Chapter 7: Troubleshooting
The problem with the modern corporation is that it is so large that it is inevitable, despite your best efforts, that you will have some employees who are actually competent at their assigned tasks. This is, of course, big trouble for staff morale, since those who are rising to the level of their incompetence will often find their worst efforts undermined by those beneath them. It is no exaggeration to suggest that one reasonably efficient person can destroy the best efforts of a thousand of the rest of us.
This chapter is an attempt to define the problem, and suggests possible solutions for dealing with it.
SEVEN DEADLY SIGNS: There are seven signs that an employee may be afflicted by a deadly competence. 1) Employee finishes work on time. 2) Employee appears in office before start of work day, does not leave until after end of work day. 3) Employee will work uncredited overtime in order to get a job done. 4) Employee does not have a prepared list of excuses for failure. 5) Employee cheerfully accepts a challenge. 6) Employee has no visitors, eats lunch at his or her desk and does not make personal phone calls. 7) Employee takes responsibility for his or her actions.
Taken individually, these are bad enough. When combined in one person, they are indicative of an almost pathological ability.
Hostlerman International, a developer of corporate computer software, had just such an employee. Of the company's 28 middle managers, 27 were devoted full time to selling the Company to Microsoft. Unfortunately, the other had devoted herself to actually creating useful software. This inflated the company's stock price and caused negotiations to drag on an additional 21 months.
Nor is the private sector the only one to suffer from secret pockets of competence. There is a legend about an incorruptable restaurant inspector in New York City who was taken into a dark alley and beaten senseless, ending his productive career. It was reported in the newspapers that he had been beaten by an angry client whom he had closed down; the truth was that he had been beaten by his colleagues, who had seen the value of their bribes plummet in the face of his honest work.
Competence can be ugly. You need a strategy to cope.
COPING STRATEGIES. 1. Switch Jobs. When an employee shows a certain ability in one field, switch her or him to another position within the firm. Somebody brilliant at long distance phone sales, for instance, may be less so in engineering research and development. A great personnel manager might find a new career as inventory supervisor just the thing! Once adjusted, these people could then rise to their level of incompetence just like everybody else. Even those who seem to thrive in a variety of positions are likely to have their abilities sorely tested if they have to learn a new position once every, say, six weeks.
2. Partners. If you suspect an employee of having some competence, pair that person up with an employee you know for a fact has none. Most often, coping with an underskilled partner will divert a competent person's energy away from embarrassing his or her less competent associates with shows of ability. However, you must monitor such situations very closely: sometimes, the competent person will make the other person semi-functional, effectively doubling your problem. More drastic measures may be called for.
3. Teams. Putting a competent person in charge of a work team is an excellent way of dissipating his or her debilitating effects on an organization. The team must, of course, be carefully chosen to ensure a maximum of back-biting, dissension, infighting and other forms of unproductive activity. The more members who have worked together before, the better. The more often the team leader has to report to a Vice President, the less time she or he will have for productive pursuits. (This is most effective when her or his salary is tied to the productivity of the group.)
4. Promotion. As a last resort, some corporations promote clearly competent people to positions with little power which do not offer the possibility for high levels of productivity. Vice President for Corporate Morale, for instance. If the competent employee's suggestions are ignored often enough by head office, this has the added bonus of leading her or him to start her or his own company, thus solving your problem!
Competency is a problem which can afflict any corporation. But if you prepare ahead for such an emergency, the odds are you will not only be able to cope with it, but you be able to thrive in spite of it. BE PREPARED!
