Competition in the Workplace

It’s no secret that the fittest survive in nature. Antelope and lion start their morning with running, and whoever loses the race either becomes a meal or dies from hunger. Young siblings fight against each other for the parents’ attention. The whole history of humanity is about control and dominance: protection of the borders, acquisition of new territories, influence over the neighbors — you get the idea.

Despite the civil nature of the modern society, the urge for competition persists. This is what motivates us to move forward or give way to a fitter opponent. It’s like going to a grocery store — you look for the goods of best quality with the lowest price tag. The same happens when two or more employees compete head-on over a promotion, product, or contract. The question we should answer is whether this phenomenon is good or bad? More importantly, how to put this to your advantage and make your business grow?

Defining competition between the employees

Workplace competition is a logical continuation of human’s natural desire for a better life. There is nothing wrong in moderate competition, as seen in the beginning of the article. Competition between the employees is a conflict of interests within a distinct group of people, united by the same values and views. In this regard, it is similar to the conflict within a family, sports team, or group of classmates.

Competition might be created artificially in certain industries, ranging from military contracts to something with less responsibility, like game development. For example, this is how Ubisoft, a famous publisher, picked Nival for developing Heroes of Might and Magic V. While this example is not exactly about the competition within a team, it gives the basic idea of how everything works.

Competition between employees can happen when co-workers want to get a share of some limited resource, like:

• Recognition
• Bonuses
• Promotion
• Prizes
• Money
• Assets

The higher the position in working hierarchy — the more grueling competition becomes. But competition does not have to turn into rivalry with negative outcomes. Besides anxiety, competition can excite people to invent something new and incentivize to get out of the comfort zone. In-house competition is like fire, which is useful for cooking but can also burn the whole house down.

Negative consequences of competition

Let’s start with the obvious part and talk about the drawbacks of workplace competition:

• Anxiety, crunches, burnouts — stiff competition can kill morale, which is the opposite of what we strive to achieve. You can perfect a dish with a pinch of spice or spoil the meal with a handful of pepper.
• Resource wastage — when several groups of employees brainstorm the same task, it might seem as inefficient usage of intellectual capital. Why designing and making 3 versions of the same car, when you can make a roadster, cabriolet, and SUV?
• Unethical behavior — E. Taylor used to say: “Success is a great deodorant — it washes away your past smells”. High anxiety is a moral hazard, which can cause the employees to compete unethically. Below, we will discuss how to turn anxiety into excitement, which facilitates healthy and ethical competition.
• Lack of unity and discord — besides killing individual morale, hard competition is detrimental to team spirit too. This makes everybody vulnerable to external threats, like espionage, brain drain, or corporate acquisition.
• Vicious cycle — when the toxic atmosphere befalls, it is not something you can easily get rid of. It puts additional strain on the team spirit and kills any incentive to move forward.

Those are the basic reasons to keep the competition at bay. But it is not necessarily something bad — onto the next chapter, lads!

Positive results of competition

When done right, competition is a great boon to overall productivity. We remember about our promise to tell you how to turn competition anxiety into excitement, but first, we want to highlight the advantages — bear with us.

• Inspiration and invigoration — doing the same thing over and over again makes you stagnate. To regain productivity, a small challenge is needed. Entering the competition is the way to get out of the comfort zone and become creative.
• Attention to details — by dedicating the same project to a couple of employee groups, you are likely to end up with similar but not the same projects. By taking the best ideas from each group, you can create an ideal solution.
• Preparation for a real challenge — the world is harsh, especially the world of business. By encouraging internal competition, you can prepare the employees for external challenges, which might be merciless.
• Bringing people together — during competition, people experience emotions, even toward the competitors. Emotions are the bond that connects people, which is why the sense of community may grow stronger with the employees.
• Revelation of people’s identity — while competing, people have to think and make decisions. This can highlight their strengths and weaknesses, provide the info on their character, and just make them more approachable. For example, some might be natural-born leaders, others are best at delivering speeches etc.
• Personal growth — competition is like an A/B testing where you can see your personal capabilities and compare them with the rest of the team. This is helpful for finding your weak spots and improving them.

How to control the competition flow

As you can see, the phenomenon of competition might have opposing pros and cons. The key here is to frame your message in the right way, so that the people perceive it positively. What exactly can be done to facilitate more positive attitude?

• Focus on gains instead of losses — people are risk-averse in general, so they weigh differently the loss and gain of a similar size. Motivating them with fear of loss is the way to cause anxiety, which is a straight way to unethical competition, because people will defend what belongs to them by all means necessary. Instead of threatening to take away a bonus for not meeting the sales requirements, incentivize with the same bonus for meeting the requirements — you are telling the same thing, which is framed differently.
• Capitalize on your strengths — trying to catch up with everyone will do you no good. Start figuring out what you are good at and take advantage of it. If you are the leader of a team, then remind an anxious member about it. This will give them a reason to fight for and keep the spirit high.
• Practice makes perfect — people get used to everything, so keep competing. Initially, people might feel repulsive about it, due to some poor experience before. Follow the tips above and keep competing, so that the people start to appreciate it and see the things your way.
• Talk through misunderstandings — toxic competition is more of a norm nowadays, so people might be really stubborn about seeing things your way. Why don’t you talk through all their fears and worries, so that you can improve their productivity for years to come? Remind them that being competitive is how the nature around us works.
• Compete against yourself — sometimes you ought to answer the external challenges and compare the results against other people. But most of the time, emerging victorious over yourself from yesterday is the greatest reward you can achieve. After all, there is no more suitable opponent in the whole world than yourself.

Tips on fighting toxic vibes

People are different, which is why competition can turn sour — sometimes it’s inevitable. The right solution will depend on the context, even aggressive negotiations might be approved at times. Fortunately, there are other, less violent ways of protecting oneself from engaging with unhealthy competition and people, who push the limits.

• Actions speak louder than words — just do your work, the rest will fall in line naturally.
• Talk things through — not always people are willing to hurt you, so talking over the issue is a great start for figuring out the solution.
• Ally yourself with other victims — if someone tends to bully or steal the work of the others, time to forge alliances to defend yourselves effectively.
• Contact the boss — when talking to top-management, focus on the problem, instead of a particular person, as well your wish to get over it. This way you won’t look like the one causing all the troubles.
• Count to ten — prior to making a serious decision, like opening your mouth, count to ten and process the information received. This way, you will insure yourself from acting irrationally.
• Collect evidence — if things get hot and irritating, start gathering the evidence, so you can fight back anybody who crosses the line. Communicate with the offender via emails only, if necessary, so you can always provide clear proof of your innocence.
• Respect yourself — the last thing you want to do is to renege on self-respect, even if it means confronting the boss. Losing an inadequate boss is better than losing your face. Always stand up for your principles and retaliate when the person tries to hamper your work and make your life more difficult.

Conclusion

Competition is a difficult phenomenon to deal with, because people in general don’t know how to compete. As a result, people have a bias against competition, similar to the prejudice against nuclear plants as a source of danger.

When used right, however, competition can boost your productivity and prepare your team for real challenges. Just make sure to focus on framing it right, highlighting the importance of competition for survival, and talking openly about its advantages.

Competition can get out of hand at times, but you gotta learn to respect yourself to be fine, no matter the circumstances. No job is worth giving up on yourself and your principles, which is handy to know to stand your ground firmly.