Workplace competition is healthy — sometimes. When it leads to rivalry, the results can be toxic. Here we look at a few tactics for dealing with backstabbing colleagues and hostile work environments.

Competition is healthy for people. It encourages each individual to work hard and strive to be the best. Too much competition within a group of people working together, however, can be detrimental to the harmony of the team.

“A bit of healthy competition among staff can increase motivation and productivity, but, just as in sports, the overall results of the team are what count,” says Dave Willmer, executive director of California-based staffing firm OfficeTeam.

OfficeTeam conducted a recent survey of 150 senior executives from the 1,000 largest companies in the U.S. and almost half (46 percent) said that competition among employees is higher now compared to 10 years ago.

“In an uncertain economy, people grow more concerned about job security and proving their worth to employers,” Willmer adds. “This pressure to perform may result in rivalries between employees… . Too much intramural competition creates tension and stands in the way of collaboration.”

Indeed, a separate study by The Creative Group, another California-based staffing firm, found that half of the executives polled said they were back-stabbed by colleagues.

At random, the Creative Group interviewed 125 advertising executives from the nation’s 2,000 largest advertising agencies and 125 senior marketing executives from the nation’s 2,000 largest companies.

“In advertising or marketing — as with any competitive field — it’s not uncommon for people to promote themselves at the expense of others,” says Megan Slabinski, executive director of The Creative Group.

OfficeTeam calls this type of employee “The Saboteur.” This is the footballer who tackles two-footed, the sprinter who trips the other runner at the finish line and the employee who would make his fellow co-workers look bad in order to get ahead.

Women, despite awareness of the glass ceiling — the invisible barrier blamed for preventing women from earning what they’re worth — are not helping each other crack it, a new report reveals. Behavioral scientist Shannon L. Goodson conducted a study earlier this year of almost 11,500 professional women and 16,700 men from 34 countries and found that “women did not create the glass ceiling [...] but help maintain it.”

Goodson notes that women who manage to climb the ladder of success tend to “take the ladder with them,” sometimes damaging a fellow woman’s chances of getting a promotion. “This led many women in the study to actually prefer male managers to female managers, claiming men are more consistent and fair-minded than women,” Goodson adds.

So what can you, as the backstabbing victim, do? Seventy percent of the executives surveyed by The Creative Group thought confrontation was the path to a resolution. But before confronting the conniving colleague, Slabinski cautions people to think about what they will say.

“While you don’t want to come across as a pushover, you also don’t want to overreact,” Slabinski says. “Saying the wrong thing can make a bad situation worse.”

If you do get to the point of confrontation, The Creative Group suggests you do the following:

• Cool down and don’t respond in the heat of the moment;
• See the situation from all angles;
• Talk to the person face-to-face;
• Calmly explain how your colleague’s actions affected you;
• Listen to what your colleague has to say about the situation; and
• Know if you need to get your manager or human resources involved.

As a manager, you must always be aware of conflicts between members of your team. Billie Blair, author of All Moving Parts and president/CEO of Leading and Learning consulting group, tells Monster.com, that “our research of these situations has shown that it’s always the good and talented people that the organization loses when there is dysfunction.”

So if you don’t want to lose valuable members of your team, it’s best to resolve intra-office conflict right away. In its white paper on team conflict and methods of dealing with it, Global Knowledge advises managers to not get involved in the debate or let emotions take control. Wait until the team has calmed down so that the members can focus on a solution. Once everyone is calm, Global Knowledge suggests the manager should:

• Find the root of the problem and not be bogged down by the symptoms;
• Ask a lot of questions to get various viewpoints;
• Ask for solutions from all parties, but if no one has any ideas, help lead them to one; and
• Get them to agree to the solution — it will not stick if they feel like they are being forced to buy into it.

Ideally, the best solution for workplace conflicts is prevention, Global Knowledge says. Managers can help prevent conflicts from arising by having good policies, processes and relationships where all the team members feel that they are able to give and receive feedback. Get to know the team and its dynamics. Encourage effective conversations and active listening between team members and you.

Conflicts may still arise, but creating an environment where each individual is free to express him or herself will help prevent conflicts from festering.

Resources

The Team’s The Thing
OfficeTeam, Aug. 13, 2008

Friend or Foe?
The Creative Group, July 10, 2008

Career Women Are Their Own Worst Enemies: Study
by Miral Fahmy
Reuters, Aug. 20, 2008

Seven Ways to Handle Your Dysfunctional Office
by Margot Carmichael Lester
Monster.com

Conflict Resolution and the Project Manager
Global Knowledge, April 28, 2008