My boss has started posting job openings on our company’s website and has encouraged all of us on staff to apply. Although this gives everyone fairer and faster access to new opportunities, it has created quite a rivalry among my co-workers who are now vying for the same positions. Any hints on how to survive this internal competition?
— Feeling Stressed About Being Pitted Against My Colleagues
Pitting staffers against each other can be destructive to office relationships and can create a work environment that leads to backbiting and undermining co-workers’ trust in each other. In fact, competing with co-workers even can start to resemble an episode of Survivor if you’re not careful.
However, it is possible to emerge from these bouts as a winner even if you don’t get the job. What is most important is not to allow this competition to damage your relationship with your colleagues. I would encourage you to take a positive pathway in dealing with your new competitive arena, which should help reduce your stress and preserve your mental health. Here are a few survival tips:
1. Show respect for your colleagues at all levels and at all times. Decision makers tend to choose candidates who not only handle themselves professionally but who also appear collegial and friendly.
2. Avoid undermining or sabotaging co-workers applying for these same positions. Instead, rise above the competitive fray and find a friendly way to acknowledge their applications. For instance, my father, who was an attorney, would invite his opposing attorney to go for a drink following a tough court case, leaving all battle wounds in the courtroom. Perhaps you could grab a drink after work to break any tension and acknowledge your ‘rival’s’ application. Or, if you run into your competing co-worker at happy hour or Starbucks, why not wish him or her well by buying them a drink?
3. More importantly, don’t let internal openings preclude you from making your own long-term career plans, perhaps in another company department or outside the company. If you are selected for the new position, don’t flaunt it. Celebrate away from the office and maintain your humility.
4. Be gracious if you lose, and congratulate the winning candidate. Should you not get the new job, don’t focus on losing, but rather, concentrate on what you gained from the process. Frame the outcome in a positive way that emphasizes the upside, such as what you learned or new relationships you made as a result. This will help you manage your career.
5. Finally, make your last comment to decision makers a positive one. Because that is the one they are most likely to remember for the next battle round.
Joan Lee Berkman is a marketing and public relations consultant. If you have a question for Joan, send it to business@townandstyle.com.
