My colleague is delightful, but bad at their job. Does that matter?

During a casual dinner including some of my colleagues, the subject of a co-worker came up. I was shocked to hear this person being disparaged. The chief complaint was that this person’s work was of a poor standard. I have some sympathy for that opinion, although I would say their work is more hit or miss than uniformly “bad”.

The reason the discussion surprised me is that the person in question is one of the most delightful people I’ve met. Doesn’t the fact this person undeniably makes our workplace a more enjoyable place to be more than make up for any inadequacies in their “output”?

Does the fact my colleague undeniably makes our workplace a more enjoyable place to be make up for any inadequacies in their output?Credit: John Shakespeare

Dr Florian Klonek, a senior lecturer of management at Deakin University, agreed that your colleague’s positive influence on the social side of work is tremendously important. He mentioned that there are numerous reasons why perceptions of a co-worker’s performance and contribution to the workplace can vary – and even be unfair.

“People often have different standards or criteria for evaluating work performance. Do we look at productivity, quality, innovation, proactive behaviours or standard task performance?” Klonek says.

“While some may see this co-worker as a strong performer in certain areas, others may focus more on their shortcomings. These subjective differences can lead to varied opinions about the same individual.”

In addition to subjectivity, another reason why your colleague’s performance might be marked down is known as fundamental attribution error, Klonek told me.

The co-workers who disparaged your wonderful colleague are almost certainly undervaluing the person’s soft skills.

“Colleagues might attribute this person’s inconsistent work to personal characteristics, which is a classic internal attribution – blame the person, not the situation – labelling them as a ‘bad performer’,” they say.

“However, it’s important to consider that their job may not be designed to allow them to perform well. Factors like having boring tasks, a lack of skill variety, no job autonomy or repetitive duties can make it difficult for anyone to deliver high-quality work consistently. These situational factors can often be overlooked, leading to misjudgement.”

Your colleague may also be held back by what Klonek described as a poor person-environment fit.

“This person may be in a role – or job – that does not align well with their skills or interests. While they seem to do well regarding social skills, their work tasks might not play to their strengths.”

“A mismatch between a person’s abilities and job requirements can lead to underperformance. It may be worth considering whether this individual could be more successful in a position that better leverages their social skills – such as a customer-facing role.”

And finally, Klonek said, it was important not to underestimate the ability of this person to make your workplace more enjoyable.

“This person contributes to socially enriched work, [creating] positive relationships and makes an enjoyable work environment; this is just as important as task-related performance.”

“[Their] positive influence on workplace morale, their helpfulness and genuine interest in others may significantly contribute to the social work environment. Being able to connect socially is often linked to higher job satisfaction and can also have positive consequences for how others perform at work.”

To summarise, the co-workers who disparaged your wonderful colleague are almost certainly undervaluing the person’s soft skills and possibly misjudging their harder skills. Avoid letting their negativity influence your opinion of your teammate or anyone else at your workplace.

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