Recently, someone asked, “What do you do with incompetent people?” I think the person asking was struggling because, as a Christian, he is supposed to love and forgive others' mistakes. But, I think that’s applying the right principle to the wrong situation. Let me restate here what I said in response.
First, if God has endowed every person with some strengths or talents—which I believe He has—then we must remember that every person can have more than adequate competence in at least one area or capacity or vocation. So, we should be careful about labeling incompetent people as “bad employees” or “lazy co-workers” or “inept students.” Such sweeping generalizations are hurtful and plainly wrong.
Nonetheless, we do encounter and witness incompetency all around us. Employers, employees, teachers, students, leaders, followers, men, women, young, old, it doesn’t matter: incompetency is everywhere. Why is this so?
The second point I want to make is this: some people are doing what they are not supposed to be doing. We’re all unique, and thus our uniqueness must be identified and developed. I firmly believe that we should focus our energy on developing God-given strengths more than addressing weaknesses. Incompetence, therefore, manifests when talent is not well-aligned to the task.
So, the central question is this: Could it be that incompetent people are in jobs or careers that are not aligned to their strengths and talents?
If so, they should be encouraged and guided to find careers in areas they naturally excel in/at. I am well aware that aligning talents with jobs/positions is not easy. In tough economic times, this alignment becomes even more challenging. Applicants typically over-package or over-sell themselves (i.e., make themselves appear overqualified or act as if the available position is something they can handle). Employers are also tempted to find the most “economic” human resource, not the right person for the job/position.
I’m all for managing resources, but working with incompetent persons can be detrimental in many ways. Let’s think about the possible consequences of working with incompetent people or people whose strengths are not aligned to their position. You can either re-call a person you know who is incompetent, or imagine an incompetent employee at a fast-food restaurant.
1. Incompetent people are ineffective. They simply do not produce the results required or demanded. They genuinely lack the capacity, and incapable people typically cannot get the job done right. (Ex. imagine a fast-food restaurant employee who cannot count money and keeps on giving back wrong amounts of change to customers.) 2. They cause inefficiency. Since incompetent people cannot produce the desired outcome, more resources must be placed to achieve the desired outcome. Going back to the fast-food restaurant employee who cannot count, another employee or manager may need to step in to resolve the problem. Thus, incompetent people will waste valuable resources in order to complete their assigned task(s).
3. They cause frustrations for their customers, employers, co-workers, and the entire organization/operation. It’s an all-around frustration that is felt by almost everyone in that person’s sphere of influence. This type of frustration is not only stressful but demoralizing when left unresolved. It could be very costly as well (ex. losing customers).
So, as employers or organizational leaders, what are we to do with incompetent people in our work places? I suggest the following:
if you have the compassion and patience and room to put up with mediocrity or incompetence, then work with those who lack the ability by all means;
if you have no choice but to train people to become more competent, then develop a system or structure to train those who have the potential to become competent—along the way, promote those who step up and release those who do not;
if you have no room for failures or incompetency, place your resources in hiring and supporting only competent people.
I have some personal thoughts I want to share with you. I’ve seen some incompetent people become competent as the result of effective training and support. Personally, I don’t always enjoy the process of facilitating such growths, but the result can be life-changing (to the trainee) and incredibly satisfying (to the trainer). But, it should be noted that success is not the norm. What typically happens is a rather difficult and painful separation. So, be very careful about hiring and training incompetent people.
Am I too harsh? I don't think so. I think helping someone to find jobs or careers that are aligned to his/her strength by releasing them is part of what organizational leaders are supposed to do (as much as finding and hiring the right people). Sometimes, that requires firing/releasing people so that they can go find something else to do, something more aligned to their talents. That's not an easy decision, but organizational leaders must be courageous enough to do the right things.