Envy At Work: What To Do So That It Is Not A Problem
Envy is bad, and at work it can be much worse It is a feeling that can degenerate into terribly harmful situations, such as mobbing, work stress, incompetence in the workplace, as well as tensions that can manifest in the form of physical and verbal attacks.
We are going to look in more depth at what causes this emotion in organizations, in addition to seeing some ways to manage it, whether we are the ones who are envious or envied, and what role the company can play in this regard.
Envy at work is a feeling that can be caused by multiple factors Work environments can be the place of interpersonal relationships that, depending on whether or not there is a bad climate, can degenerate in such a way that it affects the performance of the entire workforce.
One of the causes that can generate this harmful feeling is competitive pressure There are many people who do not feel well treated in the workplace, in addition to feeling that if they fail at something it can lead to serious consequences. If the person does not know their value in the company and does not feel safe, having to compete against others to keep their job, in addition to an almost traumatic experience, can generate a lot of tension in the office.
The moment they see that someone is better at something than themselves, it is possible that a whole series of very harmful dynamics will begin within the organization. It is very common that, due to envy, situations of mobbing or harassment (non-sexual) occur at work, which will make the victim feel increasingly worse and more isolated from the rest of the workers.
The harmful effects of envy are not something that appear overnight. They start with a feeling of resentment towards the envied person, looking for possible weaknesses and failures with the intention of making the other workers and the boss see that this person is not as efficient as they apparently believed. This can harm the envied person or, on the contrary, the envious person, since she will be showing herself as a weak and emotionally immature person, who is not able to tolerate the success of others.
In essence, envy at work arises from feeling anger at not having the potential of other coworkers, fear that one will be less valued when compared to others, or fear of losing one’s job because one perceives that one is not up to par. height.
What can you do to avoid feeling envy?
We are human beings and, therefore, at one time or another we will feel envious of someone. However, as mature and resourceful people, we can cope with this emotion or even prevent ourselves from feeling it.
1. Don’t obsess over how others do it
In this world there will always be people better and worse than us, but people who have more qualities than us will be more likely to be the center of our attention.
We should not obsess over how others do it, nor Nor do we try to surpass them no matter what, simply because we refuse to be worse than them Each one has a potential that must be improved in the healthiest and most adult way possible.
2. Nobody is perfect
It is possible that seeing another person do something better than yourself makes you feel envious of them; However, no one is perfect on this planet. We all have our strengths and weaknesses
We have to be objective, and understand that in the same way that we are feeling envy for something that person does well, it is also very likely that they have something that they do worse than us. One way or another, the strengths and weaknesses of both combined would neutralize each other.
3. Transform envy into admiration
Envy is, in essence, malicious admiration. The best thing you can do is know how to see the good in others and congratulate them for it, let them see that we find several of their qualities admirable
Admiration invites us to have good relationships with people who have certain gifts, while envy makes us distance ourselves, frustrates us and puts us in a bad mood.
4. Feel empathy
When we are envious of a partner who is given a position above us, It is very common to think that your life is a bed of roses and that he really hasn’t made an effort to be there.
Let’s try to empathize and think about how a person who is in your position feels. Would we like to have to make all the calls you make every day? Would it be nice for us to spend as little time with the family as he does? When was the last time he didn’t work overtime?
If we ask ourselves all these questions and get something negative as an answer, perhaps we will change envy for understanding.
5. Less envy and more personal improvement
Envy is a feeling that does not benefit us. We see that others do things better than us and we feel bad about it and we pay for it with them.
However, taking this into account, Wouldn’t it be better for us to engage in self-criticism and see how we can be inspired by the virtues of others?
Instead of being so envious of how well others do, we should look for ways to improve who we are ourselves. Once we reach the level of others, there will be no reason to feel envious of them.
It may seem complicated, and it really is, but if you do it you can get great results in the short term.
What to do if they are envious of us?
Other times it may happen that we are the ones who generate envy in the rest of our colleagues and, although this may seem to be beneficial to us, it can really make us take risks. The main one is the possibility of being accused of being where we are due to favoritism or being attacked both physically and psychologically. A few things can be done to try to reduce this feeling in our colleagues
1. Circumstances change, but the treatment does not
Maybe we got promoted. That is undoubtedly a good thing, however we must be careful, since we run the risk of beginning to treat those who until recently were our equals as people beneath us.
Even if circumstances change, We must make others see that we are still the same people that we continue to appreciate each other and that the change in the internal hierarchy of the company is not a reason to change interpersonal relationships.
Being humble and simple, showing that our value as people transcends any work status are good ways to avoid unnecessary envy.
2. Help others
We can offer our help to the envious person by giving them advice and even invite them to accompany us while we do a task. so you can learn how to do it
3. Escape from the limelight
Whether in meetings or in any work context, trying to be the center of attention when it is not necessary is a problem, since others may see us as too self-centered, even if there is some reason for this.
It may be that one day the boss or a colleague wants to pay us tribute for something we have done, but we must try avoid being systematically given too much importance since otherwise other workers may be undervalued.
In any social context, conversations can arise in which others are attacked. It is very important to avoid this type of talk, since, in addition to causing harm, can start a whole series of gossip, gossip and rumors that can be turned against us.
Destructive conversations can generate a lot of tension in the company, and we do not want the victims of them to return it to us in the form of resentment, personal attacks and promotion of a bad image of us.
What can the company do to avoid this type of situation?
The company is as responsible for the interactions between its workers as the staff themselves. That is why, if you see poor interpersonal relationships between your employees, you should consider initiating some changes to reduce tensions, especially if you do not want the organization’s performance to decrease.
1. Let go of competitions
It is quite common in companies to have their employees compete for the same job or performing some type of task.
This, which in principle may seem positive because it encourages putting in all the effort to achieve a goal and is perceived by the employer as a possible increase in productivity, implies certain risks.
It’s one thing to motivate staff to give their best, and another to make them see each other as enemies and it may be the case that they sabotage each other.
If you are the boss or manager of a certain section or department and you have detected people who seem prone to envy and jealousy, it is best to avoid any type of intense internal competition.
2. Avoid comparisons
To avoid unnecessary envy, it is best to avoid comparisons within the organization, whether from the boss or his subordinates.
An envious employee will not be amused at all knowing what his colleagues do and don’t stop doing, especially how well they do it. This can initiate all kinds of tension in the form of small, harmful actions from him to the rest of the employees.
3. Transparent reward system
This advice is especially recommended for the person who is in charge of the salaries and promotions of their employees.
In every company, people run the risk of comparing themselves based on the amount of money earned each month. This can cause confrontations and, of course, a lot of envy and jealousy.
The best way to avoid this is to create a transparent rewards system which consists of explaining to workers the reasons for promotions, salary increases, rewards and other ways to reward their good work performance.
When doing so, one must also ensure that everything necessary is explained and that it is not implied that the person who has benefited in one way or another has done so due to favoritism of some kind, and avoid the perception that it is of an unfair situation.
