The issue of workplace favoritism has become one of the major issues in the work place that are being discussed all over the world. Many employees go through favoritism in their places of work at one time or another. Favoritism actually means being looked down on, it is referred to as not considering fairness or all the people working in a given place when their bosses or managers favors some people over others. Workers who are usually not treated fairly at their places of work are usually advised to contact their corporate officers so that they can report the situation and actions that take place in the work place that make the worker believe that there is favoritism existing in that place of work. Leaders or managers who have tendency of practicing favoritism the workplace do not have any chances of building a culture of trust in the organization. It is often taught in business school that the only antidote for favoritism is treating all the workers the same way. However, it is difficult to treat all the workers in the company similar because people are usually different. This paper is going to focus on workplace favoritism, the types of workplace favoritism as well as ways to deal with the work place favoritism.
Workplace favoritism takes place when the employers or senior managers make job decisions that are based on the confined characteristics of their employees. Such traits and characteristics are usually forbidden by the government of the states laws to be used as a basis for employing or promoting workers in a workplace; hence any action in the workplace based on traits are usually seen as illegal (Collins, and O'Rourke, 2009). For instance, the federal law, states that it is not legal for employers not to hire or promote a person despite their qualifications due to their race, sex or disabilities. In most cases, employers usually like to employ people whom they know well, either their friend or relatives. When it comes to promotions, employers choose to promote men to the top position without considering the qualifications of women. As additionally, people with disabilities also get allocated to low-paying positions.
There are different types of work place favoritism. They include; Nepotism, cronyism, patronage and sexual favors. Nepotism is a form of workplace favoritism where employers only hire people who are related to them in spite of their qualifications. In most cases, the relatives who are employed into the company are usually incompetent and end up reducing the productivity of the organization (Friedman, 2005). Cronyism is another type of workplace favoritism where the employer only hires his/her friend to work in their company regardless of their qualifications. The issues concerned with cronyism and nepotism is the fact that the hired friends and relatives get the feeling of being entitled. They end up undermining the other employees under them or their other equals in their level. The hired people usually feel that they automatically entitled to ant salary raise and promotions in the organization. As a result, conflicts occur in the places of work that may result to the company losing qualified personnel.
Other forms of workplace favoritism are sexual favors. This is where the employers, managers or other senior staff takes advantage of the desperate workers in exchange for jobs, promotions or even better pay. It is important that companies discourage sexual relationships among workmates, and inter-office intimate relationships (Friedman, 2005). Companies should consider implementing policies that do not promote such relationships; where people involved in such relationships get terminated.
There are various solutions to this problem. One of them includes the implementation of rules and regulations in an organization, which all employees have access to and respect. People who do not follow the regulations despite their position in the organizations should be severely punished or fired. A clearly drafted policy can help prohibit workplace favoritism, discrimination, and in the work environment. The state also has a role to play in eliminating workplace favoritism. There should be federal laws that protect the minority who include women and the disabled. All people should be accorded equal rights regardless of their gender, race and disabilities (Collins, and O'Rourke, 2009).
In conclusion, it is evident that workplace favoritism is among the top social issue in the workplace. Managers and employees favor whoever they want to because they have the power. Many employees go through favoritism in their places of work at one time or another. There are different types of work place favoritism. They include; Nepotism, cronyism, patronage and sexual favors. Workplace favoritism takes place when the employers or senior managers make job decisions that are based on the confined characteristics of their employees. Such traits and characteristics are usually forbidden by the government of the states laws to be used as a basis for employing or promoting workers in a workplace; hence any action in the workplace based on traits are usually seen as illegal. As one of the major social issues, there should be a concrete solution to it. There are several solutions that can be used to provide a solution to the issue. They include; implementation of rules and regulations in an organization, which all employees have access to and respect
References
Collins, S. D., & O'Rourke, J. S. (2009). Managing conflict and workplace relationships. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Friedman, A. H. (2005). Litigating employment discrimination cases. Costa Mesa, CA: James Pub.
