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A part of being human is making mistakes. It is said, “To error is human….”, but the inability to do something (and do it correctly) is frustrating, whether it’s a peer or a boss.  Incompetence can lead to low morale in the workplace, a reduction in productivity as well as an increase in employee turnover.

There are several reasons why some workers are viewed as incompetent, even if they are trying hard to succeed. There are some causes of inadequacy that can be avoided, while others can’t. Besides putting an individual’s continued employment in jeopardy, consistent issues with performance block the achievement of company goals.  Both the employee and the company can suffer enormous consequences.

The Theory Behind Workplace Incompetence

The book, The Peter Principle by Laurence J. Peter, theorized how people become incompetent in the workplace. Mr. Peter’s observation was that people are promoted based on their performance in their current position. However, the promotion gave very little weight to their ability to assume increased responsibility. He surmised that this meant that a promoted employee might be less successful in a new position because while they had the skills to do their old job, they weren’t prepared for the extra responsibilities.

As employees climb the corporate ladder, one, two, or three rungs, their performance may be so bad that they no longer warrant any more promotions. When the employee has reached the performance limits and fails to improve, they irritate their peers and clients with their inability to do their job. “Eventually, every employee tends to rise to their level of incompetence.” he wrote. He termed this the ‘Peter Principle.’ (1)

Incompetence in Action

For illustration, let’s start with a typical scenario that may happen within the workplace environment.

Katherine is hired as a college intern to support the product development team.  She is well-liked by employees, dependable, and a fast learner.  Over the next year, Katherine takes on additional duties and is able to juggle them without a problem.  When she graduates from college, she is offered a full-time position in the sales department which she gladly accepts.

Because of her excellent working knowledge of products and people skills, Katherine quickly rises as a top sales performer.  She consistently exceeds her quotas and is often found mentoring new hires and fellow sales colleagues.  Since the company is growing, Katherine is offered a promotion to sales management.  She excitedly accepts the position.   As a working sales manager, she not only continues to be a top performer but leads her team to perform at unprecedented levels.  Katherine can often be found working before and after office hours and spends less and less time with family/friends.

When the opportunity opens for a Vice President of Sales, Katherine is asked to interview for the role and is subsequently offered the position.  It is in this role, however, that Katherine’s performance begins to show apparent issues.  She frequently loses patience with her staff.  She doesn’t have time to mentor them.  She is uncomfortable preparing and presenting budgets to senior executives. She sends reports at the last minute, many of which are poorly prepared.  She struggles with delegation, is the subject of complaints during exit interviews due to her micromanagement style, and is often unavailable to her staff.

Why is Katherine’s performance slumping?  Based on the Peter Principle, it’s because she was promoted based on performance, but without measuring and preparing her for additional responsibilities involved with a new role.

Understanding Incompetence in the Workplace

People define incompetence differently, but in general, the definition means the lack of ability to perform a job satisfactorily. When an employee finishes a job on time, with no mistakes, and does so in the manner they were asked to do, they are considered competent. If the employee finishes the task early with no errors, the employee is considered more than qualified. Some indications of an incompetent employee are submitting their work late, being over budget, or having errors that require assistance from others to correct.

Laziness

A frequent cause of incompetence is laziness. A lazy employee will have errors in their work, submit late work, or frequently require deadline extensions. Someone who is not double-checking their work is lazy, especially if they assume someone else will do it. Typos in communication pieces can make a company look unprofessional in their clients’ eyes or potential clients. An extreme example of the need for accuracy is if you’re involved in publishing a medical document where there is a big difference between a dose of 10mg and 10G.  The wrong dosage can be deadly. Also, an employee who does not bother to check the status of a project they oversee or does not ask for commitments in writing is another example of being lazy – also known as incompetent.

Poor Communication

Giving someone instructions doesn’t mean the supervisory role has been completed. An incompetent manager will leave unqualified employees in their wake. A competent employee will ask coworkers or clients if they received a message, understand it, and can meet the request.

Waiting until the deadline is at hand to learn that a job won’t be delivered on time is incompetence. A competent employee will check periodically with critical stakeholders to evaluate the status during a project. This might include checkpoints to ensure things are going as planned or that milestones are being completed long before a critical deadline approaches. If an employee cannot correctly communicate their thoughts or their supervisor’s instructions to others, it will lead to issues at work. In that case, they are not competent to work with others, no matter how good their intentions may be.

No People Skills

To stay in business, companies need to attract and retain both customers and employees. Examples of workplace incompetence due to a lack of people skills include being disrespectful, overbearing, rude, unclear, upset, or not inspiring confidence in their peers or supervisors. A supervisor can alienate an employee by only pointing out faults, never praising them, or failing to appreciate an employee’s efforts and value. This is an example of managerial incompetence. Another example of incompetence would be acquiring a potential customer by telling them they are making wrong or poor decisions instead of offering helpful, insightful feedback. And finally, prickly coworkers who refuse to share the workload, venture beyond their comfort zones, or pretend to lack skills are examples of weaponized incompetence.

Lack of Training

Through no fault of their own, employees may be given a task for which they have no training or experience. An excellent example is when an excellent salesperson is promoted to sales manager based on their superior sales performance.  Suddenly they find themselves in a supervisory position responsible for coordinating the sales department’s activities. If that individual has had no experience creating budgets, setting goals, or determining prices based on costs and supply/demand in the market, they are destined to fail. If they have not been trained on how to design commission plans or develop sales materials, they will fail again, and it is not their fault. According to Russell HR Consulting, lack of training is one of the leading causes of incompetence in the workplace. (2)

How does workplace incompetence impact the workplace?

When most people experience incompetence, whether with a boss or a coworker, the most common reaction is to avoid speaking up.  A study by Training Magazine found that the average worker wastes seven days:

  • complaining to others (78 percent), (3)
  • doing extra or unnecessary work as a result of incompetence (66 percent), (3)
  • experiencing negative thoughts/feelings about the problem (53 percent), (3)
  • getting angry (50 percent). (3)

All of the above have a detrimental impact on morale and result in declining productivity, higher employee churn, and additional overhead costs that can be avoided.  Negative behaviors, thoughts, and a toxic corporate culture can only continue if these attitudes, beliefs, and actions are allowed and incompetence is rewarded.

Organizations need to focus energy on aligning vision, corporate culture, and rewards (including promotions) to resolve issues with incompetence.  This resolve may require that leaders are educated about the culture the organization seeks and are encouraged to reward competence, rather than minimize it.  Employees will need to learn to speak up about incompetence, even if it involves approaching a boss or a cranky coworker.  It is only when everyone works together by communicating, educating, and holding each other accountable that the gap between incompetence and competence can close.

Discover more inspiring ideas for exciting experiences that boost morale and engage your people. Contact Gavel International for details.

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SOURCES:

  1. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200612-the-reasons-why-people-become-incompetent-at-work
  2. https://work.chron.com/causes-incompetence-workplace-2947.html
  3. https://trainingmag.com/interpersonal-incompetence-costs-organizations-time-and-money/
Jim Bozzelli
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