and tasks. 

Harvard Business Review studies illuminate the consequences for employers who set these unrealistic expectations. “For employees who can never reach that bar, those standards become weapons — leaving bitterness and unrealized potential in their wake,” Ron Carucci is co-founder and managing partner at Navalent, wrote for Harvard Business Review. 

In another video, Jaime talked about how she attempted to solidify her work boundaries to protect her personal time, but she deemed it "impossible.”

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While she tried to keep her email app closed after work, she felt like these boundaries were actually doing more harm than good, as “the expectations are still there.”

In an effort to show her employer that she was being overworked, she started documenting her time. Down to the minute, she kept a log of what she was working on throughout the day. When she had to abandon a task, she made a note and when she had to pass off a task, she left a note indicating why. 

She continued this task management documentation for weeks, but it was exhausting to keep track of. Many commenters agreed that while a detailed log could be a useful tool for employees, the task in and of itself could become stressful and overwhelming. 

Many employees struggle with unrealistic expectations from their employers. 

In a recent Work in America workforce survey, 19% of respondents believed their workplace to be toxic, with over 22% saying it had harmed their mental health. Setting boundaries like deleting work apps from your phone or saying no to tasks may be helpful habits for some, but many feel like their work, employers, and mental health are harmed by doing so. 

To ensure that your needs are met and you have a safe environment to work within,  a 2022 Forbes article suggested communicating boundaries directly to your employer. “If you’re experiencing disrespect, abuse, or bullying at work, make sure to document it. You’ll be prepared if you need to escalate the matter or resort to legal action.” 

So, even if you feel like unrealistic expectations are the burden of your workday, finding ways to document them can be beneficial to your long-term success. When you feel like there’s a gap between what you can do and what you’re being asked to do, escalate it early with clear documentation. 

Oftentimes, the only person who is going to be actively looking out for you at work is you. You must take the initiative to promote your well-being and boundaries. 

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Zayda Slabbekoorn is a news and entertainment writer at YourTango focusing on pop culture analysis and human interest stories.