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Subscribe to RSSIf your office sometimes feels more like an Olympic boxing ring than the collaborative environment you hear about in human resources materials, you can at least take comfort that you’re not alone.
A newly released survey finds that nearly half of senior managers at U.S. companies think employees are more competitive with each other than they were a decade earlier.
The telephone survey, of 1,013 senior managers at companies with 20 or more employees, found that only 4 percent of the managers think employees are less competitive with one another than a decade ago.
It was conducted in August 2011 and released last week by Office Team, a temporary administrative staffing agency.
Blame the years of living with the uncertainty of a tight job market and a high unemployment rate. Experts say there are many more workers than jobs, which means workers have started to feel threatened by their peers.
“There’s only so much room in the lifeboat,” said Jane Cranston, a New York career coach.
That, in turn, means people will try harder to stand out individually, in some cases even if it comes at the expense of succeeding as a group.
“A lot of the competition at work is (because) you want to look good for the boss so that if someone gets fired, it’s the other guy and not you,” said Ron Humphrey, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s business school.
Those fears aren’t wholly unfounded. Although companies aren’t cutting workers like they were a few years ago, employment growth has remained painfully slow. The unemployment rate stood at 8.2 percent in June.
Of course, there are plenty of benefits to being competitive. Timothy Judge, a management professor at the University of Notre Dame, noted that research has shown that the best athletes are also the most competitive.
But particularly in U.S. office environments that focus on teamwork and collaboration, you can get into trouble if your competitive streak makes you the jerk at work.
“There’s some optimal range. If you seem arrogant and imperious, you may get a certain level of respect, but I think you’ll be seen as difficult,” Judge said.
But on the other hand, he noted, “If you continually undersell yourself, you’re not going to get recognized.”
Judge also noted that there’s another possible explanation for the fact that more people appear to be out to one-up their co-workers: Narcissism. He said research also has shown that narcissism is on the increase, and “narcissists like to show off.”
Experts say there are ways to stand out from your peers without coming across as a jerk, or a narcissist. Here are some tips.
Work smarter, not necessarily harder: Cranston, the career coach, notes that many women fall into the trap of working hard but never getting noticed. She recommends that employees try to make sure they are devoting at least some time to the right work, including the projects people at the top care about, and not sweating all the small stuff.
Humphrey notes that it’s the person who seeks out the tough, complex assignment that is more likely to get noticed.
“Some people work really hard at some of the more simple, mundane tasks. They think the way to get ahead is to be a busy worker bee, but that just proves you’re a busy worker bee," he said. "The way you get promoted is by showing you can take on the leadership tasks."
Take credit for good work: Cranston also notes that many women shy away from giving themselves a pat on the back, instead letting the group take credit for their efforts.
“Women say ‘we’ when it’s ‘I,’” she said.
Another problem is the boss who takes credit for everyone else’s work. To mitigate that problem, she recommends developing a signature style so leaders will recognize you did the work even if your boss is the one presenting it.
Network: If you want to get promoted, or just avoid a pink slip, Cranston recommends that you make sure the people in the top positions get to know you -- even if that means riding the elevator a few extra times or making extra trips to the bathroom.
“I think it’s harder to fire a face,” she said. “It’s easier to lay off a name on a chart.”
Build loyalty: Humphrey’s research has shown that people who are pushy or aggressive about forcing themselves into a leadership position don’t necessarily do well.
On the other hand, people who are high on empathy are more likely to emerge as the leader because they understand better what motivates people.
“Instead of trying to dominate, they build support,” he said.
Are you feeling the co-worker rivalry? Join us for a chat about the rise in workplace competition in a tough job market at 10:30 am ET Wednesday. Sign up here.
Leave a Comment:
Absolutely more competitive. Thanks to the BUSH and the GOP, you have to do what is necessary to survive in Corporate America or your job will be outsourced.
As for women.... good luck. The GOP doesn't even support you receiving the same pay as a man.
Get a life.
Awwwwh... insults already in the morning. Value of your comment is?
Not much competition where I work. We are down to a skeleton crew so it is hard to compete against people that aren't here.
I think it's about time to stop blaming Bush for everything. We should be blaming Nixon for taking our country completely off the gold standard.
Itsabouttime: Epic fail dude!
We are on a skeleton crew as well. : (
I also volunteer at the local soup kitchen and feed people that have no money for food but they all have their Obama phones as they call them.
My eggs were burnt this morning so should I blame Bush?
Heaven forbid we hold our current presiding slacker that has spent 7 TRILLION dollars on what? For What? To help who? Oh get reelected with all that stimulus money that was laundered back into my reelection campaign!
Its about time- you're full of crap. Tattoo an "L" on your forehead.
ItsAboutTime-3704531- so the massive loss of highly skilled jobs under Obama is also bushes fault? Less we forget unemployment is still extremely high after 4 years.....
Rockyroad-531554 & TerBear98
Epic FACTS DUDE: Read how many jobs have been lost since 2000 to 2009:Who was president during those years?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/proposed-jobs-bill-would-target-foreign-outsourcing-by-us-companies/2012/01/31/gIQAPLHOhQ_story.html
GimDan
Show me a reputable source that shows how many highly skilled jobs have been lost due to outsourcing during Obama's administration. Obama is certainly not innocent, but when the GOP stands against him to reduce outsourcing.. Hmm.
Fact Remains: Outsourcing is another reason why the JOB market is even more competitive. Don't believe me, how many people do you know lost their jobs because it was outsourced to INDIA or China.
left, right - they are both traitors to america. one side spends taxpayer money to send jobs to china (auto plants) the other spends our money to be ghetto mctrashface's baby daddy
Say folks, there are open positions out there - lots of them. Unfortunately, the skill level of those looking is not up to par. Who do you want to blame that on? EX: a firm has been trying to find an electrical engineer for months and have already scraped the bottom of the barrel - no luck. So don't tell me it's the highly skilled jobs that have been outsourced; those have been mainly manufacturing and (dare I say) customer service, ala telephone. I've called customer support and got someone in India to discuss computer and email issues.
BTW: Itsabout. . . I think you're on to something there.
Sure:
Source: U.S. Department of Labor
Date Verified: 11.27.2011
Texas
4,000
Florida
5,400
Luisiana
900
Alabama
650
United Space Alliance
2,870
Shuttle Program Contractors
26,800
Since Obama took office, 636,000 state and local jobs have been cut. In 2011 alone, 113,000 jobs were cut in local schools, 68,000 jobs were cut in local government administration, and 78,000 jobs were cut in state government administration, according to a Commerce Department report.
Next time ItsAboutTime-3704531 beats me to the 1st post it will go badly for him/her.
But there's no rivalry here.
As part of an installation group, we are a team of comrades who work as individuals but support each others base income by defending labor rates. We have to stand solid together, lest we all work for less.
The weakest get themselves noticed. No need to toss somebody under the bus, they trip themselves up and wind up there anyway. The best of the best will help them, in their time of need. Hero or Zero, take your pick.
We have found it better to defend each other, and have gained recognition as a reliable 'group' of installers.
Courtesy is contagious. Let's start an epidemic.
The best way to be competitive is for everyone in an organization to be competent, and for the organization to succeed.
These career coaches that foment destructive behavior for their own personal gain really should be marginalized.
Having a failing organization where the people are fighting over scraps to survive is simply stupid.
What kind of a moron wants to put on their resume that they were the executive that took their company into bankruptcy?
Time for everyone to get smarter, and to look at the big picture.
People are absolutely more competitive in this economic environment. An example of this was the last job I had working with a woman in her late twenties who was a competitive narcissist on steroids. She refused to share knowledge, train for competence, knew everything and was incredibly in love with her own opinion and image. The interesting thing about the whole experience was that management did absolutely nothing to curb her craziness.
That's because management has their own brand of craziness. They are too busy following their boss around licking his butt to give a damn what the people that work for them are doing.
There are so many dysfunctional companies out there it's astounding how anything gets done. Crazy narcissism seems to be the order of the day on all levels. Sprinkle that with a dose of old fashioned incompetence and nepotism, and you've got corporate America today.
I keep recalling something someone posted a link to on the newsvine where a worker, just a regular rank and file worker wrote about what the take over by a corporate raider was like from his perspective. There was a point after they fired most of the rank and file--sorry laid them off--where they brought in their own people to manage the handful of workers that were left. Those managers knew nothing about the industry, nothing about their jobs or the jobs of the people that worked for them and had no idea what role they were supposed to play but the company taking over had deemed them fit for the role.
It was long but it was really tragic. A once prosperous company was driven into the ground and sold off for scrap.
The article implies that those that play the game well will do the best. This is nothing new. Unfortunately, you can do a great job, but those that suck at their job but instead "ride the elevator or go to the bathroom more often" to meet up with the boss seem to do better whether or not the economy is good or bad.
I guess you've never been a boss, because a real boss knows who gets the job done, and who just shows up.
This is exactly what the boss class wants: workers divided and looking upon each other as the enemy, working harder out of fear, and boot licking. What a lovely"free" country we live in.
Sounds er, um, kind of like politics?
So who do you think is running the United States right now?
I'll give you a hint: it isn't your elected officials.
Boss class?
You've been going to the Obama school of divisiveness for too long.
A sad day that we are debating negative aspects of individuals doing their best.
Perhaps we should stay positive and look into a union workplace.
Unions are the solution. Do the same job as someone else, get paid the same, same benefits. Work your but off while the other guy stacks boxes around himself and takes a nap. Pay union dues so folks in the union can go to weekend get aways or give your union dues to a political party you do not agree with. Pay money so you can have a job and then spend your dues without your input.
Unions are the solution.
I don't know what union you belong to or talking about but our union can not use union dues for political purposes. There is a seperate fund for that you can contribute to IF you choose. Our union has rules about how the dues can be spent.
I used to work at a job whose employee's were protected by a union. I loved it. I never felt threatened or like I was killing myself. I felt like I was being treated fairly. I got paid for the time I put in. When I went home I could focus on HOME & not my job. Yes, there were lazy workers. A little extra effort on the supervisor's part and write ups...they can be let go.
I don't think people realize, if the entire staff gets up and walks out (with valid reason per your contract of course!)......it would hurt the company! If they had formed a union.....they have a contract & have recourse if they all get fired! Could they be replaced....yes, but depending upon the size of the company.....there would be a loss in profit. Do you honestly think everyone can be replaced, trained & business as usual tomorrow? Before you throw PATCO in my face...the union violated a law and it took years for things to return to normal!
Unions are the way to go, despite what the bashers will tell you. I've worked both sides of the fence, so I can say I've got a bit of knowledge. Sure, you're gonna have a few apples who are gonna ride the coat tails of the others busting their collective a$$es to get it done, but you also have that in the non-union setting as well. Sooner or later, most of them are found to be what they are, and are summarily dismissed. While I am wholly for union protection, I am NOT one who believes in keeping the dead weight around because he is my 'brother'. Most union bashers are so either because of the stereotypical mistruths that are spread around to discourage the desire for union representation, or they are the ones doing the spreading out of the fear of having to pay fair wages or having to treat employees with respect. I was non-union before I got fed up with the BS and nepotism. Nearly everyday I was serenaded with negative comments about the union. I was smart enough to know I was being sold a bill of goods. The day I decided I had had enough I did the smartest thing I've ever done in my life. I left work, and drove straight to the nearest union hall to inquire as to how I could join. That was 10 years ago, and I have never once regretted the decision.
Those of you who think that unions represent the evil empire should really do a little research on your own before you let the voice and 'facts' of others cloud your opinion. I'll cite my own personal case, still in litigation with the NLRB. 04-CA-37725, where the pompous owner of a prominent area non-union electrical shop thought he was above the law, rules, and regulations. This is a man who literally stole hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from his employees wages, among other things, because he simply thought he could by breeding fear of the loss of your job. This wasn't the first time he'd done this, but it's the first time he's truly having his feet held to the fire. The local union went out of their way on several prior occassions to protect the employees of his shop who were NOT union employees. He'd been sued in the past, and lost everytime. However, in each case, the employees GAVE BACK the money won in court so they could keep their jobs. This time, he messed with 4 people who WERE union employees. Big mistake. He's fighting the case now only because he's too damned stubborn and pigheaded to know he's not gonna win. This happens everywhere, all the time, everyday. Most of the time, the oppression and fear of losing one's job wins out. Who the hell wants to work under those conditions? Surely, their are many non-union work places out there that do pay fair wages and treat their workers with respect. I for one, am likely to never go back over that fence. To each their own, but those who belittle and talk trash on unions I believe are largely uninformed.
Try perusing the NLRB site. Their are litterally hundreds of cases in litigation at any given time. Most of the time it is an employee's respective union standing up for the employee...and sometimes that employee isn't even a union member. Without unions we'd ALL be working for pennies on the dollar in an unsafe, fear-mongering environment. Bye bye 40 hour work week. Vacation? That's for the people at the top of the food chain. You want sick leave, maternity leave, paid holidays, a safe work environment, gasp....rights??? Again, not for the common man who makes the wheels of the company turn. Perhaps you're a fan of child labor. That only exists in third world countries where the word 'union' doesn't. These, and many other rights and conditions you find on both sides of the fence only came about because of unions fighting for them, not because of care or compassion on the part of the employers. Even if you aren't a union member, you should tip your hat to those who came before you and fought the good fight, as hard as it may have been, to ensure rights and working conditions for all. Many people died and suffered in the early days on the union movement when the fat cats called in political favors to bring in the US army to crush the skulls and souls of those who stood up and demanded fair treatment. Employers had their own personal hit squads to go after the largest figureheads of the movement in an effort to quell the others through fear. Don't believe me? Do a little research. Is this what you want us to revert back to? If the 1% were to have their way, that's where we'd be.
There's always someone at work who will claw their way up and mess with their co-workers. Management seems to turn a blind eye to this unless it involves some sort of illegal harrassment. In my company the a-holes who did this were usually the ones with only HS diplomas who eventually found their way into a job usually reserved for college grads with experience. Once there, they just could not rely solely on their work product to show everyone how great they were so to get the edge, they underhandedly messed with their competition. "Meow" - I'm sure many of you know what I mean.
if you want to be the man you have to be the man or woman and 2nd place is your first place loser. this comment is sad but true in this day and age of the job scene
Co-worker rivalry. Exactly what the Mafia wants. Eventually, one co-worker will say, "I'll do anything to get ahead!"
The Mafia gets a big smile on its face and replies, "We need you to make a toxic investment for us...."
I work for the state of nj now. Everyone has retired or will be retiring soon. Skeleten crew. But, great opportunity for me.
I don't believe in narcassism or back stabbing. I walk the straight and narrow path, and God's blessings are in abundance. There are no shortages.
I worked with a psycho who used to brag about how her previous "boss" was incompetent and how she got him fired. She ended up doing the same thing to a coworker of ours who had worked really hard to get to the top, but didn't have a college degree. The psycho was jealous about this and used to make comments about how this woman didn't deserve to be at the top when she didn't have a degree. She picked on her relentlessly until the woman snapped and was asked to leave. I have my college degree, but it's not relevant to my chosen career path. I still pay my student loans each month and it seems like a waste. I don't see a reason to be competitive to the point that jealousy, manipulation and negativity. I still cringe when I hear someone claim someone else is "incompetent". Reminds me of the jealous, insecure coworker I have to see everyday...ugh!
It's too bad the researcher didn't factor in generational differences. It seems like most workers under 30 want to be individual superstars, and have limited interest in working as a team.
Shame on the greedy evil rich / Koch brothers type for creating a work environment where the Middle Class is fighting and losing their battle for financial survival.
The mean / evil / ugly rich people like the koch brothers have created a nightmare for the peasant / former Middle Class. Is it because they can't survive on billions and billions of dollars. No it is because they are "the face of evil" pure and simple. They are the face of evil and the nasty greedy shameful cowards. Shame..
Cream will rise to the top....
UNLESS everyone is homogenized.
Will everyone consider that you've heard so much it's PAST-YOUR-EYES.
Basically, watering down the strategies offered in this article, one only needs to botox their lips so they can kiss larger boot-ay. As if work hasn't already become harder, being required to perform the functions of 2-3 people, you have to also ride the elevator or visit the restroom more often to kiss up to the big guys. Maybe at the end of the day you get that promotion or to keep your job, but along the way you lose your dignity.
How many managers in a position of responsibility for getting a team of people to accomplish a task are actually trained to do so? Percentage-wise, too few. Most acquire their position by virtue of seniority and doing a job well, and doing a non-management job well is essentially unrelated. Allowing or encouraging rivalry in fellow workers is counter-productive and a cop-out that bespeaks managerial incompetence. Managing a team is a far cry from having your head up against a computer monitor and your fingers busy on the keyboard. It's knowing how people think, managing insecurities, encouraging peer empathy and assistance and insuring your people understand what is expected. It's a system of recognizing the team-building philosophy that some workers will exhibit in an effort to instill it in others.
I've been on both sides of the management/managed line and have had a few very good managers where I learned something beyond school. I also remained a lifelong student of management that stressed helping the individual to succeed rather than production efficiency.
If we need to find fault with the system as it functions today, it stems from several sources. One, business schools do a terrible job of working with students in the human factors area. The emphasis is on numbers, analysis and marketing, none of which amount to anything without a motivated and secure workforce functioning as a peer-assisted team. Two, economic conditions have created a fertile field for peer competition that must be actively managed to reduce stress in the daily work experience which then leads to more productive work time and less turmoil and planning on getting even. Three, workplace superstars need to be coached on how much more valuable they can be if their talents are freely shared with peers. Management can assure them that they are aware of their talents and productivity and need them to exhibit a generous attitude which is valued as much as their personal productivity.
Talented, but difficult, people drag a team down with respect to morale and result in attitude and cooperation problems. Some day the job market will be good again and poorly trained managers will see accelerating turn-over as discontent forces employees to seek that greener pasture.
An impressive list of accomplishments :
First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner.
First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.
First President to go on 17 lavish vacations, including date nights and Wednesday evening White House parties for his friends paid for by the taxpayer.
First President to preside over a cut to the credit-rating of the United States.
First President to have 22 personal servants (taxpayer funded) for his wife.
First President to keep a dog trainer on retainer for $102,000 a year at taxpayer expense .
First President to repeat the Holy Quran tells us the early morning call of the Azan (Islamic call to worship) is the most beautiful sound on earth.
First President to violate the War Powers Act. .
First President to be held in contempt of court for illegally obstructing oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
First President to defy a Federal Judge's court order to cease implementing the Health Care Reform Law.
First President to require all Americans to purchase a product from a third party.
First President to spend a trillion dollars on 'shovel-ready' jobs when there was no such thing as 'shovel-ready' jobs.
First President to abrogate bankruptcy law to turn over control of companies to his union supporters.
First President to by-pass Congress and implement the Dream Act throughexecutive fiat.
First President to order a secret amnesty program that stopped the deportation of illegal immigrants across the U.S. , including those with criminal convictions.
First President to demand a company hand-over $20 billion to one of his political appointees.
First President to terminate America 's ability to put a man in space.
First President to have a law signed by an auto-pen without being present.
First President to arbitrarily declare an existing law unconstitutional and refuse to enforce it!!!!
First President to threaten insurance companies if they publicly spoke-out on the reasons for their rate increases.
First President to tell a major manufacturing company in which state it is allowed to locate a factory.
First President to file lawsuits against the states he swore an oath to protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN).
First President to withdraw an existing coal permit that had been properly issued years ago.
First President to fire an inspector general of Ameri -Corps for catching one of his friends in a corruption case.
First President to appoint 45 czars to replace elected officials in his office.
First President to golf 73 separate times in his first two and a half years in office, 101 to date.
First President to hide his medical, educational and travel records.
First President to win a Nobel Peace Prize for doing NOTHING to earn it.
First President to go on multiple global 'apology tours'.
First President to take a 17 day vacation.
TIME FOR OBAMA TO GO
and you want him to go so you can replace him with....
First President with no personality?
@whocares5
Thank you for your copy/paste of a scandalously wrong chain email.
And what are you in this discussion? The first person to cite no reliable sources to back up your assertions.? I think not. These discussions are brimming with lists like yours (against both candidates) that have little substance.
Try to make a few points with links to REAL stories instead of retreaded misinformation.
You should be feeling like an idiot at this point, but... I'm not sure you have the capacity to realize what you've done.
There are always going to be people with their attitude problems who are on managements protected species list. This creates a very tense environment and causes things to run like a train wreck instead of a well oiled machine.
Also- blame, insult, putdown, turn your back and walk away does not solve problems. It just takes a bad situation and makes it worse. Why management sees this attitude as leadership talent is beyond me. Leadership has become a lost art.