It is a fact that employees are the most important asset for an organization. The success of an organization depends on hiring, retaining, and ultimately driving the most value possible out of employees. With most companies trying their hardest to hire smart and driven individuals, workplace competition is simply a part of doing business in today’s the fast-paced economy. Fortunately, healthy competition can go a long way in maximizing employee throughput to keep everyone motivated. In this article we explore the topic of workplace competition and how it can benefit your organization.
A Competitive Hiring Market
Businesses go to extraordinary lengths to find and hire industry-leading talent. Hiring and retaining super-star employees is one of the most important and impactful deliverables for managers at all levels in an organization. A successful employee is one who not only brings relevant training and experience to the job, but also has a proven track record of delivering results through effective teamwork and collaboration. An employee who is the right cultural fit and has the relevant expertise can be hugely impactful with the scope of a team and can deliver a notable impact to the company’s bottom line.
A Competitive Work Environment
So how does workplace competition fit into an environment rooted deeply in delivering results through teamwork? How can companies use healthy competition to deliver positive results? Competition and teamwork don’t need to be mutually exclusive. In fact, the two concepts, if executed correctly, often complement each other. Competition keeps talented employees interested and motivated. The challenge of delivering more than the previous day and racing to the solution often works to keep high performers on their toes. Competition can encourage employees to seek the next big challenge and come up with innovative and efficient solutions. It can also encourage employees to continually improve their skill sets through targeted training, which is another way for organizations to increase the overall talent density.
Unfortunately, though workplace competition can have a positive influence, it also has the potential to hurt productivity if not monitored closely. If left unchecked, workplace competition can lead to unhealthy comparisons and office politics. It only takes a few toxic employees to bring down the morale for an entire business group. Such a work environment has a far-reaching detrimental effect beyond a temporary loss of productivity. It can result in losing the most precious asset a company has, its employees. It is very important to monitor workplace competition and encourage and reward collaboration at every opportunity.
At the end of the day, it’s important to acknowledge that we live in very competitive times. Competition is not something to be scared of. Instead, competition, if executed correctly, brings out the best in all of us and makes an organization stronger.
Are you having difficulty building a competitive yet constructive team of talented individuals? Consider reaching out to one of our staffing experts. We can provide insight into the hiring landscape of the greater Portland and Vancouver areas to help you identify candidates and recruit competitively.