One of the most destructive issues in the workplace is often the one that goes unnoticed, unspoken, and, in many cases, unchallenged or unresolved. It reveals itself quietly but can have far-reaching consequences for employees and organisational culture.
The centre of most problems in the workplace is “favouritism”. In simple terms, “favouritism” is unfair support shown to one person or group over others, usually by someone in authority.
Favouritism in the workplace occurs when someone in a leadership position shows favour in decision-making or treatment towards one employee over others. This may include a supervisor ignoring or overlooking major errors, bad behaviour, or misconduct by one person in the department, a manager loudly complimenting a favourite employee while ignoring the hard work of others, unfair promotions of a favourite employee over more experienced or more qualified colleagues, unequal task distributions, a favoured employee facing no consequences for arriving late or missing deadlines, while others receive strict punishment for the same actions, and the recommendation and approval of trips or workplace opportunities for one employee over another equally qualified employee.
There are several examples and scenarios related to favouritism in the workplace that go unchecked and unspoken, because people are afraid of losing their jobs or facing further discriminatory consequences.
When the workplace doesn’t feel fair
Imagine two employees in a department, where one employee repeatedly receives opportunities to attend staff development training, participate in important projects and meetings, lead the most important team projects, travel for work, and receive acting privileges, while others are consistently overlooked.
Hidden costs to favouritism
Unfair treatment in the workplace negatively impacts trust and commitment among employees, causes gossip and nepotism, and leads to negative emotions and withdrawal behaviours among employees who are victims of unfair treatment. There is an increase in inequitable resource distribution, discriminatory practices, and the formation of in-groups, well known as the A-Team, and out-groups within the organisation.
Consequently, extended favouritism in the workplace reduces employees’ morale and job satisfaction, demotivating them and leading to decreased job performance, feelings of alienation and incompetence, and increased turnover intentions, among other effects. These experiences result in psychological and emotional distress and negatively affect an employee’s overall well-being. All of the above eventually affects power dynamics, heightens employee cynicism, diminishes organisational citizenship, and undermines overall organisational performance.
So where does leadership come in
Fairness in the workplace fosters collaboration, psychological safety, and creative output. Possible mitigations for addressing favouritism in the workplace include enhancing transparency, adopting merit-based systems, and leveraging emerging technologies that can help organisations foster fairness and trust. There is a strong emphasis on supervisors, managers, executives, and the board addressing favouritism and overall nepotism in an organisation to improve trust within the workplace, ultimately improving overall organisational performance.
*Tulimekondjo Pandeni writes in her personal capacity and is an enthusiastic advocate for leadership, governance and management strategy.
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