Job Seeker Blog - Spark Hire

How to Handle Jealousy in the Workplace

Ever felt jealous at work towards another co-worker? It happens to the best of us. They receive the promotion you’ve been working hard at having, so thus feelings of envy start to grow. If you choose to dwell in the jealousy, it can hurt your ability to work and affect your relationships with those in the office. If you’re on the receiving end of jealousy, you know how uncomfortable it makes the workplace when you get backhanded compliments and sideways glares from your co-workers when you talk about your recent accomplishments.

There are office politics at play when it comes to promotions and certain co-worker recognition, and when it comes to being jealous of a co-worker it’s important to remind yourself that you can overcome it. A lot of the time, we get jealous because we are insecure and feel that we are at risk of losing something. In the workplace, we feel jealousy towards other co-workers because we feel we are at risk of losing our position or office worth.

As mentioned before, feelings of jealousy can hurt your work productivity. When you’re constantly comparing yourself to others in the office, you’re not focusing on yourself and what you need to accomplish. Instead of keeping your feelings of jealousy locked up, talk to the person you are envious of. Ask them what they did that made the boss notice and give them the promotion. Ask them how they got what you wanted and you’ll find out that they did work that you may not have been doing. Now that you know, you can work towards having the same level of work quality as they do in order to get what you want.

When you are the target of co-worker jealousy, navigate the office politics at your work carefully. Don’t brag about your recent accomplishment, because bringing it up all the time may be what’s causing the tension between you and your co-workers. Instead, recognize the accomplishments of your co-workers and give them credit where credit is due.

Jealousy brings out the worst in us and it’s important to recognize that we won’t be doing ourselves any favors by feeling envious of others. Recognize your own accomplishments, be happy for your co-workers and look forward to accomplishing more as you progress in your career.  When it comes to navigating other people’s jealousy, stay humble about your accomplishments and be a good co-worker and friend by complimenting them on their work to encourage a healthy workplace environment.

Have you ever been green with envy in the workplace? Perhaps you’ve been on the receiving end of a co-worker’s scorn? We want to hear about it in the comments below!

IMAGE: Courtesy of Flickr by Victor1558

Hanna Guerrero

Hannah is an intern writer here at Spark Hire. She is from the northern suburbs in Chicago and is currently studying journalism at DePaul University. She has always had a passion for writing which is why Journalism has proven to be the perfect career for her. She has written for the DePaulia Online on various topics such as fashion, music, movies and television. She loves living in Chicago because it offers exciting events to write stories on. In her free time she enjoys going to music concerts, watching movies with friends, cooking vegetarian food and walking her adorable Cocker Spaniel Coco.

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