Favour employees who perform

In organizations, there are situations where one employee is given preference over another, usually by a person at a higher level, not based on work performance but on other considerations. Such favouritism leads to very complex organizational issues at huge opportunity cost.

As humans, we tend to look at links to get closer to people we like for various benefits. Factors such as coming from the same village or town, school, religion and personal interests such as sports or music bring people together naturally.

Survival strategy

In certain circumstances the favouritism can be in relation to sex and race too. Employees coming together on such grounds end up in sub cultures formed with different attitudes and beliefs. I'm sure you have your own real life examples either as a victim, beneficiary or seen things happening around you as a neutral person.

Sadly in most Sri Lankan organizations; be it private or public, favouritism does exist in varying degrees. Favouritism in public organizations is largely based on political affiliations. Some managers whose behaviour is not aligned with company policy and accepted practices or performance being not up to the mark favour direct reports to harness support for survival.

A leader whose discipline is below expectation cannot create a culture of high discipline in an organization or within that business unit for optimum productivity. Look at a simple example; a leader who is late to work cannot pull up a team member for being late to work.

Is it hard to understand the resultant loss of value to the organization? Commonly practised favouritism in Sri Lankan organizations include; bigger salary increases and perks, promotions, beneficial transfers, easier work and selective lenient policy compliance. These cost the organization money, affect business performance and create an undesired culture impeding long-term progress.

There's no question that favouritism is a bad management practice. It breeds resentment, mistrust, destroys employee morale, and creates disincentives for good performance. When employees see that more benefits flow from being on the manager's good side, rather than from good job performance, it creates a notion that there's no or very little point in working hard.

And favouritism leads to poor productivity, as employees who aren't getting the plum assignments spend more time gossiping and griping about how unfair the system is rather than doing their work.

Law

Is favouritism illegal? Not always. It depends on why employees are being favoured or disfavoured. No law prevents companies from having lousy managers or running a workplace like a schoolyard. If favouritism is rooted in discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, however, it crosses the line from poor management to illegal behaviour.

Favouritism is usually a sure sign that policies and procedures are not what they should be. Favouritism not based on performance can lead to serious negative business implications. It's up to the leaders to identify, understand and put in place policies, processes and systems to curb this issue but more importantly, lead by example to create the right culture.