(In)competence Inventory
Recently I heard a talk by the founder of a company specializing in making competence inventories. The talk was quite impressive. The speaker showed several colorful slides, and talked about the very advanced software the company uses to collect information about employees, and present it in a manner that is easy for managers to understand and use. Still, there was something that wasn't quite right. I grew suspicious at the beginning, when the speaker talked about the purpose of making a competence inventory. Knowing the skills, and the level of skill, of each employee is very important, he said, because it makes it easier to decide whom to fire when cutting costs. Not only was that the most important purpose of having a competence inventory, he gave no other reason. (But see below for an analysis of the reasons given at the competence inventory company's web site.) Let's think about that, not from a human point of view, but from a business point of view. (The audience con...