Professional Jealousy: Obstacle or Opportunity for Workplace Cohesion?

Abstract

Does Professional Jealousy Promote or Hinder Cohesion in the Work Place Introduction Working for a common goal is the key to realizing the set organizational goals. Whether an organization sets short or long-term goals, the need for employees to cooperate and work as a team is the key to realizing such goals. However, due to the nature of job status, sometimes the superiors undermine the juniors or vice-versa, hindering cohesion attributed to professional jealousy. What is professional jealousy? Professional jealousy is a negative feeling that enhances the constant envy of goal-oriented persons or others' prosperity. It is a feeling that makes an employee feels entitled to another employee's professional accomplishments, talent, body, money, and beauty, among other unique accomplishments/traits. Such a feeling is a threat to cohesion in the workplace. A cohesive workplace becomes realized when employees work well together and all feel valued as the primary contributors to the overall organizational success. Unfortunately, professional jealousy, especially between military officials' damages relationships, disrupts teams, and undermines organizational performance. Professional jealousy is a universal experience within the bounds of human nature (Andiappan & Dufour, 2020). Unfortunately, it remains characterized by negative feelings. Since feelings come from thoughts, professional jealousy becomes closely associated with negative self-thinking and self-talk, enhancing insecurities or making the victim feel insecure. When an employee envies what the other employee possesses, whether in terms of skills or natural characteristics, it becomes challenging to feel one's worth. When employees underestimate or lack their worth, assuming others are better off, the need to work for a common goal remains hindered, hampering the realization of the organizational goals. For this reason, one can argue that professional jealousy cannot promote togetherness and working for a common goal amongst workers as grounded on adverse personal interests that affect the victims' potential. On the contrary, professional jealousy disrupts teams as workers are not eager to help each other and damages relationships as workers cut communications amongst themselves. It undermines organizational performance as workers no longer work for a common goal (Andiappan & Dufour, 2020). A damaged relationship is among the major effects of professional jealousy that hinders cohesion in the workplace (ARLI, AYDEMİR & ÇELİK, 2019). Paying close attention to militaries, it is open that this profession consists of commissioned and non-commissioned officers, and professional jealousy can adversely affect these groups. The primary mission of the military is to guard and defend a nation and its interests. Any factor that hinders the practical realization of such a mission threatens the well-being of the entire group and the organization that brings them together. The main difference between commissioned and non-commissioned officers is their duties, ranks, authority, and pay (Frederic, 2019). However, the two groups work hand in hand to ensure the realization of the set organizational goals. However, the existence of professional jealousy damages these two groups' relationship as either tries to prove its worth, thus hindering the aspect of working together for a common goal. Regardless of an officer's rank, there must be a severe collaboration between these two groups to realize their set missions. Unfortunately, when the commissioned officers embrace professional jealousy and under-estimate the potentials of the Rank and File, it results in adverse effects on their relationships attributed to poor communication and adherence to the set missions. It is imperative to note that the commissioned officers hold supervisory positions and thus set the missions for the non-commissioned officers and other low-rank officers. However, with professional jealousy, such COs may underestimate the capabilities of the NCOs and ignore them, which break the trust between them, leading to conflicts within the military. When a senior ignores a junior's abilities and takes the extent of diverting missions from such persons to others deemed fit, it affects communication between the parties as the offended seeks clarification and justification of the new threat. Poor communication hampers organizational development as effective communication between employees...