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Jealousy in the workplace not always a negative thing

Most of us are brought up to know that jealousy is not a nice trait. But as grown-ups we are also usually realistic enough to understand that in real life, you cannot always help how you feel. Sometimes, it is impossible to keep the lid on jealousy altogether. Which might mean we are not such lovely people — but in the workplace, jealousy might not be such a bad thing: keeping an envious eye on your co-workers could help you earn a higher salary and a faster route up the career ladder.

While most managers would prefer to keep negative emotions out of the office, research by Gary Topchik, author of Managing Workplace Negativity, has shown that these can be key determinates of success. Jealousy, he says, can be productive if it becomes a motivator for a member of staff to do better in his or her career. “If someone was sitting next to you and now they are promoted, jealousy can be a very positive emotion if it enables you to become more proactive about your own career,” Mr. Topchik says. “That person has become a role model.”

A study by the University of Hong Kong School of Business confirms Mr. Topchik’s view, finding that staff who showed a jealous streak did better at work than those who did not.

Although this is not a pleasant finding, many of us would recognise how an unhealthy envy of a co-worker could push a member of staff to go one better. And although it is a rather uneasy area in many workplaces, plenty of managers feel competition among staff is one of the best ways to encourage high performance. Take an average sales job, and you will find a culture of widely advertising the achievements of the most successful salesperson, in order to galvanise others into hitting higher targets.

“I would call it not so much jealousy as healthy competition,” says Gerry Dowds, director of Pareto Law, “which in the workplace can help boost personal performance.”

“Whether the company is large or small, the majority of individuals will look at how others perform, the recognition they get, and of course the rewards. It is normal to compare ourselves to others, but it is how we handle this comparison that can really impact on our performance and progression.

“For example, in sales, our own specialist area, you could have someone regularly hitting or exceeding target, which can then give them a range of bonuses — from financial rewards to holidays or cars. In that environment others can see the success and what this can bring, inspiring them to look at new opportunities and learn from those enjoying success.”

“In the case of people who have come up from nothing, envy can be the effective thing which drives them,” says occupational psychologist Paul Dickens, who agrees that real-life success stories like Alan Sugar make a good case for how competitive comparisons can drive people to over achieve.

But there is, of course, an unfortunate flipside. Those who choose to plough their jealous feelings into continually competing with colleagues may be rewarded with career success, but it is likely to be at the expense of interpersonal relations with co-workers. And their stress levels. “In my last job, jealousy was the driving factor for all of us,” explains former salesman Richard Hill of KSL Promotions. “The organisation was set up so your supervisor did very little, but took a cut of everyone’s sales. The idea was that when you were good enough, you could take his place. So we were all driven to want what that guy had. But because we were are competing with each other, work relations were not good at all, and the staff turnover was astronomical. I left because I’d prefer to get on with the people I work with.”

If you’re in the kind of workplace which encourages staff to openly compete, you might well be concerned. But before you address the team dynamics, decide whether it is jealousy driving your co-workers, or the more benign force of envy.

“It’s important to make the distinction between jealousy and envy,” says Mr. Dickens. “Envy is about wanting what someone else has got and it can be a positive motivator if handled appropriately. Jealousy is a far more destructive force, and is associated with low self-esteem. Highly successful people don’t tend to suffer from a low opinion of themselves — in fact often quite the reverse.”

So if you are worrying about a jealous streak, then it might well be time to address your inner demons. But if you tend to cast an envious eye over colleagues’ achievements, you could be on the right emotional track for lasting success.

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