Favoritism has been defined as an act or practice of giving unfair preferential treatment to one person or group at the expense of other. It has been also defined as an act of giving preference to some one special. We would have come across many acts of favoritism in our life time. Let's say school, social relationships and yes most importantly work place. I would focus on what devastating / demotivating effect it can have an individual who is given an partial treatment @ workplace. On the other note i would also suggest the ways we can cope up / fight with this problem.
As discussed earlier, favoritism is an act and it is a result of our own behavior. Behaviors we picked up as children (good or bad) are likely to be apparent in most of the day today situations. As children, our relationships with our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters teach us how to interact with the world. We instinctively pick up certain behaviors from these relationships, and in our relationships with supervisors and coworkers, we respond to them with those very same behaviors that we have learned since childhood.
Does that mean we should treat everyone equally or should we exhibit the same behavior with everyone ? i don't think so . People who put their heart and soul in their work activities should be rewarded very well. Management should think more in terms of recognition, retention and growth aspects of these individuals. Single management style doesn't work equally well with all employees. Some people need more attention to fulfill their potential, while others excel with less attention and more autonomy.
So when does management of employees cross the line into unfair favoritism?
It crosses the line when an employee receives special recognition / extra benefits that are
perceived to result from a "special relationship" rather than from excelling in job performance.
Favoritism may lead to -
- Employee resentment towards work
- Employee may lose focus on the work objective/ goals in the long run.
- Employee's job security
- Tension both in personal and professional life
- and above all "Attrition"
How can managers control favoritism ?
- Recognition / extra benefits to be given solely on the basis of performance.
- Treat everyone "fairly" not "same".
- Create an environment where in the employee is comfortable sharing things which bring discomfort at the workplace.
- Manager's should introspect situations wherein they have practiced favoritism. This will help them to deal with situations which arise in future.
- Create a healthy team environment and not a "personal family" environment.
