When managers play favorites, it can not only have a detrimental effect on employee morale, but it can also cost the company money in lost productivity, lower efficiency, and even lawsuits. Managers are people just like anyone else. They have their own personalities and get along better with certain people, which is understandable. It’s not always apparent to the manager how obvious the favoritism practices are to the rest of the employees and how much it can derail productivity.
Favoritism defined
Workplace favoritism occurs when a manager is giving better treatment to a person or group of people based on who the manager likes more rather than on who is the most qualified. Better treatment can include promotions, projects, development opportunities, perks, inconsistent standards, and even different performance metrics for the same job. The perception of favoritism can exist among employees even if the manager is basing decisions on work-related factors. This occurs more frequently if there is a lack of communication from the manager to the rest of the team around how and why certain decisions were made.
High costs of favoritism for the organization
When there’s favoritism, employees feel as if the results that they produce don’t matter. If other people aren’t being held to the standards, then there’s a perception that getting better results won’t help them advance.
It also divides people and pits peers on the same team against one another. People may have animosity toward those who are being treated differently. Team members may withhold support from one another and even try to sabotage each other’s efforts. Instead of having a cohesive team, people divide into cliques that have their own agendas.
Favoritism can lead to lawsuits, which can stem from inconsistent treatment of employees. One company I worked with received an age discrimination lawsuit. The manager was young and was friends with the people she managed who were around her age, so she gave them the best projects and and eventually promoted them to the next position. The other half of the team was comprised of people wh0 were older and did not receive the projects or development opportunities to move to the next level. These employees over forty years of age (protected by ADEA) filed a lawsuit, claiming that they had been treated inconsistently and been passed over for promotions due to age. Even though the manager’s intent hadn’t been to discriminate based on age, her inconsistent practices had caused discriminatory treatment.
Tips on avoiding favoritism
- Use objective criteria to measure people’s performance
- Give promotions and development opportunities based on a person’s strengths and accomplishments
- Find ways to learn about and understand people who are different from you
- Have developmental meetings with all individuals on the team
- Communicate with the entire team
- Allow employees to have a fair chance at coveted projects
- Develop and communicate a process where employees can report favoritism or unfair treatment
- Build relationships with everyone on the team
- If certain people were chosen for a project/event/promotion, explain the reasoning
- Do not bad-mouth employees on the team to other team members (no matter how much you may trust your favorites, word gets out)
- Have a discussion with a manager who is perceived as playing favorites and help him/her come up with an action plan to avoid it
The place I work has had a bad reputation for this kind of managment. If you havent been here for 20 years or related to any of the managment family then you dont know anything. or if you dont work on first shift. There was a manager going around last night asking employees to fill out statements about another employee so to get information on this person to fire them. They make decisions without consent from employees on all shifts, mainly just the ones that work on first shift. AI had went to my manager about a job that I was interested at one of the other plants and he gave me exscuses why I cound not bid on the job. After we had a winter storm come through and several cities had to close several businesses and schools, we had several people that could not make in to work. The company posted that only first shift would recieve an excuse for inclement weather even though there were people on all shifts that could not make it in to work.
What can be done to stop this? This is the worst place I have ever worked!!!!
I have been with a company for two years. My supervisors and managers have always made the statement “I come to you because I know you will get the job done” even if I am already doing my regular job. I have a good attendance record and have been in the Same area pretty much the whole two years. There was a lead position in my area so I put in a request for it. I have a great attitude and one of my answers on the interview was on how I would handle stress. I stated “I know when to ask for help and if there are more than one person waiting for me to attend them I understand they are waiting and apologize for the inconvenience And that I will be with them as soon as possible. I also stated that positivity and good nature is key to a healthy work environment.” After the interview I felt confident. The next morning my supervisor explains to me i didn’t get the position because I am too soft hearted and am not crude?? And that the position went to a woman that doesn’t work in our area, and has no people skill however she is in good with the management as well as engaged and living with somone in management. Another candidate for the position has way more knolage and seniority than myself and she stated that the position was denied to her die to the fact that she can be rude? I find this condradicting and I tend to feel that this is favoritism ?? I did go to HR and they stated that it is solely up to supervisor discretion and that does open window of opportunity for favoritism. I would appreciate any feedback on how I may tend to resolve this matter. Thank you for the time
Speak to your manager about your interest in the job if you haven’t already done so. Then ask what projects/assignments you can take on in your current role to develop your skills to prepare for the position you’re interested in or a similar position. If he refuses to answer your question or help you out, then you may want to look at other departments with managers who value employee development (within your company) or other companies. Even though the situation may seem bleak right now, I have faith in you that you’re going to use this experience to come back stronger. Good luck and keep us updated on your success!
Yes true
Speak to your manager about your interest in the job if you haven’t already done so. Then ask what projects/assignments you can take on in your current role to develop your skills to prepare for the position you’re interested in or a similar position. If he refuses to answer your question or help you out, then you may want to look at other departments with managers who value employee development (within your company) or other companies. Even though the situation may seem bleak right now, I have faith in you that you’re going to use this experience to come back stronger. Good luck and keep us updated on your success!
I am sr. Executive facing that favouritism issue from last 2 months, my manager just hates me just because of some valid reason I just crossed my immediate superior. In result of this favouritism happened apart from me other 2 team members one sr. Executive and executive taking undue advantage of this directly and indirectly and manager just trapping the situation indirectly and sometimes directly.