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Get the advantage from comparisons
Kumar entered his office and immediately swung his head to the right. He had just encountered his archrival, Anand, who held the record of coming up with competing ideas to that of Kumar’s. Initially, Kumar perceived this as healthy competition and worked at bettering himself.
However, he realised that Anand was being unreasonable most of the time, as he not only interfered and dismantled Kumar’s ideas, but also poisoned the ears of his colleagues with rumours and make-believe stories about him.
The cold war reached a point when the workplace was divided into two; those who supported Kumar’s ideas and those who felt Anand’s were better!
The friction between Kumar and Anand, very evidently, exceeds beyond the usual competition and attempts to out-do each other.
It has transformed into attempts to insult and condemn each other. In doing so, the very spirit of sportsmanship, that is an important aspect of being competitive, is lost.
In another firm, the state of affairs was quite different. The boss would often draw up comparisons between some of his important employees.
For instance, the office was divided into departments; and each department had been divided into a number of teams.
The teams within each department were pitted against each other, in coming up with novel ideas, drawing up strategies and implementing them with commitment.
The boss would conduct a fortnightly review regarding the performance of each team and compare the achievements of his employees.
If you thought this would increase negative competition among the team members as in the previous case, your concern does not hold water.
One of the biggest differences between these two firms is the fact that while the former did see great levels of competitive spirit, it lacked the sportsmanship that the latter possesses.
Competition and comparisons at work, is an inevitable occurrence, especially if there are quite a few employees who are well qualified and competent. This scenario can in fact bring the best out of an individual, since he is constantly pushed towards improving his standards and proving himself.
On a wider perspective, it certainly helps the company make the most of the abundant talent pool they have employed!
However, competitions and comparisons between employees can indeed take an ugly turn, like in the case of Kumar and Anand.
Such workplaces comprise of individuals who perceive projects and workload as a mode to avenge a prior victory of their opponent.
It is here that things begin to get out of hand and start moving on a dangerous path.
On the other hand, the second case does place before us the positive side of comparison and competition at the workplace.
It simply does not mean that the boss is giving in to partisan interests, if he does acknowledge an employee’s idea over that of the others’. It simply means that it was better than others.
Comparisons at work also influence decision-making. For instance, if the position of the assistant manager falls vacant, the manager would obviously analyse the contribution of each employee and choose the one who has performed comparatively better! The same works for perks, promotions and better positions!
As they say, it is all in the mind. You can take either of the routes---the negative or the positive.
What makes you succeed, is facing the challenge and emerging victorious in spite of it! Remember, comparisons and competition at work can be made to work to your advantage!
If you think you have the star material, go all out and exhibit it in the form of some brilliant out of the box ideas. Your boss would obviously compare them with the not-so-brilliant ideas of the others!
And who knows, you could be next in tow for a promotion!
PREETI RAGHUNATH
faqs@cnkonline.com
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