The Evil Eye of Competence
As children, we grow up with the notion that if education is pursued and we work hard incessantly, then we will always succeed. It is deeply imprinted in our hearts and minds—this notion of learning as much as you can and working as hard as you can each day and you’ll be repaid. However, this formula doesn’t always work as the popular TV series and movies show it to be. They say life is full of surprises and sometimes it is just plain ugly.
Even in the workplace, adults experience the same problem frequently. The top performers volunteer for problems and agree to take on demanding jobs and large assignments. Although managers consider this as constructive delegation, team players complain about overloaded responsibility stemming from their abilities. Occasionally, despite much hard work and conscientiousness, tangible rewards cannot be achieved and earned. This is referred to as the evil eye of competence or top performers problem. This can work its way into what is known as performance punishment whereby the organizations end up rewarding the high performers with more work.
However, competent employees experience negative outcomes on the job under unsound management circumstances. According to surveys, there are 2 ways in which competent team members can be punished by managers. With each one, the blog mentions a sensible strategy to assist in breaking the curse of competence.
1. Unrealistic Expectations
A high competency might set a high level, which is perceived to be difficult to achieve by one who has low competency. Good workers will do anything—they can to “climb to the top.” They rarely say no. Since they are trusted, they are orchestrated to do more (and more)—often without any appreciation, a raise in salary or a manager position.
What’s the Solution?
For two reasons, the list of tasks assigned to the competent employee is truly impressive. First, they are highly efficient. For the simple reason, they call for lower cost in bookmaking than most other formats. Second, they are competent and have shown ability to work responsibilities other than what they were hired to do.
2. Less Number of Growth Opportunities
In most organizations, the concept of future availability of leadership development positions is conveyed to the subjects who embody the culture of the organization, values, preferences, and visions imposed by the leadership. Far too often, though, this is the case in words only.
However, a manager who is terrible at his job might start getting afraid that you are going to expose him/her/them as a bad manager, or worse they might get jealous and start fearing that you are eyeing their position. As in the previous example, the development conversation was avoided by the manager in question because of the insecurity of his role.
Sometimes, there are managers who seem not to be able to manage star performers who work within their organizations. They removed their drive for productivity and refused to acknowledge their accomplishments. To an insecure manager what a future star really translates to is a lifelong subordinate.
What’s the Solution?
Create a list of employees with a desire to advance and progress on the career ladder within the company. Tell them to let us engage in the development talk. At the meeting, it is possible to express readiness to jointly develop a long-term development strategy.
Last but Not the Least
If you are a leader and you are surrounded by highly competent subordinates, stop and look into the mirror. Give it to them in the honor of time and space. Assist them in the Creation of development strategies. Do conduct regular one-to-one meetings and or/quarterly planning sessions with them.
Today we operate in a constantly growing dynamic and we cannot afford to ignore the top performers’ dilemma if we want improved employee turnover and improved organizational performance. When work requirements challenge one’s mental ability to handle, then the leaders who will triumph are those who overcome the curse of being competent.
