Thou Dost Not See Me For Who I Am - Theoretical Reflections on the
Underutilization of Employee Talents in the Workplace and Its
Consequences
Abstract
This article describes ‘chronic relative underperformance’ (CRU), – a
special example of person-environment misfit –, investigates literature
on giftedness, underachievement, underemployment, workplace boredom and
bore-out, and connects these to clinical psychological views on
mentalization, in order to develop thoughts that are useful in the
understanding of why some employees fail to thrive, even though that
they are performing seemingly well enough as regards to the targets of
the employer, with the intention to offer a frame of reference that can
lead to further understanding of this condition. Relative
underperformance is an issue that is hardly described within the
literature. Recognising CRU in the workforce and taking steps to counter
its effects, may lead to a more efficient and elegant way to reach
organisational, and personal, goals.