Tags
Administration
Benefits
Communication
Communication Programs
Compensation
Conflict & Dispute Resolution
Developing & Coaching Others
Employee Satisfaction/Engagement
Executive Coaching
HR Metrics & Measurement
HR Outsourcing
HRIS/ERP
Human Resources Management
Internal Corporate Communications
Labor Relations
Labor Trends
Leadership
Leadership Training & Development
Leading Others
Legal
Management
Motivating
Motivation
Organizational Development
Pay Strategies
Performance Management
Present Trends
Recognition
Retention
Staffing
Staffing and Recruitment
Structure & Organization
Talent
The HR Practitioner
Training
Training and Development
Trends
U.S. Based Legal Issues
Vision, Values & Mission
Work-Life Programs & Employee Assistance Programs - EAP
Workforce Acquisition
Workforce Management
Workforce Planning
Workplace Regulations
corporate learning
employee engagement
interpersonal communications
leadership competencies
leadership development
legislation
News
Onboarding Best Practices
Good Guy = Bad Manager :: Bad Guy = Good Manager. Is it a Myth?
Five Interview Tips for Winning Your First $100K+ Job
Base Pay Increases Remain Steady in 2007, Mercer Survey Finds
Online Overload: The Perfect Candidates Are Out There - If You Can Find Them
Cartus Global Survey Shows Trend to Shorter-Term International Relocation Assignments
New Survey Indicates Majority Plan to Postpone Retirement
What do You Mean My Company’s A Stepping Stone?
Rewards, Vacation and Perks Are Passé; Canadians Care Most About Cash
Do’s and Don’ts of Offshoring
Error: No such template "/hrDesign/network_profileHeader"!
Blogs / Send feedback
Help us to understand what's happening?
Reason
It's a fake news story
It's misleading, offensive or inappropriate
It should not be published here
It is spam
Your comment
More information
Security Code
Joan Lloyd's HR Words of Advice: Favoritism
Created by
Joan Lloyd
Content
<strong>Dear Joan:</strong><br /><br />I work for a large company that has favoritism issues and a committee was formed to resolve it. We met four times and submitted our charter for the team. Then, with the announcement of some big organizational changes (the company was split), we were told to put everything on hold. We have some questions:<br /><br />Could favoritism be a form of discrimination? <br />What can be done when it goes on and everyone can see it? <br />I believe favoritism violates ethic policies. What can be done? <br /> Management level favoritism, what can be done? <br /><br /><br /><strong>Answer:</strong><br /><br />A fish rots from the head down. Management favoritism is one way the deterioration can start. Why a committee was formed to resolve it is perplexing to me. Since favoritism is a management action, in which some employees receive unequal treatment, I don't see how a committee was ever going to solve it. <br /><br />Favoritism needs to be dealt with by senior management and HR For example, if a few people always seem to get higher performance reviews, more money, better projects and/or better perks, and objective evidence points to the fact that their real work output doesn't warrant it, complaints will typically be made and an investigation should ensue. <br /><br />Even if complaints are not made, most HR professionals who are involved with a department will unearth favoritism without much effort. The symptoms are pretty obviousthe same people are in the boss's office chatting, perhaps they socialize outside of work, or, their work doesn't get the same level of scrutiny. Or, when a position opens up, the boss wants to put her loyal employee in the job, rather than opening it up to more qualified candidates.<br /><br />In most large companies like yours, this sort of rot starts to smell and it attracts an army of HR attention. Companies don't want to be sued by someone who felt they were not given the same opportunities, money, perks or jobs that a favored person was given. <br /><br /> <br />If your company felt that the committee approach was best for solving rampant favoritism, it suggests that either senior management:<br /><br /><br />Didn't realize there was a problem and wanted evidence, instead of random, vague complaints, and was hoping the group could produce some objective data. <br /><br />Didn't care much about the complaints, and was hoping the committee approach would cause the whole thing to die a natural death and go away <br /><br />Had big organizational issues going on with the split of the company and was using the committee as an attempt to put their finger in the dyke, while bigger fish were being fried. <br /><br />Or, senior management is blind to the problem because they are part of the problem. <br /> <br />If your company is really serious about inconsistent treatment, it needs to confront the worst offenders and clearly spell out the rules of balanced and fair treatment. Then those leaders need to be monitored and measured, to make sure their decision-making is based on the best interests of the company, the team, the customer and the individual. This can be done through a variety of HR facilitated activities. <br /><br />HR can interview the team members and work with the manager to be more consistent, for example, in the way policies are administered. <br /><br />Talent reviews can be done, with all the peer managers together, to hear everyone's input about the performance and effectiveness of their collective employee group. <br /><br />Upward evaluations and 360-degree feedback processes can be used to get input about the boss's practices in a confidential way. <br /><br />Peer input into performance reviews will often surface the observations from other managers regarding inconsistent leadership styles. <br /> <br />Let's hope that once the organization settles down from its current reorganization, the senior leaders will take a serious look at the culture and make some changes for the better.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Joan Lloyd</strong> is an executive coach, management consultant, facilitator and professional trainer/speaker. Email your question to Joan at <a href="mailto:info@joanlloyd.com">info@joanlloyd.com</a>. Joan Lloyd & Associates, (800) 348-1944, Visit <a href="http://www.joanlloyd.com/">www.JoanLloyd.com</a> Joan Lloyd & Associates, Inc.
Copyright © 1999-2025 by
HR.com - Maximizing Human Potential
. All rights reserved.