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Toxic vs. Healthy Competition In The Workplace

Toxic vs. Healthy Competition In The Workplace
by Anne Rose

Competition in the workplace isn't necessarily a good or bad quality. It all depends on the purpose of the competition, how it's applied and the desired outcome.

Healthy competition endeavors to work toward a common goal, whether it's increased revenues, increased customer base or increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

The CEO might announce a target of X percent increase in sales over last year and invite feedback on how to achieve that goal. Effective strategies earn a bonus for the staff with special recognition to the staffer who conceived it. Submissions can be thoughtful proposals on how to implement, how to surmount roadblocks and how to analyze costs and projected benefits.

In this way, the CEO has inspired creativity and elicited best practices from the staff on the front lines.

"Employee of the month" programs can inspire healthy competition if the criteria for recognition are standardized, quantifiable and beneficial to the prosperity of the company. The rewards must also be concrete and be perceived as valuable to the employee or no one will exert the energy to compete. A plaque that no one sees or a short-term prime parking spot are shallow tokens and soon forgotten.

Management must consider what perks would be deemed rewards by their employees: A raise? Extra responsibilities as a promotion? A flat bonus? Stock in the company? Rather than assume you know what they want, why not ask them?

I once worked for a company that gave free stock to its employees as an incentive. And yes, it inspired competition and amazing creativity and high morale to know that if the company succeeded, the individual would profit, too.
 
Conversely, I also once worked for a company that would pass out a free coffee coupon for a job well done. All the recipients confided to me that this cheap gesture was meaningless since it was dispensed thoughtlessly and without regard as to whether the recipient was even a coffee drinker!

So when is a competitive spirit in the workplace not healthy? When it creates a toxic environment.

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