Employee Rivalry: 5 Tips for Managing Dueling Staffers  

Category: Practice Management

By: Barbara Jaurequi

Child Psychiatrist David Levy introduced the term "sibling rivalry" in 1941. Self-explanatory in its terminology, the concept of sibling rivalry is easy to grasp. The mechanism of employee rivalry works essentially the same way, with the employees in a competitive relationship, striving for greater approval from their employer or manager.

Many managers, in a desperate attempt to be perceived as "fair," find themselves going crazy as they try to distribute praise evenly and acknowledge hard work equally. Moreover, when they are delivering criticism to one, they feel compelled to deliver it to the other, whether he or she deserves it or not, so they aren't accused of playing favorites. Rivaling employees who are constantly trying to "best" each other don't always deliver superior work because of their competition. In fact, the animosit...