
Favour only employees who perform well
In organisations, there are situations where an employee is given
preference by another, generally a higher level officer, not based on
performance but on other considerations. Such favouritism leads to
complex organisational issues at huge cost.
As humans we tend to get close to people for various benefits.
Factors such as the same village or town, school, religion and personal
interests such as sports or music bring people together.
In certain circumstances favouritism can be in relation to sexism and
racism too. Employees coming together on such grounds end up in sub
cultures with different attitudes and beliefs.
You may have your own real life examples either as a victim,
beneficiary or seen things happen around you as a neutral person.
Favouritism, as a leader's survival strategy Sadly in most Sri Lankan
organisations; be it private or public, favouritism exists to varying
degrees. Favouritism in public organisations is largely based on
political affiliations. Some managers whose behaviour is not in
alignment with the company policy and accepted practices or whose
performance is 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 organisation 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 to the organisation?
Commonly practised favouritism in Sri Lankan organisations include:
bigger salary increases and perks, promotions, beneficial transfers,
easier work and selective lenient policy compliance. These cost
organisations 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.
Once 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 little or no 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.
Laws cannot prevent favouritism
Is favouritism illegal? Not always. It depends or why employees are
being favoured or disfavoured. No law prevents companies from having
lousy managers or running a workplace like a schoolyard.
However, if favouritism is rooted in discrimination, harassment, or
retaliation, 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.
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