Consequences of overqualification at work
We are constantly looking for qualified people for the positions that are available within the companies we represent.
Employee qualification is a fashionable topic in any season, in any company, for any self-respecting management team. Out of this need to have qualified employees, companies sometimes invest in unskilled people by qualifying them right at work. And here we are not just talking about people who hold directly productive positions, we are also talking about insufficiently trained college graduates that we hire because they have the right attitude and motivation and whom we qualify at work. In this context, when we meet the person with a higher level of qualifications than we may need at that moment, we hire him/her, thinking that he will certainly perform better than an unqualified or than a suitably qualified person.
Employee qualification is a fashionable topic in any season, in any company, for any self-respecting management team. Out of this need to have qualified employees, companies sometimes invest in unskilled people by qualifying them right at work. And here we are not just talking about people who hold directly productive positions, we are also talking about insufficiently trained college graduates that we hire because they have the right attitude and motivation and whom we qualify at work. In this context, when we meet the person with a higher level of qualifications than we may need at that moment, we hire him/her, thinking that he will certainly perform better than an unqualified or than a suitably qualified person.
The increased performance of overqualified people is a certainty, up to a point. At this point there may appear negative consequences of overqualification, namely low employee satisfaction and increased risk of leaving the organization, resulting increased staff turnover. And these are only the direct negative consequences of overqualification, because they entail effects such as: the deterioration of the company's image, difficulties in the process of attracting staff, low morale among the company's employees, etc.
Overqualification of employees is a short-term solution and only when the professional career in the organization is well developed, so that the overqualified employees can be promoted in a short amount of time or step up to the qualification he holds. Otherwise, the disappointment is the feeling that will appear, producing the demotivation of that employee.
Being aware of these risks, companies must maintain a balance between underqualification and overqualification when it comes to current employees or those they recruit, as any imbalance between the two can lead to a decrease in performance.
