As many of us have been doing this week, I looked up from the last minute GDPR preparations yesterday to find I had received a reference request from a large retail organisation for one of my former employees had arrived in my inbox.

It’s a beautiful day. It’s also 9am on Friday. Right on cue, one of your employees, Peter, calls in (using that curious hoarse voice he always has when he is reporting sickness) to let you know he’s unwell (gippy tummy and vomiting this time). There’s no underlying medical reason causing his absence. He’s just simply away rather frequently with a wide variety of mostly unrelated ailments.

When an employee falls short of workplace standards, employers are expected to take disciplinary action. This will normally start with an informal discussion and then if the problem is not resolved it will become formal. Before a formal disciplinary hearing can take place, there has to be an investigation to determine whether or not there is a case to answer. An investigation is simply a fact find.

During recruitment many companies make the mistake of overselling their jobs to potential employees, which although it may increase interest in a position, often results in the company experiencing a high employee turnover rate.

If you are tolerating incompetence in the workplace you are not alone. Far from it. In fact I think I’d go even further and say that lack of work competence is something of an epidemic in the UK. I know I will be shouted down by the great and good who think I am cynical; I can only speak as I find based on overwhelming feedback from large and small clients and 30 years’ experience. Incompetence is a serious workplace disease – and can be a workplace disaster.