Hello social psychology crew.
As my last few blog posts have focused primarily on social competence in regards to children I decided to extend my search to social competence and incompetence in the workplace. During my research I found that incompetence in the workplace is a common problem and has a direct effect on organisational work place efficiency. While competence in the workplace has received some research attention, there has been little focus on incompetence. As my topic is based on social competence I figure it would be beneficial to have an understanding of what makes a person incompetent as well.
Competence is a perception of ability in another person or in one’s self (Sandberg, 2000). Incompetence on the other hand is a perception of inability in another person or in one’s self. Variables such as gender and race can affect impressions of incompetence in the workplace. For example, women are generally seen as less competent and are less influential in task groups than men unless there are data available on their performance ability (Olmstead, 2003).
A study conducted by the British Learning and Skills Council comprising of 72,100 employers across 27 industries estimated that more than one in every ten workers in the United Kingdom were incompetent at their jobs (BBC News, 2004). The researchers also found that worker incompetence led to negative organisational outcomes. More than one in five employers reported their workforce was not capable of doing their jobs effectively resulting in higher operating costs and delayed new product development. Inadequate training, a general lack of experience, and low motivation were put forth as possible explanations. Therefore this research suggests that worker incompetence can affect efficiency and productivity in many organisations.
So moving along, part of my blog two question is to explore the skills that are exhibited by people who are socially competent. Social competence has been described in terms of both task-specific skills and general social skills (Sandberg, 2000). Research in the field of psychology and human resource management describe competence in terms of general workplace skills (Baker, 1998). Sternberg (1990) described competence in terms of problem solving ability, verbal ability and social competence and found support for his prediction that individuals consider these factors in their assessment of competence. These same skills, among others, were also found to be the minimum skills required by employees in the workplace (O’Neil, 1999).
I think it is vital for employees to be socially competent in most workplace environments. I currently work in the public service in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and I would consider most of my work colleagues to be socially competent. At work there are information reviews, staff meetings and visitors in our office from all over the world so it is important that each employee has adequate social skills. These social skills are useful during networking evenings, for phone answering skills and to keep the workplace a social and an interesting place be.
In saying this however, when I first started at DFAT I was younger and inexperienced. I believe that I have learnt through experience to become more socially competent in the workplace and that like with anything, it took time to learn the necessary skills. I don’t think social competence is a concept that when personally achieved it is mastered. Rather I think it is something that continues to grow and change through many individual experiences.
More to come soon, happy blogging :-)Competence is a perception of ability in another person or in one’s self (Sandberg, 2000). Incompetence on the other hand is a perception of inability in another person or in one’s self. Variables such as gender and race can affect impressions of incompetence in the workplace. For example, women are generally seen as less competent and are less influential in task groups than men unless there are data available on their performance ability (Olmstead, 2003).
A study conducted by the British Learning and Skills Council comprising of 72,100 employers across 27 industries estimated that more than one in every ten workers in the United Kingdom were incompetent at their jobs (BBC News, 2004). The researchers also found that worker incompetence led to negative organisational outcomes. More than one in five employers reported their workforce was not capable of doing their jobs effectively resulting in higher operating costs and delayed new product development. Inadequate training, a general lack of experience, and low motivation were put forth as possible explanations. Therefore this research suggests that worker incompetence can affect efficiency and productivity in many organisations.
So moving along, part of my blog two question is to explore the skills that are exhibited by people who are socially competent. Social competence has been described in terms of both task-specific skills and general social skills (Sandberg, 2000). Research in the field of psychology and human resource management describe competence in terms of general workplace skills (Baker, 1998). Sternberg (1990) described competence in terms of problem solving ability, verbal ability and social competence and found support for his prediction that individuals consider these factors in their assessment of competence. These same skills, among others, were also found to be the minimum skills required by employees in the workplace (O’Neil, 1999).
I think it is vital for employees to be socially competent in most workplace environments. I currently work in the public service in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and I would consider most of my work colleagues to be socially competent. At work there are information reviews, staff meetings and visitors in our office from all over the world so it is important that each employee has adequate social skills. These social skills are useful during networking evenings, for phone answering skills and to keep the workplace a social and an interesting place be.
In saying this however, when I first started at DFAT I was younger and inexperienced. I believe that I have learnt through experience to become more socially competent in the workplace and that like with anything, it took time to learn the necessary skills. I don’t think social competence is a concept that when personally achieved it is mastered. Rather I think it is something that continues to grow and change through many individual experiences.
Jac
5 comments:
Hi Jacqui,
I've really enjoyed reading your posts on social competence, particularly your post on social competence in the workplace. I've been employed in retail for the last three years, and during that time, social competence has been a very pertinent issue, for both myself and other employees. Like yourself, when I began my job, I was pretty inexperienced and I really didn't regard myself as competent (especially when a customer would ask me about a product that I myself had no idea about). Communicating efficiently with customers and other workers also presented somewhat of a challenge early on, especially since I am such a shy person. As time went on however, I began feeling much more competent in how I approached and served customers, and developed increased confidence in my communication skills and product knowledge.
We often have staff meetings and training sessions at work too, so that we can keep up to speed with all the latest changes in the company, therefore, remaining competent in our jobs. We also occassionally serve "secret shoppers" so that we can continue to improve our practice and social skills. I agree that one's social competence is constantly changing and being shaped through experience, and the workplace can definitely play a large role in that. Good work with all your effort on this topic, and good luck with your second blog :)
Hello Chicken,
Wow! Your blog looks like it's coming along nicely... very interesting.
Your blog post on Social Competence in the Workplace was really interesting. Like Jess, i too worked in retail for seven years and social competence (or communicating efficiently with customers) was really important. And for someone who is shy by nature the idea of even approaching strangers to serve them can be very daunting...
Anyway, i was actually writing to tell you that i worked out how to add hyperlinks to all your comments on your blog home page.
1/ Sign into your blog
2/ Customize
3/ Add page element
4/ Go to the page element titled 'Links' or 'Add hyperlinks'( i think it is like the 3rd or fourth option- you'll see it)
5/ Add all your links as you would normally add a hyperlink- and add names etc too (it's self explanatory from here)
That's it, easy peasy.
Let me know if you need help
Good luck with your blog and i'll see you on Wednesday for our big exam... FUN : )
Talk soon xx
hey Jac, You have raised some great points. An outcome I gained from studying ‘ethical and professional issues’ was that competence is something that one must continually work at. Taking the retail example (as coincidently I also work in retail) I feel quite confident in most situations especially if I have worked several shifts that week. However if I don’t work for a week and then come into work chances are I will be much less competent. There will be new product I am not familiar with and won’t know where to find all the new stock, there may be a new promotion that I don’t know about. So I have to work to find out all these new things to become more competent, and the following week the cycle starts again. I think this is true in most areas of life, things change and adapt all the time and if you don’t keep up with the best ways to do things then you can’t consider yourself competent. So I agree you have to continue to strive to master competency….and that’s what makes you competent…..rach
Outstanding social competence in work!
Social Competence Questionnaire
Hai
Am doing PhD in organizational psychology. My sample is construction work employees. I would like to add social competence as a variable in my study. But i haven't found out any questionnaire for measuring employees social competence. can you please help me.If you have any social competence questionnaire for employees please sent me.
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