We promote various HR philosophies and organisation values to be fair by all employees and try to practise them where possible.
However, in almost all organisations, there are situations where one employee is given preference over another, usually by a higher level authority, not based on performance but other considerations. Such favouritism leads to complex organisational issues at huge opportunity cost.
As humans we look at links to get close to people we like for various benefits. Factors such as the same village or town, school, religion and personal interests such as sports or music bring people together naturally.
In certain circumstances favouritism can be in relation to sexism and racism too. Employees coming together on such grounds end up in sub cultures being 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 organisations; be it private or public, favouritism exists at varying degrees. Favouritism in public organisations is largely based on political affiliations. Some managers whose behaviour is not aligned with the company policy and accepted practices or performance not being up to the mark favours 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 of value 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 the organisations money, affect 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 by being on the manager’s good side, rather than by good 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 don’t get the plum assignments spend more time gossiping and griping about how unfair the system is rather than doing their work.
No way to regulate
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, then 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.