It is thought that nearly 20% of workers in the UK are overeducated for the jobs they are doing, whilst nearly two-thirds of graduates are working in in roles that do not require university degrees.
Such has been the explosion in university education, that many employers now use degrees as a standard entry requirement for roles that were traditionally done by non-graduates. This has led to “job inflation” where workers are taking jobs that they don’t find challenging.
On the face of it this could seem ideal – lots of smart people working for you. In reality it is not always positive.
Unless these employees are managed well, overqualified workers can develop negative attitudes, such as a sense of entitlement about their skills or resentment through boredom, that can ripple out to every part of the office or team.
And if you are the only over-qualified individual in the team, this can lead to individuals feeling different and lead to isolation and loneliness. Sometimes even bullying.
There is also another issue, that if someone feels they are over-qualified, they may not invest much time in tasks they feel are “beneath them” which can result in a below standard outcome.
Interestingly, it is often the perception of being over-qualified which causes more issues than being over-qualified itself. This is especially true when it comes to millennials who tend to have higher expectations for themselves, and their employers, compared to other generations.
This can present itself in small acts of defiance, such as coming in late, leaving early, low level insubordination etc.
Of course, this isn’t necessarily the case. Employees who are overqualified but equipped with good interpersonal skills or the ability to influence with the ability to be competent and likeable are popular and well accepted and therefore feel motivated to engage in positive work behaviours.
So the reality is that yes, an employee can be too smart. But this doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. Conversely it is not always a good thing. The success is down to the individual and crucially the level of leadership.
To keep overqualified staff engaged, leaders should give them more creative assignments, long-term projects or have them collaborate with other teams within the company. Although clearly, this must be balanced with not creating resentment elsewhere in the organisation.