Envy at work: why it happens and how to deal with it

Workplace envy: why does it happen?

There are two main types of emotions:

1. Pleasant emotions. These are caused by a stimulus that will bring us pleasure if we approach it. For example, food or money. Some examples of pleasurable emotions caused by these types of stimuli are joy or satisfaction.
2. Painful emotions. These are those provoked by a stimulus that will cause us pain if we approach it. This generates the two classic forms of response, fight or flight: we can confront the painful stimulus by fighting back or simply moving away from it. Envy at work is an example of a painful emotion.

Both painful and pleasant emotions have evolutionary reasons. Let's focus on envy at work. As a painful emotion, the possible instinctive responses will be to fight against the person who provokes envy or to withdraw from it. Whether it is one or the other depends on the personality of the person facing this emotion.

Generally, envy arises from differences between people: you possess something that I do not have and cannot attain (this last part is crucial), and that difference makes me feel envious towards you. That «something» can be a higher salary, a special favour from the company's senior management, or even seeing that another person is happy when one is not.

Either way, neither response, fight or flight, does the worker or the company any good:

1. The fight generates clashes between colleagues and a work climate hostile.
2. Running away leads to problems with self-esteem and self-confidence, as well as a lack of concentration and a propensity for errors.

What can we do to avoid these unwelcome effects caused by envy at work? Let's take a look.

Workplace envy: how to manage it?

Now that we know what causes envy at work as a painful emotion, and the benefits that pleasurable emotions entail, the solution to the problem is clear: we must transform envy at work so that it becomes a pleasurable emotion.

This is simpler than it looks at first glance. To achieve it, we must take the following into account:

1. Envy and ambition are two emotions that arise from the same stimuli. The main difference is that the former is painful and the latter pleasurable. Furthermore, let's remember, envy is provoked because the other person has something I cannot have, while ambition awakens the best in me to try and achieve what is desired. If a person has achieved something I desired, I can feel envy and withdraw into myself thinking I cannot have it, or I can feel ambition and put everything in my power to achieve that same goal. A company can foster a culture of ambition to counteract envy in the workplace, but for this to happen, it is essential for its workers to understand how emotions work. Training on emotional intelligence can provide them with the knowledge they need.
2. Gamification systems bring out people's competitive spirit and, with it, ambition. If someone else scores more points than I do, the game will encourage me to beat them, but always from the pleasurable emotions that the game provides. The more points a person earns, the closer they will be to achieving what they desire.
3. Reward systems, whilst rewarding the worker for their achievements, also contribute to awakening the competitive spirit and ambition. If my colleague receives a reward (for example, a gift voucher), rather than feeling envious, I can think about how to work harder to get it myself.

As we can see, envy in the workplace can be managed to transform it into ambition and make it something positive for everyone.