Envy is an inherent human emotion. We have all felt it at one time or another and in different situations. The envy at work is no exception.
In this post we will see why envy occurs at work and then explain some formulas that exist to manage it correctly and prevent it from harming the company and its workers.
Envy at work: why does it happen?
There are two main types of emotions:
- Pleasant emotions. They are those provoked by a stimulus that we will get pleasure from if we approach it. For example, food or money. Examples of pleasurable emotions provoked by this type of stimulus are joy or satisfaction.
- Painful emotions. These are those provoked by a stimulus from which we will get pain if we approach it. This generates the two classic forms of the fight or flight response: we can deal with the painful stimulus by fighting or by simply moving away from it. Envy at work is an example of a painful emotion.
Both painful and pleasurable emotions have evolutionary motives. Let's focus on envy at work. As a painful emotion, the possible instinctive responses are either to fight against the one who provokes envy or to shelter from it. Whether it is one or the other depends on what the person facing the emotion is like.
Generally, envy is caused by differences between people: you have something that I don't have and can't achieve (the latter is crucial), and that difference makes me envious of you. That «something» can be a higher salary, a special favour from the top of the company, or even seeing that someone else is happy when you yourself are not.
Either way, neither response, fight or flight, does the worker or the company any good:
- The struggle generates clashes between colleagues and a work climate hostile.
- Flight generates problems of self-esteem and self-confidence, as well as lack of concentration and proneness to mistakes.
What can we do to avoid these undesirable effects of envy at work? Let's take a look.
Envy at work: how to manage it?
Now that we know what causes envy at work as a painful emotion and the benefits of pleasurable emotions, the solution to the problem is clear: we must transform envy at work into a pleasurable emotion.
This is simpler than it seems at first glance. To achieve this, we need to consider the following:
- Envy and ambition are two emotions that arise from the same stimuli. The main difference is that the former is painful and the latter is pleasurable. Also, remember, envy is provoked because the other person has something that I cannot have, while ambition awakens the best of me to try to achieve what I desire. If a person has obtained an achievement that I desired, I can either feel envy and withdraw into myself thinking that I cannot have it, or I can feel ambition and do everything in my power to achieve that same achievement. A company can foster a culture of ambition to counteract envy at work, but it is essential that its employees know how emotions work. Training on emotional intelligence can provide them with the knowledge they need.
- Gamification systems bring out people's competitive spirit and, with it, ambition. If someone else earns more points than me, the game will push me to beat them, but always from the pleasurable emotions that the game provides. The more points a person scores, the closer he or she is to achieving what he or she desires.
- Reward systems, while rewarding the worker for his or her achievements, also contribute to a competitive spirit and ambition. If my colleague gets a reward (e.g., a gift voucher), instead of feeling envious, I can think about how I can try harder to get it too.
As we can see, envy at work can be managed to transform it into ambition and turn it into something positive for everyone.
