Q&A With The Workplace Advisors – February 2026

As managers balance accountability with flexibility, questions often arise around how to handle employees who perform most of their role well but consistently miss specific recurring tasks. When reminders become routine, supervisors are left wondering whether the issue is performance, process, or something else entirely — and what the appropriate response should be.

In this February Q&A, The Workplace Advisors address how employers can approach recurring missed responsibilities, outlining when accountability and discipline may be appropriate and when adjustments to workflows, expectations, or support systems may be the more effective solution.

Question: We have an employee who regularly needs to be reminded to do certain tasks. They manage most of their workload well, but there are one or two monthly responsibilities we need to remind them to do almost every month. What can and should we do?

Answer: Holding an employee accountable to performing their job duties is an important part of every supervisor's and manager's job. However, what that will look like will depend on factors such as the critical nature of the task, other employees being able to perform the task, the employee's ability to do the task correctly, and/or their time availability to perform the task when needed.

The more important a task is, or the more critical that a particular employee performs that task, escalates the reaction. That may be a written warning or two before eventually a final warning and possibly termination for failing to perform the job duties. A truly critical task should have a backup employee trained and ready to step in as part of a smart contingency plan.

However, if the task is minor or can be done by someone else, or if the employee doesn’t have the time or capability to perform the task, disciplinary action may not help. Instead, consider reevaluating the task (timing, technique, need, etc.) or assigning it to someone else. Or perhaps find ways to remind the employee of the deadline by sending an email each month or putting a reminder on their calendar so they don't forget.