10% of staff are incompetent...

Scarlett · 02-02-2004, 12:23

More than one in every 10 workers in England are incompetent at their jobs, a survey of 72,100 employers suggests.

I certainly know of some people in my co. that were incompetent at their jobs (Including one guy who I suspect was going for some form of record) but the bit that doesn't surprise me is the 40% of employers had provided no training in the previous 12 months.

I've managed to get that first hand in 2 different places; The one course that I wanted to go on at my current employer they said that as we some people in the co. already had the skill (SQL in this case) that they could run some internal training instead.

Have admit that the story doesn't make nice reading, I don't like to find out that my cynical view is in fact correct.

As usual, the full story is here.

Enterian · 02-02-2004, 12:44

Depressing though it is I have to say that this pretty much ties in with my own experiences.

These days 'cost' is king, with the result that concepts of personal and professional development are swept aside by employers in order to save money.

This inevitably results in unmotivated, inadequate staff, who are simply doing the job to pay the bills.

Sociable · 02-02-2004, 13:05

I guess one question this raises is why some companies seem to have more than their fair share of the incompetent, especially in senior management positions.

(Not mentioning any specific companies by name of course)

luftys · 02-02-2004, 13:11

All of the people at my works go on courses,but me

they cant find any for me to go on,must be untrainably

MetaWraith · 02-02-2004, 13:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sociable

I guess one question this raises is why some companies seem to have more than their fair share of the incompetent, especially in senior management positions.

(Not mentioning any specific companies by name of course)

I'd say, If the lawyers agreed I could that "It's Never Too Late to do that", but of course they're still discussing it, so I can't say it just yet.

zoombini · 02-02-2004, 13:46

Yes it is true that 10% of staff are incompetent, howeve the other 95% just dont know what they are doing...

Jerrek · 02-02-2004, 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scarlett

More than one in every 10 workers in England are incompetent at their jobs, a survey of 72,100 employers suggests.

IF you replace the 10 with a 5 and England with Canada, you've pretty much nailed it.

zoombini · 02-02-2004, 15:26

Mind you, you do have to realise that the survey will only have been filled out my a "manager" and they are all incompetent anyway, so proberally thought that they were filling out a request for a new mousemat or something.

Theodoric · 02-02-2004, 18:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sociable

I guess one question this raises is why some companies seem to have more than their fair share of the incompetent, especially in senior management positions.

(Not mentioning any specific companies by name of course)

Incompetents in senior management positions is easily explained by the Peter Principle, which states something along the lines of "people rise one position above that at which they are competent".

Sociable · 02-02-2004, 18:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theodoric

Incompetents in senior management positions is easily explained by the Peter Principle, which states something along the lines of "people rise one position above that at which they are competent".

One of my all time fav books that.

Being a "Peter" myself it was a must read for me.

Best bit has to be the use of what he calls "Creative Incompetence" whereby you deliberately make mistakes so as to avoid being promoted beyond your capacity and so hold on to a job you are happy with.

Bifta · 02-02-2004, 19:35

I'm curious as to how Ebuyer, NTL, Amazon and Citylink managed to nab every single 1 of these people, perhaps there's an "are you incompetent" check box on the application form.

mrm1 · 02-02-2004, 19:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theodoric

"people rise one position above that at which they are competent".

Where does that leave the people at the bottom of the food chain...........

MetaWraith · 02-02-2004, 20:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sociable

Best bit has to be the use of what he calls "Creative Incompetence" whereby you deliberately make mistakes so as to avoid being promoted beyond your capacity and so hold on to a job you are happy with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bifta

I'm curious as to how Ebuyer, NTL, Amazon and Citylink managed to nab every single 1 of these people, perhaps there's an "are you incompetent" check box on the application form.

So very true * smirk mode to overdrive *

03-02-2004, 01:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theodoric

Incompetents in senior management positions is easily explained by the Peter Principle, which states something along the lines of "people rise one position above that at which they are competent".

Actually it's "in a hierarchically structured administration, people tend to be promoted up to their level of incompetence".

I was going to point that out when I read the first message, but Theodoric got there first!

Escapee · 03-02-2004, 18:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham

Actually it's "in a hierarchically structured administration, people tend to be promoted up to their level of incompetence".

I was going to point that out when I read the first message, but Theodoric got there first!

I have found (probably not on my own) that the ones who are good at their job and are most deserving rarely get promoted, whilst the ones who make a hash of it get promoted either sideways or upwards into a position that they can do least damage.