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The reasons why people become incompetent at work
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The Peter Principle and Occupational Incompetence
Peter J. Lawrence, whose 1969 bestseller “The Peter Principle” satirically provided many insights on the hows and the whys of incompetents working among us, is now being taken more seriously.
People are promoted to a job they are incapable of doing, based on their previous performance. This makes most employees rise to their level of incompetence.
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Different Competencies
The skills that made a great performer excel, the aggression and the drive, did not translate well when the same performer was in charge of a team, where other skills like people management come into play.
The best teacher of the school cannot be simply promoted as a school principal.
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Hiring The Right Person
A manager wouldn’t be able to handle a team of specialists (like Doctors or Scientists) efficiently, without any direct experience. This makes excelling at the current role a huge requirement for anyone being hired as a manager.
A fine balance between the two aspects is required while hiring, with one option being to change the hierarchy of the company itself. The person can be promoted without a typical career ladder, and continue to do his current role, which he is doing well.
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Management Potential
Apart from a regular performance review, some companies have started a different form of appraisal called the management potential review, which essentially gauges the leadership specific skills of an employee who may or may not score well in the performance review.
Better management training for upcoming leaders also plays a great role in grooming management talent.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Promotion of Position = Demotion of Value
When a person is promoted, they usually turn to different responsibilities and roles which requires completely different skills and insights.
Later on, the company will notice that they made ...
Experience is not everything
Experience is a good thing, but this does not automatically make an employee the best person to be promoted to a more responsible job.
Before promoting an employee, the company should know the employee's level of knowledge, skills and ambitions. They should know if that person really deserves that spot.
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The Peter Principle
Also known as The Peter principle of Incompetence, it claims that people who do their job well are promoted to positions of greater responsibility, and so on, until they reach a position in whic...
Dilbert Principle
The Dilbert Principle refers to the idea that incompetent employees are being promoted to prevent them from causing harm, since higher level positions don't need to be involved in the production of the company, while people that perform well are retained to production jobs, to keep the company going forward.
The Dilbert Principle is just a variation of the Peter Principle and critics think that this principle is only valuable for amusement.
Dilbert
Is a famous comic strip created by Scott Adams that shows a humorous look in office life, but also manifests lessons on behavioral economics.
In a series of cartoons published throughout the 1990s, he coined the term the Dilbert Principle. The concept was so successful that in 1996 the book “The Dilbert Principle” was created, which became very successful and it ended up selling over a million copies.
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Saul Syndrome
The Saul Syndrome is based on a biblical character named King Saul who crumbled because of his lack of character and integrity. And because of his pride, he disobeyed the Lord's command. Saul’...
Peter Principle vs. Saul Syndrome
Peter principle is about promoting people to their level of incompetence.
Saul syndrome promotes people beyond their integrity and character.
Promotion = Competence + Character
Because a leader must teach his followers not only to be competent, but to also develop their character as they progress.