Guru Raghupathy, 04 July 2025

Favoritism in the workplace is like a slow poison—it may not kill productivity immediately, but it gradually erodes the foundation of trust, fairness, and collaboration that high-performing teams depend on. When managers show preferential treatment to certain employees, the ripple effects extend far beyond the individuals directly involved, creating a toxic environment that can derail entire organizations.

What Is Manager Favoritism?

Manager favoritism occurs when supervisors consistently give preferential treatment to certain employees based on personal relationships, shared interests, or unconscious biases rather than merit, performance, or business needs. This can manifest in various ways: cherry-picking choice assignments for favored employees, offering more flexible work arrangements to some but not others, providing mentorship and development opportunities unequally, or applying different standards when evaluating performance.

The favored employee might receive public recognition for mediocre work while exceptional contributions from others go unnoticed. They may be included in important meetings and decisions while equally qualified colleagues are left out. Sometimes favoritism is subtle—a manager who always seeks input from the same few people or consistently sides with certain team members during conflicts.

The Psychological Roots of Favoritism

Understanding why favoritism happens is crucial to addressing it. Managers are human beings with natural tendencies toward similarity bias—we gravitate toward people who remind us of ourselves or share our interests, backgrounds, or communication styles. A manager who played college basketball might unconsciously favor the team member who also has athletic experience. Someone who values direct communication might show preference for employees who speak up confidently, potentially overlooking quieter but equally capable team members.

Affinity bias plays a significant role as well. When managers spend more time with certain employees—perhaps because they're more social or happen to work similar hours—they develop stronger relationships that can cloud professional judgment. The halo effect also contributes, where positive feelings about one aspect of an employee's personality or performance influence overall evaluation.

Social psychology research shows that people in positions of power are particularly susceptible to these biases because they often have less time to make careful, deliberate decisions and may rely more heavily on gut feelings and quick judgments.

The Devastating Impact on Teams

The consequences of manager favoritism extend far beyond hurt feelings. When team members perceive unfair treatment, it creates a cascade of negative effects that can cripple organizational effectiveness.

Decreased Morale and Engagement
Employees who feel overlooked or undervalued naturally become less invested in their work. Why put in extra effort when you know recognition will go to the manager's favorite regardless of performance? This leads to a decline in discretionary effort—those extra contributions that often make the difference between good and great results.

Erosion of Trust
Trust is the bedrock of effective teamwork, and favoritism demolishes it quickly. Team members begin to question their manager's judgment, fairness, and integrity. They may also become suspicious of favored colleagues, wondering whether their success is earned or simply a result of preferential treatment.

Reduced Collaboration
When favoritism is present, collaboration suffers as team members compete for the manager's attention rather than working together toward common goals. Information sharing decreases, knowledge silos develop, and the collective intelligence of the team is diminished.

Increased Turnover
Talented employees who feel undervalued don't stick around. They find opportunities elsewhere, taking their skills, knowledge, and relationships with them. The cost of replacing good employees—including recruitment, training, and lost productivity—can be substantial.

Legal and Ethical Risks
Favoritism can cross legal lines when it discriminates against protected classes. Even when not illegal, it creates ethical concerns and can damage an organization's reputation both internally and externally.

Recognizing the Signs

Identifying favoritism requires honest self-reflection and awareness of subtle patterns. Managers should regularly examine their decision-making processes and ask themselves tough questions: Do I consistently assign the best projects to the same people? Are my performance evaluations truly objective? Do I spend significantly more time mentoring certain employees?

Common warning signs include giving the benefit of the doubt to some employees while being critical of others for similar mistakes, having informal conversations about opportunities with only certain team members, or making exceptions to policies for favored employees. If multiple team members express concerns about fairness, it's worth taking their feedback seriously rather than dismissing it.

Strategies for Eliminating Favoritism

Creating a fair and equitable workplace requires intentional effort and systematic approaches.

Implement Transparent Processes
Clear, documented procedures for assignments, promotions, and recognition remove ambiguity and reduce opportunities for bias. When criteria are explicit and consistently applied, it becomes harder for favoritism to take root.

Use Structured Decision-Making
Rather than relying on gut feelings, develop rubrics and evaluation frameworks that focus on specific, measurable criteria. This is particularly important for performance reviews, project assignments, and development opportunities.

Rotate Opportunities
Ensure that choice assignments, learning opportunities, and leadership roles are distributed fairly across the team. Consider implementing rotation systems or lottery approaches for coveted projects.

Seek Diverse Input
Include multiple perspectives in important decisions. Peer feedback, skip-level reviews, and cross-functional input can help balance individual biases and provide a more complete picture of employee contributions.

Regular Check-ins and Feedback
Schedule consistent one-on-one meetings with all team members, not just the ones who seek you out. This ensures everyone has equal access to your time and attention while providing opportunities to identify and address concerns early.

Cultural Awareness and Training
Invest in bias training and cultural competency development. Understanding how unconscious biases affect decision-making is the first step toward mitigating their impact.

Building a Culture of Fairness

Eliminating favoritism isn't just about avoiding negative behaviors—it's about actively creating an environment where all team members can thrive. This means celebrating diverse working styles, recognizing different types of contributions, and ensuring that quieter or less assertive employees have equal opportunities to be heard and valued.

Organizations should also establish clear channels for employees to raise concerns about unfair treatment without fear of retaliation. Regular employee surveys, anonymous feedback systems, and open-door policies can help identify problems before they become entrenched.

The Manager's Role in Change

Managers who recognize favoritism in their own behavior should take immediate steps to address it. This might mean having difficult conversations with favored employees about maintaining professional boundaries, or reaching out to overlooked team members to rebuild trust and provide new opportunities.

Acknowledge past mistakes when appropriate—a sincere apology and commitment to change can go a long way toward repairing damaged relationships and restoring team confidence.

Conclusion

Manager favoritism might seem like a minor workplace issue, but its impact on team dynamics, employee satisfaction, and organizational success is profound. The good news is that with awareness, intentionality, and consistent effort, managers can create fair, equitable environments where all team members have the opportunity to succeed based on their contributions and potential.

The investment in fairness pays dividends in the form of higher employee engagement, better retention, improved collaboration, and ultimately, stronger business results. In today's competitive landscape, organizations that fail to address favoritism risk losing their best talent to competitors who understand that fairness isn't just a nice-to-have—it's a business imperative.

Every manager has the power to choose fairness over favoritism. The question isn't whether you can afford to make this change, but whether you can afford not to.

Author : Guru Raghupathy , 04 July 2025