Favouritism at the workplace

All employees are equal but some are first among equals.

Remember the ‘teacher’s pet’ back in high-school whose smug face annoyed you to no end, not because they were better than you but because no matter what you did, you could never gain their spot in your teacher’s good books? Teacher’s favourite, the one who showered in all the attention while your efforts were conveniently ignored.

Fast forward a decade. You are now an adult with a college degree and a job with the responsibilities that come with it. And now that you look around your workplace can you spot that face as smug as the one you disliked in school? Do you still see someone who feels as much an untouchable as that teacher’s pet in school? If not, then you may be that person for all one may know.

Favouritism at workplace is as real as the disappointment of the well-deserved appraisal you did not get. It is as real as the opportunity which someone else stole due to their ‘better connections’ and despite what the company policy proudly claims, it is as real as the target you need to meet to get that bonus.

The favouritism comes in both flavours, overt and covert. Sometimes, it is not visible like the time your superior invited your peer for lunch and handed them a project which you had hoped to receive. And sometimes, it can be crystal clear when everyone can genuinely see the boss mollycoddling an employee who had done nothing to deserve such attention or praise. Both hurt as in workplaces, perceptions matter as much as the real work does.

Favouritism has deep consequences for the company, overall. Primarily, it erodes the confidence of an employee in the management’s good judgement and alienates them from the company’s true vision. Secondly, it creates a sense of indifference among employees who start by working diligently but start slacking once they experience someone else overtaking them despite not deserving it. This subjective feeling of being ignored plays a great role in seeding employee dissatisfaction.

And eventually, the employees who regularly experience the negative side of favouritism ends up low on self-esteem, efficiency, and slightly cynical about the company as well as their own work.

No company can afford to have their employees in such a situation wherein they feel the injustice so acutely that they start retaliating through non-compliance.

That being said, the favouritism is not always intentional and it may happen through sheer ignorance on the part of the senior but that is even more dangerous as people in authority need to be even more mindful of such occurrences. But there comes a time when the employee, as a victim or as the one who benefits from it, must speak up.

If you are someone who enjoys the benefits of favouritism, kindly speak up and share the glory with your co-workers. No one has succeeded well by disregarding those who helped them be there. And if you are the victim, you need to first ascertain that that is indeed the case and not merely your view. Do not accuse anyone but try finding your options through your Human Resource managers through discussions. But most importantly, stay calm, patient, and positive.

The first step for any company, therefore, is the identification and acknowledgment of favouritism. It is then followed by a resolution. But it so happens that most seniors and people in authority would not acknowledge it and therein lies the problem.

A little tact and a bit of discretion may, then, be your greatest ally.

Originally Published on calibr.ai