The aim of the article is to analyze competitiveness as an organizational and personal phenomenon, to determine its basic socio-psychological elements. The methodological basis of our approach is the doctrine of the psychology of organizations and the study of the competitiveness of the organization's staff. Competitiveness appears in the discourse of social psychology as an organizational phenomenon, mostly an attribute of the organization's staff. Along with this, it can be studied as an organizational and personal phenomenon both in the context of team competition with other organizations, and personal one – with other employees. Professiogenesis is an important but insufficient factor in the formation of competitiveness, as it provides only its instrumental component. The competitiveness of the employee is formed in the course of the competition. Its development is maximal if in the personal experience there was often a rivalry with similar professionals in terms of qualifications. In the absence of such experience, competitiveness may not be formed at all, even if the level of professionalism of the person is high. Competitiveness determined as a value, motivational, and instrumental (professional) readiness of the organization’s employee to implement competitive behavior, the result of which is a win in the competition. The limitation of the study is its theoretical nature. Further empirical studies of the structural elements of competitiveness (instrumental, motivational, value) as the psychological readiness of the employee of the organization for successful competitive behavior seem appropriate. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of applying knowledge about the structure of competitiveness in the top management activities of organizations to regulate the competitive behavior of employees.