Competence Defined

We hear the word competence or incompetence used frequently. To be competent implies a level of knowledge and or expertise in a certain area. No one can know everything but we often confuse competence with knowledge, common sense and work ethic. We all like to believe we are competent however, we know that not everyone is and that being competent often comes with additional responsibilities. Is the employee working optimally, or can they assume more responsibility? Competence can be considered having the correct or adequate knowledge, skills or abilities to perform a task and/or a job and is about workload. We know that all jobs are not equal and therefore, workload is not equal. The question is “is the person capable and competent?” For example, one might be able to do a job but might not have the correct background and therefore need to make up for their lack of education and/or training through hard work.

Hiring Competence

How does it happen that incompetent people are hired? Why would anyone hire an incompetent person? In some instances, a trained and able workforce is difficult to identify and organizations use what has been referred to as “warm body syndrome” so they have ...