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Replacing Envy with Positive Empathy in the Workplace RESEARCH WITHIN REACH Replacing envy with positive empathy in the workplace SEPTEMBER 2020 GLOBAL. BUSINESS. LEADERS. 2 | MELBOURNE BUSINESS SCHOOL | RESEARCH WITHIN REACH the dark side of organisations, which is what drew her to examining envy. “My overall research interest is negative behaviour and why people do negative things - what’s the genesis of it? That’s how I became interested in envy, but then I started questioning if it is the only way we can respond to someone else’s success. We have all been happy for other people’s positive outcomes, so why isn’t anyone talking about that?” This realisation led Associate Professor Ganegoda to consider the role of positive empathy in the workplace. Defined as feelings of happiness for someone else’s positive outcome, Recognising “No-one works alone these days,” she positive empathy could play an says. “You work in teams and need to important role in promoting cohesive exceptional individuals be a team player to collaborate, learn teams and developing reward and and ask questions of other people. recognition programs that support in the workplace is You must be approachable and able them. While precious little has been to approach others, but envy is one of written about envy in the workplace, important, but how those emotions that doesn’t let you do even less has been written about can companies do this that.” positive empathy, until Associate Professor Ganegoda and her colleague, without making high Researchers categorise envy as a Professor Prashant Bordia of the negative emotion, like guilt and Australian National University, took up performers the targets anger, which makes us anti-social and the challenge. unable to connect with others without of workplace envy? betraying our negative feelings. Their first paper on the subject, “I Can Be Happy for You, but Not All the Time: Companies like Starbucks and It can be a very destructive emotion A Contingency Model of Envy and McDonald’s are famous for calling to encourage in a team environment, Positive Empathy in the Workplace”, out their best-performing employees which is why organisational was published in the Journal of every month in the hope of motivating behaviourists have started researching Applied Psychology in 2019. It others to emulate the chosen high- it in the hope of developing evidence- offers the beginnings of a theoretical achievers. But such recognition based reward and recognition practices framework to help explain the feelings can sometimes have unintended that build team cohesion rather than and thinking behind envy and positive consequences. destroy it. empathy and the range of individual attributes and circumstances that can If people in the same team or workplace Associate Professor Ganegoda has trigger them at work. regard their reward and recognition always been interested in researching program as a zero-sum game, where all but one are losers, they could become envious, even malicious, and try to undermine the best performer, discouraging everyone from doing “You need to be a team player their best. In such a situation, people would be more motivated to bring to collaborate, learn and ask down the high performer rather than questions of other people….but improve their own performance. envy is one of those emotions that It’s a problem that has attracted the interest of organisational doesn’t let you do that.” behaviouralists like Deshani Ganegoda, an Associate Professor of Management at Melbourne Business School. RESEARCH WITHIN REACH | REPLACING ENVY WITH POSITIVE EMPATHY IN THE WORKPLACE | 3 The difference between envy and empathy Research by Associate Professor Ganegoda’s goal is shielded him from headwinds – but to understand what factors trigger the his achievement does demonstrate negative, self-focused feeling of envy our ability to enjoy another person’s as compared to the constructive, other- success. focused feeling of positive empathy when people react to others’ successes. The challenge for Associate Professor She hopes to use that knowledge to Ganegoda is to translate such a find ways to design organisations response to exceptional efforts in the and systems that promote positive workplace. empathy rather than envy. Because research into the subject is still Deshani Ganegoda in its infancy, her paper draws heavily One example she cites as a powerful @ [email protected] demonstration of positive empathy on psychology research to build the theoretical framework to develop and is the elation demonstrated by Eliud Deshani Ganegoda is an measure positive empathy at work. Kipchoge’s pacesetters as they assisted Associate Professor of him to become the first person to run a Psychologists say the ability to Management at Melbourne marathon in under two hours. celebrate another person’s success Business School and holds a PhD in Organisational “When Kipchoge approached the finish requires having the capacity to see Behaviour from the University line in Vienna in October 2019, the an experience from the successful of Central Florida. faces of those running with him and person’s point of view. watching from the sidelines lit up as In contrast to positive empathy, Deshani’s research centres they realised what he was about to they distinguish two types of envy: on the topics of behavioural achieve,” she says. malicious envy, where you feel pain ethics, organisational justice, negotiation, and workplace “Everyone was a participant in his when other people in your sphere are deviance. Her research has been imminent success and willed him recognised as successful, motivating published in Journal of Applied to cross the line in record time. As you to undermine them; and benign Psychology, Organizational humans, they couldn’t help wanting a envy, where you also feel pain but fear Behavior and Human fellow human to lift the whole species losing status, so set out to improve Decision Processes, Journal and do what no one had done before.” your own performance. of Organisational Behavior, Kipchoge’s time of 1:59:40.2 was While benign envy can be good to Human Resource Management, officially rejected because he was have in the workplace, it still involves Human Relations, and Personnel helped by a team of pacesetters who the negative emotion of pain and an Review. She currently teaches Organisational Behaviour and Negotiations on the MBA Program. The ability to celebrate another person’s success requires having the capacity to see an experience from the successful person’s point of view. 4 | MELBOURNE BUSINESS SCHOOL | RESEARCH WITHIN REACH inward state of mind rather than the the beginning of a research program One of her favourite quotes comes outward-reaching emotion of positive that she now has funding to advance from Gregg Popovich, who won the empathy, where you share and enjoy further - but the potential benefits to US National Basketball Association’s another person’s success. organisations from her work so far are Coach of the Year award three times. already clear. Positive empathy involves shifting “If I’m interviewing a young guy, and from personal pain to feeling In addition to examining reward and he’s saying things like, ‘I should have happiness for others, making it the recognition programs, they include been picked All-American, but they perfect emotion to encourage in a looking at organisational decision picked Johnny instead of me’, or they team environment. making, communication and hiring say stuff like, ‘My coach should have practices to identify ways to reduce played me more; he didn’t really help Associate Professor Ganegoda says her workplace envy and promote positive me’, I’m not taking that kid because he paper with Professor Bordia was just empathy. will be a problem, one way or another.” Promoting empathy in the workplace A first step toward fostering positive Giving people a sense of control over see things from other points of view. empathy within teams would be to opportunities to win recognition can When people begin to understand abandon exclusively zero-sum reward motivate everyone in a team. and experience another person’s and recognition programs that single perspectives, they are more able to out individuals and trigger social While promoting positive empathy experience positive empathy for the comparison or fuel envy. can benefit organisations, Associate other. Professor Ganegoda says that Psychologists say social status is managers also need to recognise The psychology literature also central to how people view themselves that there are individual differences says that teaching people how to and others, so managers should in people’s capacity to feel positive express themselves, listen and consider it seriously and try to treat empathy. interact with others has been shown their subordinates equally. As parents to increase perspective-taking and know, some favouritism is inevitable, People with low self-esteem are often positive empathy among physicians, but too much can fuel resentment and inclined to be envious. On the other police officers, teachers and other discourage everyone from doing their hand, people who are more likely to professional groups. best. experience positive feelings and those who feel connected to others are more Our sense of justice is similarly inclined to feel positive empathy. important, so managers should make However, the ability to experience fairness their yardstick to ensure positive empathy can be developed that any reward or recognition is over time. Positive seen as deserved and appropriate to avoid aggravating team members and Also, if people like each other, they empathy can encouraging them to undermine an will empathise with each other more also be built honoured colleague. quickly. But even if they’re reticent or new to each other, they can develop by nurturing Good communication is important here. positive empathy gradually if they a sense of You don’t need to stop recognising are encouraged to understand other exceptional efforts by individuals, people more.
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