March 2014
Introduction
Often time management
falls into the trap of doing favors to a certain person or certain group and
ignoring other group without necessarily being aware of its consequences. Such
management behaviour is common everywhere in any organization. Everywhere favoritism and nepotism can be found and in an organization, such a preferential group does
exist. Often time they call it the “circle of influence”. They are called the circle of
influence because those persons who are treated special and considered close
to the top management can also influence the management's decisions and other people's behavior. Because of their closeness to the top and their influence on the management, other
people call this group “the untouchable". They are called untouchable because
of their closeness and influence on the top management. Another group has to be careful dealing with such groups because it can cause their employment. Unfortunately, oftentimes, the
management is undermining its consequences to the other employees and the
organization. Undeniably such preference creates jealousy and may lead to
conflict. Not only does it cause conflict, it may affect the performance of other
employees and the performance of the organization. In this simple article, we
will explain different kinds of favoritism, the effects of favoritism, and how to
handle favoritism.
Favoritism in the
workplace
Favoritism in the
workplace refers to a practice in which a person is treated differently better
than others, not necessarily because the person has the qualification in terms of skill
requirements but sometimes other aspects that are not related to job performance. The management is giving preferential treatment to one or more employees. Sometimes such preferential treatment can be intentional; for example, an employer could
assign the choicest responsibilities to the most veteran worker or hotshot
upstart by explaining that his abilities justify the extra attention and tasks.
Preferential treatment can also be subconscious; for example, employees might
notice that an older male supervisor seems to treat young female workers with
friendly smiles and encouragement while benignly ignoring male workers in the
hallways even though they are performing a good job. Problems happen when attention and appreciation or recognition are not given equally to all employees. It is worse when recognition is given to those who do not deserve it.
Definitely, favoritism in the workplace is counter-productive and, in some cases, unethical and illegal. When
management assigns responsibility or gives promotions based on favoritism, not based on performance, the
company will not be able to attract the most qualified person for a job. It discourages excellent performance and encourages mediocrity. Hard work is not recognized but laziness. Promotion is not based on merit but based on certain favours. Such practices, sooner or later, can damage the company. Favoritism compromises performance and quality. Promotion is given to the one who has offered sexual services to the boss, while those who deserve are ignored. Soliciting sexual favors for job advancement, is clearly immoral, not only illegal. Soliciting gifts from certain groups or individuals in return for promotion is immoral. Giving promotion to the whites but not to the blacks is clearly discrimination. Many kinds of practices indicate the existence of favouritism in the workplace. Thus, employees should be vigilant to those practices and prevent it from getting rooted in the organization. Those who are responsible for the top management should be familiar with the types of
favoritism that are being practiced so that the company can develop effective
policies to combat them. Eradicating favoritism is not difficult if the management has the determination to clean the organization from immoral activities and has a political will to exempt no one whether it is a family or friend.
Favouritism is considered discrimination and discrimination is
illegal and immoral. Discrimination happens when employers make job decisions based on
employees' protected characteristics -- traits that state, governments have
decided should not be the basis of employment actions. Under employment laws or
labour laws, for example, it's illegal for employers not to hire someone because
of his race, to refuse to promote women, to relegate employees with
disabilities to low-paying positions, or to lay off employees based on age. If
workplace favoritism is based on protected characteristics, then it is illegal
discrimination. For example, if a manager promotes only men or gives the best
assignments and shifts to employees who share his religious beliefs, that would
be discrimination.
Favouritism is poison to employee morale. It
creates terrible feelings toward the management and towards the employees who
are treated special. Hatred can cause not only sickness but also the mood of
employees in carrying out their duties and responsibilities every day.
Certainly, such emotional condition affects the performance of their duties.
Thus favoritism does not benefit anyone in the organization but it destroys
everything. Employees might be professional,
qualified, and experienced, but they’re still human and still susceptible to
emotions better left outside the workplace. Jealousy, anger, fear, sullenness, and worry can occur in business environments at any time, but these negative
emotions are exacerbated when favoritism takes place. Therefore management
should be careful in playing favoritism.
Before indulging in workplace favouritism, consider how your actions
might affect other workers.
Employee Favoritism and Nepotism
are considered employee morale Cancer (Chris Young, 2008). It is considered cancer
because it causes the sickness of the workplace environment and finally
seriously erodes the competitive position of a company or at worst - literally
destroys the potential of companies. The cure for cancer can only happen if the root of the cancer is removed totally.
Different Kinds of Favoritism in the Workplace
George N. Root (2014) identified several kinds of favoritism in the
workplace and these are nepotism, cronyism, sexual favors, and patronage. He
explained that nepotism is the practice of hiring family members regardless of
their qualifications. In some cases, a relative of a company executive may be
qualified to perform the job for which she is hired. The fact that she is an
executive's relative gives her an advantage over the other applicants.
According to him, hiring should always be based on the qualifications and the
needs of the particular job. In this case, even though the person or the newly
hired employee is related to the executive if her/his qualification is very
much needed, then nepotism can enhance the company’s performance. However, if
the hiring is just because of family relationships and ignoring the
qualifications, then nepotism can cause the decline of the company.
Cronyism is the other side of nepotism. It is the act of
hiring friends regardless of qualifications. One of the main problems with
cronyism is the feeling of entitlement that employees hired under these
circumstances feel. Because of their close relationship with the top executive, they
feel they deserve raises and promotions that should be reserved for more
qualified staff members. Besides the feeling of entitlement, these groups feel
powerful and can influence other people in the organization and top executives.
These groups are feared by other groups and may create conflict in the workplace
and can result in losing qualified personnel.
Favoritism may be caused by sexual favor. Sexual favour
forces the executive to prioritize the person for career advancement even
though the person is not qualified for the promotion. The person who is favoured
may claim anything she wants and the executive has no choice but to grant her
request. Such treatment can cause discrimination against other employees. The
employees who are denied promotions and raises instead of sexual favours being
exchanged between a manager and employee can claim that they were discriminated
against. Companies should discourage inter-office relationships and should
consider a policy that makes relationships between managers and subordinates
grounds for termination.
Another form of favouritism is patronage. Patronage becomes a
practice in which an executive or manager engages in nepotism or cronyism. An
executive promotes employees he trusts into positions of management and then
asks those managers to hire their friends and family members. This kind of
favoritism has the potential to spread throughout the company as the executive
brings more of her favorite employees into positions of authority.
To add to the list offered by George N. Root, Christ Young
(2008) based on his experience working with certain companies offers several
forms of favoritism and nepotism: relative
nepotism, friend nepotism, connection nepotism, contribution nepotism, referral nepotism,
they were with us through thick and thin" nepotism, "credential
nepotism.
Relative
nepotism is a common practice everywhere to hire, save, prioritize, and promote
the relative first before anyone else. While friend nepotism is a management
behaviour that gives special attention to friends. They are considered the “inner circle of influence” to the management and they are the priority of the
management. Connection nepotism is the practice of giving special treatment to
persons who have a connection with the management, be it political connection,
sports activity/hobby connection, and many others. It may seem to be
unimportant but often time such connection influences management for special
treatment. Contribution nepotism refers to the practice in which management
gives special treatment to persons who have contributed something to the
achievement of the management. While this practice may not be totally bad it should always consider the total whole. The performance of the management is
a contribution of all people working for the organization because all works are
interrelated. Thus evaluation of the level of contribution must be done to
determine how much each one has contributed to the organization. Referral
nepotism is a practice in which management asks asking top performer if he/she
knows someone to fill up the position. This may be considered an ordinary
recruitment strategy but there is a tendency of management to prioritize more
on these persons over others. “They were with us through thick and
thin" nepotism” This form of nepotism is particularly
perverse. A team member who has been with the company since it started 15
years ago can wreak a lot of havoc if they are poor performers. The havoc
comes from new performers who realize the "lifer" is
"special" and is not being held to the same employee accountability
standard that they are. The next question new hires have is, "Why am
I not special." The downward spiral begins - employee morale goes
into the tank. Lastly, credential nepotism is This form of nepotism is often
hidden but dangerous. Ever seen someone get more credit than they deserve
because they have a certification? I have. When people are given
more credit because they attended a class and passed it but cannot apply what
they learned - we call that "Credential Nepotism.
All of the
above forms of nepotism result in a hideous employee morale killer called
"favoritism. This form of favouritism cause the life of the organization
in danger. Therefore, such favouritism must be avoided at all costs.
The Effect of
Favoritism
Favoritism is
considered negative because of its effect not only on the organization but also
on the other employees. The following are considered to be the effects of
favouritism in the workplace.
1. Decline company performance
When the employees are hired because of family relationships, or friendship and not because of certain skill qualifications and then not being
able to perform the job, then nepotism becomes counter-productive. If the
executive staff begins hiring family members because they need jobs, not
because of their qualifications and ability, then such practices can affect
the company's profitability or performance. Therefore, the top management
should consider skill qualifications in hiring and not favoritism.
2.
Resentment and demoralization.
Favouritism is not going to rest well with other
employees. One of the primary effects of workplace favouritism on employees is
resentment. Workers feel that, no matter how hard they work, it won’t matter
because preferred employees will always get better benefits, more attention and
greater opportunities. Such a situation can demotivate other employees to do
their jobs to the best they can. They feel not recognized and appreciated. They
feel bad and discouraged. Not only that, employees often resent the special
worker, treating her with unkindness and gossiping about reasons for
preferential treatment. Workers also resent their employers, becoming less
willing to participate actively in the company mission. If employees feel that
they’re being passed over for new responsibilities or promotions because all
goodies are funneled toward their favorite workers, lower motivation results.
Employees slack off, taking less care with assigned duties and being more
reluctant to volunteer for additional tasks. This results in lower
productivity missed deadlines and lower overall morale.
3.
Organizational Conflict
When employees perceive favoritism to be
widespread, such a situation may lead to organizational conflict. It would not
only be a conflict between other employees and favored employees but also between
the executive or management and employees. If such a situation happens, then the working environment becomes not conducive for other people to work. The
situation may lead to some employees taking legal action against employers who
engage in egregious favouritism, citing preferential treatment based on gender
or ethnicity. If workplace favoritism is widespread, for example, an employer
offers preferential treatment to workers based on sexual favors, employees
could cite a hostile work environment. This can lead to serious repercussions,
including court fees, restitution awards, and loss of professional reputation.
Avoiding favoritism
As we see the effect of favouritism, it is obvious that
favouritism does not bring any good to the organization. Therefore, there is no
way of perpetuating it but it should be stopped by all means. Displays of favouritism, or even its perception, can
destroy relationships, initiative and trust. We must always be alert to its
presence and suppress it. Therefore we should
always avoid promoting favouritism by all means such as spending extra time with preferred workers,
overlooking mistakes made by favorite employees, and assigning perks to
employees because you like them. If you’re an employee working in an
environment where a boss is practising favouritism, double-check your impressions
by looking for specific examples of preferred treatment. Once you’ve confirmed
that this is a problem in your workplace, visit the personnel department with
your examples. Explaining the situation in a concise, professional way gives
you more credibility; be careful not to make rash accusations.
It is recommended that the organization should
introduce or establish a policy prohibiting favouritism in the workplace. The
organization should specify practices that are considered favoritism and
indicate punishment related to favoritism practices.
Handling Favoritism at Work
The question here is how we react to favoritism
in the workplace. Since favoritism is committed by the executive, this question
is addressed to the employees. How do co-employees handle favouritism? How
do you keep your career humming along while you're stuck in the shadow of the
boss's pet? Eileen P. Gunn (2008) gives some tips on how to
handle favoritism as he cited from Birkel (2008). It would be nice to
follow those advice.
1. Don't try
to shoot down the favorite, no
matter how tempting it might be to correct him in meetings or point out to the
boss when he's way underqualified for that project you wanted, Birkel advises.
At best, you're picking on the boss's buddy; at worst, you're questioning the
boss's judgment about people. Neither one is going to gain you any ground.
2. Sit down
with that boss as soon as possible
and agree to a clear job description for you, Birkel says. To make the boss's
job easier, have one ready for him or her to give feedback on.
3. Agree on
some goals for you to accomplish
over the next quarter or six months or year (or a combination of time frames).
Make sure at least a few of them can be measured objectively—hitting sales or
profit or cost-cutting targets, landing certain clients, or getting trained in
particular new skills.
Hitting these goals
gives you material you can use should you need to campaign for a promotion,
project, or raise you want that you believe the boss is inclined to hand to one
of the in-crowd. It also gives you the
means with which to defend yourself should one of the inner circles try to
undermine you someday (if, say, he really wants that same promotion, project,
or raise).
4. Find a
champion who's at the same or
higher level than your fickle manager and who can talk you up and suggest you
for that plum assignment or title you want. If other people in the organization
think highly of you, then it makes your boss look good to put you to good use
in a visible way.
5. Get
involved in the company beyond your
immediate group by joining corporate committees or employee groups or lending
your experience to colleagues in other departments when they ask for it. This will
help you find that champion you need, boost your credibility beyond your boss's
purview, and maybe lead to new opportunities with a better boss.
6. Buddy up
to the boss where you can (taking
care to keep your self-respect in the process). If you're at all interested in
his or her favorite sport or hobby, give it a try so that you have something
other than work to talk about when you find yourself sharing an elevator with
the boss.
And when that boss
does occasionally extend an invitation to lunch or drinks or Saturday golf to
colleagues beyond a little clique, by all means, go! It's an opportunity to
help the boss get to know you and see possibilities beyond the usual safe
fallback people
Of course, despite
your best efforts, your career progress could slow down or flat-out stall
during this manager's tenure. If you can't live with that, even for a short
spell, then polish up your résumé and start looking for a new job, inside your
company or elsewhere.
But if you do decide
to sit tight and bide your time, take it to heart. "It's not a question of
if but when that manager will be moved along or pushed out in the next
reshuffling," Birkel says. "Then those favorites are back on equal
footing with everyone else." If they can't settle in and thrive on their merits,
they'll either follow their benefactor yet again or move on in some other way.
Favoritism
is an Ethical Issue/Moral Issue.
Favouritism is a moral
issue. It is a moral issue because it violates basic moral standards which are
justice and fairness. Moral standards dictate to do justice and to be fair to
all. Definitely, favouritism violates such principles. Aristotle argued that “equals
should be treated equally and unequals unequally. About employment
practices, it tells us that employees who possess the same qualifications and perform
the same or similar responsibilities should be treated the same. Favouritism,
cronyism, and nepotism all interfere with fairness because they give undue
advantage to someone who does not necessarily merit this treatment (Judy Nadler
and Miriam Schulman, 2006).
Favouritism, cronyism, and nepotism also undermine
the common good. Under utilitarian ethics, the rule is that you can act only on the act that promotes the happiness of the greater majority or the common good. The
message of individual sacrifice is emphasized. Each person should promote only
those acts that will contribute to the common good but not to individual interests.
The practice of favoritism is against such a principle. When someone is granted a
position because of connections rather than because he or she has the best
credentials and experience, it is considered individual preferential treatment
which will lead to the disadvantage of the organization or common good.
Favouritism is the
preferential treatment of certain employees or groups of employees. Such a definition is a clear indication of discrimination. It destroys the morale and
motivation of employees to work. Definitely, favoritism is bad and immoral. The
effect of favoritism is devastating, not only to the life of individual
employees but to the life of the organization. It loses its competitive
power against other competitors and it will lead to its bankruptcy. Thus it
must be avoided at all costs.
References
George N.
Root III. 2014. Demand Media. (http://smallbusiness.chron.com/types-favoritism-workplace-11537.html), date retrieved, Feb 21, 2014
Eileen P. Gunn 2008. Handling Favoritism http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2008/04/17/handling-favoritism-at-work
Chris Young. 2008. Employee Favoritism and Nepotism.
http://www.therainmakergroupinc.com/human-capital-strategy-blog/bid/91330/Employee-Favoritism-and-Nepotism-Employee-Morale-Cancer
