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By Amir Daftari
News Reporter
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For many managers and business professionals, greater effort does not necessarily lead to better results. As expectations rise, turning experience and expertise into measurable outcomes can become harder.
A recent survey by research and advisory firm Gartner, involving 2,947 employees and managers, found that 47 percent of managers felt more was expected of them and that they were working harder than a year earlier. Yet only 41 percent of employees said their manager helped them prioritize their work.
The disconnect extends beyond workloads. Experienced professionals can spend years developing knowledge, skills and relationships without translating those strengths into greater productivity or economic value. Inefficient processes, unclear objectives and organizational structures can prevent them from making full use of their experience.
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The issue is not simply how hard people work, but whether their working environment allows them to deliver meaningful results.
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The Performance Gap
Matthew Davis, professor of organizational psychology at Leeds University Business School in England, told Newsweek that even highly capable professionals can struggle when their environment creates obstacles.
"You can recruit the most amazing talent, but if you put them into a business that puts excessive bureaucracy, poor communication, inadequate technology or conflicting goals, it’s not surprising if they don’t then reach their potential," he said.
Davis noted that employees can spend valuable time "navigating approvals processes, fighting a culture where they feel unable to challenge or voice ideas, [and] chasing arbitrary performance metrics rather than focussing on collective success."
He recommends asking workers directly, "What gets in the way of doing your job or doing it better?"
For some workplace experts, those barriers help explain why increased effort does not always lead to better performance.
Luis Pinate, founder of Agile Consulting Group and author of Monetize Who You Are, says that many professionals fall into what he describes as the high performance trap, a point at which working harder no longer produces proportionate returns.
"Preparation can create potential, but potential alone is not performance," Pinate said in an interview with Newsweek. He argues that professionals need to look beyond their individual capabilities and identify what prevents them from making the most of their experience, knowledge and skills.
His Exponential Performance System (EPS) is designed to identify factors limiting an individual's performance and address them through a structured 90-day development programme. It assesses six areas: Clear Objectives, Emotional & Mental State, Environment & Culture, Structure and Processes, Skills and Capabilities, and Compensation and Benefits.
The assessment combines an individual's self-evaluation with feedback from their direct supervisor and an independent EPS consultant. The three areas with the largest performance gaps are then prioritized in an individual development plan incorporating mentoring, practical exercises, daily activities, assignments and performance indicators. Participants are reassessed at the end of the programme against their initial scores.
"Rather than immediately asking how an employee can work harder, leaders can ask which part of the performance system is limiting the result," he said.
Pinate provided results from 554 professionals worldwide who participated in the EPS programme between 2019 and 2025. Around 80 percent recorded average performance improvements of between 60 and 110 percent, while almost half achieved improvements in the 80 to 90 percent range.
Inside Amerant Bank
The program has also been used in a corporate setting. At Amerant Bank in South Florida, four executives took part in a 12-week mentoring program led by Pinate, each receiving an individual assessment and development plan.
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One participant, Yvonne Boucugnani, senior vice president and head of small business administration, identified clear objectives, structure and processes, and emotional and mental state as her main areas for improvement.
The program focused on her planning, business development and follow-up, as well as confidence and resilience.
Reflecting on the experience, Boucugnani told Newsweek, "Without disclosing specific figures that are confidential to my role at the bank, I can say that I feel ready and prepared to take on new roles and continue my professional development. I feel I have become much more productive through this process.
"I am more comfortable speaking in public, developing new client relationships, and contributing more actively to the business."
Measuring Results
But the longer-term impact of such programs could be harder to establish.
According to Davis, organizations should look beyond individual improvements to assess output, quality, resilience, employee retention and satisfaction, as well as the effect on teams and the wider business.
"Different measures tell different stories and a change in one area may come at the expense of another," he said.
Davis also warned that focusing on individuals can leave underlying organizational issues unresolved, with employees "training people to work around problems, issues and inefficiencies in the system rather than dealing with the underlying problems."
Pinate similarly emphasizes the importance of outcomes. "The objective of professional development should not simply be to train people. It should be to improve their ability to generate measurable value," he said.
Ultimately, improving performance is not simply about asking people to work harder or acquire more skills. It also means creating the conditions in which their existing knowledge, experience and capabilities can translate into meaningful results.
Contact Newsweek editor on this story: Mike Hirst.
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