words Al Woods
You can’t prevent your employees from being competitive. They understand that promotions are at stake and consequently have the potential for a salary bump. Therefore, workplaces are usually competitive environments. As a leader, you should ensure that it stays healthy. You don’t want to promote an environment where your employees become too competitive, which is detrimental to the company. Here’s how you can deal with competition.
Always be fair
There’s nothing wrong with healthy competition at work as long as you judge people fairly. You should have clear criteria and standards. You also offer everyone a chance to succeed and not only people close to you. Being fair also prevents everyone from cheating their way to the top. Your employees know that they have to work harder if they want to be more.
Settle disputes
People look up to you to prevent potential bickering and personal attacks. But, again, there’s nothing wrong with professional competition as long as it doesn’t become personal. When you believe things are heading in the wrong direction, it’s time to step in. Make sure you prevent fights from escalating. Remind everyone not to go beyond work when competing. You should also be clear that these attacks will only turn you off.
Focus on the goal
When employees compete, it’s not because they want what’s best for their personal lives. It’s more because they want the company to succeed. They might also want to grow professionally in the process. Nothing will come out of the competition if it goes outside the objectives, so they should keep focused.
Assign leadership roles to employees
You can offer a chance for your employees to stand out by assigning leadership roles. For instance, you want to organise a fairground as a corporate event. You can assign them to work with a funfair hire company to make the event happen. These leadership opportunities will allow them to prove their worth. You can determine whom to promote based on how the project turns out. It’s also a result everyone sees. Hence, you will be fair in everyone’s eyes.
Let your employees know you appreciate the hard work
The winners of the competition will receive a big reward. You can promote some employees or offer salary bumps. However, it doesn’t mean the rest didn’t do anything. Other employees also did the hard work, but not enough to deserve a promotion. Despite that, you should still let them know that you appreciate the effort. It motivates them to do more. Perhaps, next time, it’s their turn to receive a promotion. Otherwise, they will lack the motivation to do a good job. They might think they missed the chance, and it’s over for them.
Again, workplace competition is natural. You can’t stop your employees from showing off if they want to get a job promotion. You also can’t stop them if their actions benefit the business. As long as you remind everyone about the goals, you can keep the competition going.
