Poor Work Performance: Why Self-Awareness Is the Key to Career Growth

Recently, I was having a conversation with a coworker about a former team member who was no longer with the company. Her contract had expired back in October 2025, and, based on what I had seen during the time we worked together, I wasn’t particularly surprised that the company decided not to continue with her.

The biggest issue wasn’t that she didn’t know how to do the work. It was her work ethic.

She worked incredibly slowly, and to make matters worse, the work she eventually completed wasn’t always correct. Mistakes happen to everyone, including experienced employees. I’ve made plenty of mistakes throughout my career. But there is a difference between occasionally making a mistake and consistently producing work that is both slow and inaccurate.

Management had repeatedly communicated to the team that everyone needed to increase productivity and get more work completed each day. It was one of those messages that management probably hoped would be understood without having to single anyone out.

But I had the feeling this particular employee didn’t realize that some of those conversations were probably directed at her.

That’s what made our conversation even more interesting.

I heard that she had actually applied for a permanent position within the organization before her contract ended—and didn’t get it.

Honestly, I wasn’t surprised.

If management already knew about the quality and speed of her work, why would they recommend her for a permanent position? Why would they provide a glowing reference?

It got me thinking about something that applies far beyond this one situation:

Why do some people believe they deserve a permanent position when they haven’t demonstrated that they deserve one?

A Permanent Position Doesn’t Magically Fix Poor Performance

I’ve never understood the mindset of thinking that getting a different title or becoming a permanent employee will somehow change your performance.

If you’re a temporary employee and you’re consistently producing poor work, moving into a permanent position isn’t going to magically make you a better employee.

The job title changes.

The benefits might change.

The paycheck might change.

But you don’t change simply because your employment status changes.

If anything, becoming permanent can bring even more expectations.

Companies generally don’t convert temporary employees because they feel sorry for them. They do it because they’ve seen something they want to keep.

Maybe you’re reliable.

Maybe you’re productive.

Maybe you have a great attitude.

Maybe you’ve learned the systems quickly.

Maybe you’re someone the team can depend on when things get busy.

Those are the qualities that make management think, “We should keep this person around.”

On the other hand, if management constantly has to remind you to increase your productivity, correct your work, or follow up on things that should have already been completed, why would they suddenly decide you’re the perfect candidate for a permanent role?

Changing your employment classification doesn’t erase your performance history.

Your reputation follows you.

And sometimes, that reputation is the very reason you don’t get the opportunity you’re hoping for.

The Hardest Thing To Recognize Is Your Own Performance

But here’s the part of this story that made me think about myself.

It’s easy to sit back and criticize someone else’s work.

It’s easy to say, “I can’t believe she didn’t realize how bad her work was.”

It’s easy to wonder how someone could miss obvious signs that management wasn’t happy.

But then I started thinking about my own career.

I wasn’t always the employee I thought I was.

In fact, there was a period in my career when I genuinely believed I was doing a great job.

Looking back now, I wasn’t.

I just didn’t realize it yet.

Back in 2019, I thought I was doing pretty well professionally. I had confidence in my abilities and believed I was a capable accountant. I had already gained years of experience, and naturally, I thought I understood what I was doing.

But sometimes confidence and competence don’t grow at the same pace.

You can have years of experience and still have enormous gaps in your knowledge, judgment, attention to detail, and accountability.

That’s exactly what happened to me.

It wasn’t until 2021 that something happened that really forced me to take a hard look at myself.

A relatively simple reconciliation ended up blowing up in my face.

I remember thinking:

How did I not catch this?

It wasn’t some incredibly complicated accounting problem. It wasn’t something that required a PhD in accounting to understand.

It was something I should have caught.

And that realization hurt.

For the first time, I had to seriously question myself.

Am I actually as good as I think I am?

Should I even consider myself a senior-level employee?

How could I have missed something this obvious?

Those weren’t comfortable questions.

But they were necessary questions.

Sometimes You Have To Admit You’re the Problem

One of the hardest things anyone can do professionally is admit that they are the problem.

It’s much easier to blame someone else.

Maybe your manager didn’t explain things properly.

Maybe your coworker didn’t help you.

Maybe the process was confusing.

Maybe the system was terrible.

Maybe you didn’t have enough time.

Sometimes those things are legitimate.

I’ve experienced difficult managers, bad processes, toxic workplaces, and unreasonable expectations myself.

But there are also moments when you have to stop making excuses and say:

“This one is on me.”

That reconciliation incident in 2021 was one of those moments for me.

I had to accept that I had made a mistake and, more importantly, that I needed to figure out why I made it.

It wasn’t enough to simply fix the reconciliation and move on.

I needed to understand how I could prevent something like that from happening again.

That was when I started becoming much more critical of my own work.

I started reviewing things more carefully.

I started asking more questions.

I became more conscious of the details.

I stopped assuming that something was correct simply because I had completed it.

Most importantly, I realized that having experience doesn’t mean you stop learning.

Your Career Won’t Improve Until You Do

Looking back, that experience was embarrassing.

But it was also one of the most important moments of my career.

Sometimes failure teaches you things that success never will.

If everything had continued going smoothly, I might have continued believing that I was doing everything right.

That mistake forced me to look in the mirror.

And that’s something I wish more employees would do.

If you’re constantly being told that your productivity needs to improve, ask yourself whether the message applies to you.

If your manager repeatedly returns your work for corrections, don’t automatically assume they’re being overly critical.

If coworkers are constantly having to fix your mistakes, don’t assume they’re simply being difficult.

If you keep getting passed over for promotions, don’t immediately conclude that management doesn’t appreciate you.

Take a step back.

Ask yourself:

“Could I be part of the problem?”

That question can be uncomfortable, but it can also completely change your career.

Self-Awareness Can Change Everything

The difference between someone who struggles professionally and someone who eventually improves isn’t necessarily intelligence.

Sometimes it’s self-awareness.

A person who recognizes their weaknesses has an opportunity to improve them.

A person who refuses to acknowledge their weaknesses will probably continue repeating the same mistakes.

That’s why I don’t necessarily look back at my 2019 self with anger.

I made mistakes.

I had shortcomings.

I didn’t always have the level of attention to detail that I should have had.

But eventually, I recognized it.

And once I recognized it, I could do something about it.

That’s the important part.

You don’t have to be perfect to be a good employee.

Nobody is perfect.

I’ve made mistakes throughout my accounting career, and I’m sure I’ll make more mistakes in the future.

What matters is whether you learn from them.

Do you understand what went wrong?

Do you take responsibility?

Do you change your process?

Do you become more careful?

Do you actually improve?

That’s what separates a mistake from a pattern.

Don’t Expect A New Job To Make You A Better Employee

This brings me back to that former employee.

Maybe she genuinely believed she deserved the permanent position.

Maybe she thought her performance was better than management perceived it to be.

Maybe she didn’t understand that the feedback about productivity applied directly to her.

And maybe she genuinely didn’t realize why she wasn’t selected.

That’s unfortunate.

But it also demonstrates why self-awareness is so important.

If you’re struggling in your current role, getting another job isn’t necessarily the solution.

Sometimes you need to fix the person doing the job first.

Otherwise, you’re simply taking the same problems with you to another company.

A new manager won’t magically fix your attention to detail.

A new title won’t make you more productive.

A permanent position won’t suddenly make you care more about your work.

A higher salary won’t automatically make you more accountable.

You have to make those changes yourself.

Growth Begins When You Stop Making Excuses

I’ve been working in accounting for nearly 15 years now, and one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that professional growth requires humility.

You have to be willing to admit that you don’t know everything.

You have to be willing to hear criticism.

You have to be willing to acknowledge mistakes.

And sometimes, you have to be willing to admit that the reason you’re struggling isn’t your manager, your coworkers, your company, or your job.

Sometimes it’s you.

That doesn’t mean you’re a failure.

In fact, recognizing it might be the beginning of your biggest professional improvement.

I certainly don’t consider myself the same accountant I was in 2019.

That reconciliation mistake in 2021 forced me to take a much harder look at myself. It made me question whether I was ready to call myself a senior-level professional.

Instead of allowing that experience to destroy my confidence, I used it as motivation to become better.

That’s what we should all strive to do.

Because the goal isn’t to pretend we’re perfect.

The goal is to recognize where we’re falling short—and actually do something about it.

So if you’re wondering why you didn’t get that promotion, why your contract wasn’t renewed, or why management didn’t select you for the permanent position, don’t immediately blame everyone else.

Take an honest look in the mirror.

Ask yourself whether you’ve truly earned the opportunity you’re asking for.

And if the answer is no, that’s okay.

You can change.

But it starts with admitting that you need to.