Favoritism Just Won’t Work (BizPac Version)

 

Favoritism Just Won’t Work

PJM Consulting 

Favoritism in the workplace is common. Chances are, you have witnessed it. Favoritism like this is frustrating to be around or part of. It can also lead to higher turnover rates and lower job satisfaction. 

Convene's Article on Cronyism (also known as favoritism) explains what cronyism is and how it affects the workplace. Cronyism is when a higher up favors certain coworkers over others. This can lead to unfair advantages. They state that some of the effects of favoritism can include job dissatisfaction, erosion of trust, as well as possibly deviant behavior in the workplace. If there is no trust, and if there is job dissatisfaction, people are going to quit.

Playing Favorites: A Study of Perceived Workplace Favoritism highlights workplace favoritism as being shockingly common as well stating that 47% of Americans report favoritism in their workplace. An even more shocking fact is out of 303 US executives surveyed, 96% said they would promote based on who was their favorite rather than if they were qualified. Not only that, but the article also states, “employees not only deemed favoritism as a form of workplace injustice/unfairness, but also reacted to these behaviors with negative emotions toward the organization, less loyalty to the company, less job satisfaction, stronger intentions to quit the job, less work motivation, and more emotional exhaustion.”

The article mis-management: work environment pollution puts favoritism in the workplace as a form of workplace pollution. David states this kind of behavior leads to “a reduced production record and high employee turnover.” Trying to build a healthy work environment is impossible if work isn’t being done and people are constantly leaving. 

It has been argued that not all preference is favoritism, and that can definitely be true. The problem is when the preference leans more onto how well you know the person. It should be their actual ability to accomplish a goal. As mentioned in Playing Favorites: A Study of Perceived Workplace Favoritism, the executives hired based on their preference for their favorite rather than qualification. If you want your preference to not be favoritism, change it so you have a preference based on qualification.

Another argument used is that people need to build their connections instead of blaming not being promoted on favoritism. While one should build connections, it is wrong to say that it should be the only way to move up. Even The Wall Street Journal argues that companies should hire based on merit, rather than biases to have a stronger workplace.

It's also argued that favoritism is "just trust." The problem with that is, while there can be trust in the workplace, it's way different than favoritism. Trust is usually built from someone with merit or credibility. That's where it differs from favoritism, which is trust because you like the person. You can trust someone because you like them, but that doesn't make them the right person for the job. The right person for the job is someone who is competent in the position and can complete what they need to as efficiently as possible.

Another argument is that it can motivate workers. But that wouldn't motivate workers to have quality work, it motivates them to want to suck up to the employers. Having employees who just want to be friends with the higher ups won't improve the company if these sane people don't have useful skills to actually help the company.

Companies need to stop hiring people they like. That is not how they will grow and become a successful company. And it also won't help them not worry about higher turnover rates and lower job satisfaction. If they want to keep their employees and keep them happy, they need to switch to a new approach. The best approach they can take is hiring based on actual skill and merit and not just whether they get along or are friends.