When Winner-Take-All Battles Backfire at Work
When Winner-Take-All Battles Backfire at Work
If career planning in your office is beginning to resemble an episode of "Survivor", you are not alone.
More employers are generating internal competencies by posting job offers online and encouraging interested employees to apply. The internal horse races that open open up new career opportunities for many, but they also run the risk of leaving their runners angry and desperate in their wake.
"It's a great thing" if these rivalries give employees a fairer and faster access to new opportunities, says Minneapolis executive coach Kevin Cashman. "But create a bit of a monster" if employers do not provide help and support in career planning for those who lose, says Cashman, global director of CEO development practice at Korn Ferry.
It is possible that a winner of one of these mergers comes out even if he does not get the job. But it requires careful career planning and social skills.
The confrontation of insiders with each other can lead to a destructive tension. Kristen J. Zavo and several hundred other consultants in her division at a former employer competed annually for a handful of vacancies for new director positions. The policy among candidates seeking to align themselves with the most powerful internal allies led to ridicule and undermined the trust of co-workers among them, says Ms. Zavo.
The rivalry intensified the pressure that consultants already felt to work 80-hour weeks. And those who lost were left agitated by the result, she says. She resigned after the stress began to harm her health. Ms. Zavo is a Cincinnati career coach and author of "Job Joy," a book on how to find meaning and satisfaction at work.
For her, employees should not join those battles without first finding out what they will do if they do not get the job. They should also evaluate each opportunity based on how well it suits their own personal and long-term career plans.
Employers elected current employees to cover 21% of all 2017 job vacancies, compared to 11% the previous year, according to a survey of more than 700 employers conducted by SilkRoad, a technology management company. talents based in Chicago.
Kristen J. Zavo, coach and author of races in Cincinnati, says that intense competition for promotions in a previous job caused tension and overwork.
Photo:
Jess Summers / SAY YES TO JESS
Publish jobs internally attracts a largest group of highly qualified applicants according to a 2017 study of 8,107 internal hires in a large health insurance company, compared to allowing managers to select candidates on their own.
He found that employees who earn a job are 17% more likely to stay in the company for at least two additional years, and 28% more likely to be promoted within three years, compared to candidates selected by employees. managers JR Keller, assistant professor of human resources studies at Cornell University, conducted the study.
Many employers also expect internal publications to attract a more diverse group of applicants and help address concerns about racial, ethnic or gender biases.
But internal publications risk expelling losers out the door. In addition, the researchers in Dr. Keller's study were 2½ times more likely than the average employee to give up the company in the next six to twelve months, according to unpublished follow-up research.
As employers replace old career scales and predictable promotion schedules with more flexible internal publications, the responsibility for career planning rests with employees. And many of them are not ready. "People just do not know how to build careers within organizations," says Dr. Keller. Without a little help for career planning, "the only way to find out what your opportunities are is to really apply," he says.
Baking Best Practices
Seven tips on how to behave when competing with co-workers for a promotion:
- Avoid allowing a rivalry to damage your relationships with co-workers.
- Recognize the applications of your rivals in a friendly way and we wish you the best.
- Avoid efforts to undermine or sabotage other candidates.
- Do not allow the application for internal vacancies to replace making your own long-term career plans.
- Plan ahead what you will do if you lose.
- If you win, do not boast about it. Respect the feelings of others and celebrate outside the office.
- Be nice if you lose. Congratulate the winner and talk about what he won with the process.
Without careful supervision, internal competitions can turn into a Darwinian struggle. Heather Taylor was dismayed when a new employer confronted her with a co-worker in a direct battle for an editing job several years ago. The hiring manager did not disclose until Ms. Taylor accepted the job she had hired from another editor at the same time.
Neither the manager nor the other editor openly recognized the horse race, but the company was so small that there was clearly no room for more than one person in an editor role. From his first day, "we were evaluating each other. I think we knew from the beginning that only one of us would be alive, "says Ms. Taylor, of Calabasas, California.
Mrs. Taylor did the best she could, but soon she felt losing traction. Her boss began to exclude her from meetings and snuggled with her rival. "I felt like I was in limbo," says Taylor. He left the company after a few weeks, when his boss chose his rival over her. Although he recovered quickly, losing that battle was so discouraging that he briefly considered changing careers.
"It really shakes your confidence in your ability and makes you doubt everything you're doing," says Ms. Taylor, who is currently the communications coordinator for MyCorporation, a provider of commercial document filing services.
Internal baking can work well if the losers get something out of the competition. The runners-up in Dr. Keller's study were much more likely to stay with the company if hiring managers took the time to interview them, show interest in their candidacy and encourage them, says Dr. Keller.
The CEO's coach, John Mattone, says that some employers offer all candidates the best executive coaching positions, skill assessments and interviewing experience. "Even if they are not the winners, they still benefit tremendously," says Mattone, author and speaker based in Orlando, Florida.
The most profitable companies teach employees to manage your own careers, according to a recent study of 1,220 employers by Bersin for Deloitte. 76% of the most profitable companies emphasized promotion from within. They also established training programs to encourage employees to sell internally, establish networks with colleagues outside their teams and explore potential paths for advancement.
Candidates should not allow an internal horse race to undermine their relationships with their colleagues. They have to keep working with them. In addition, decision makers tend to see candidates who seem likeable and friendly as more competent, says Jack Nasher, author of "Convinced!", A forthcoming book about proven competence. That means showing respect for colleagues at all levels. If you find yourself shoulder to shoulder with a rival in happy hour, say you heard that they applied for the job and buy a round.
If you lose, "do not concentrate on losing, talk about the future with optimism," says Dr. Nasher. Frame the result in a positive way that emphasizes the positive side, such as what you learned or the new relationships you acquired. And make your last comment to the decision makers positive. That is the one you are most likely to remember.
Write to Sue Shellenbarger in sue.shellenbarger@wsj.com
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