Imagine an employee giving their best to achieve organizational goals. They create techniques to make processes more efficient, lead teams, and take initiatives to improve operations.

But when it comes to promotion, a peer gets promoted just because they have a friendlier relationship with the boss.

The result? Low employee morale, lack of motivation, stress, and declining performance. Favoritism doesn’t just hurt one employee; it ripples across the workplace, creating a toxic work environment that hinders growth and breeds resentment.

In this guide, we’ll explore the telltale signs, real-world examples, and actionable strategies for employees, managers, and leaders to combat favoritism and build a culture of trust and equity.

How to Combat Favoritism at Work [Strategies & Examples]

⏰ 60-Second Summary

Strategies to combat favoritism at the workplace:

Set up anti-favoritism policies and a 360-degree feedback system
Create a safe workplace environment where employees can voice their concerns
Encourage team interactions and promote inclusivity
Conduct training sessions for managers to handle favoritism incidents and address unintentional biases
Use tools to track employee performance and provide career development opportunities on merits

Identifying Favoritism at Work

Favoritism is when a person in power gives preferential treatment to one employee over another, particularly for personal reasons.

Jay Andres, Author of The Managers Bathroom

Identifying favoritism in the workplace can be tricky, especially when the signs are subtle. Yet, it often lingers just beneath the surface, waiting to be noticed. Here are a few signs of favoritism:

Unequal access to benefits and privileges

Extended lunch hours, frequent leave approvals, extra vacation days, etc., to certain employees
Better access to equipment, tools, or workspace compared to others in similar roles
Leniency with deadlines or targets for some employees while being rigid with others

📌 Example: A manager promotes a few of his favorite employees (including incompetent ones) despite the other employees taking on more responsibilities and performing better.

Unfair work distribution and opportunities

Unfair workload distribution—assigning lesser and easier work or giving high-profile projects to only favored employees
Offering rewards and promotions to the favorite employee (less qualified than others in the team) while being overly critical of other talented employees
Extra attention, guidance, and opportunities to favored employees for improving performances, upskilling, and professional networking while excluding other team members who might have equal or greater merit

Biased treatment

Defending employees’ unethical behavior or workplace violations such as bullying, discrimination, and harassment
Taking sides during workplace conflicts and having double standards. For instance, a team leader imposing a fine on one employee for property damage but not the favored employee
Allowing favored employees to influence decisions that impact the entire team while ignoring input from others

Workplace favoritism can take a serious toll on employee well-being. When a workplace becomes politically inclined, employees competing for a position often engage in aggressive behavior to deplete their competitors’ resources.

The result? Increased resentment, conflicts among employees, and poor performance.

Preferential treatment can lead to exclusion, reduce connection to the organization, lower morale, reduce productivity, and jeopardize workplace health.

📖 Read More: 10 Factors Affecting Productivity At Work

How Employees Can Deal With Favoritism

Employees might ignore workplace favoritism instances at first. But gradually, it creates distrust, leading to declining employee engagement and higher churn. Here’s how employees can tackle favoritism and manage up at work:

Stay professional in challenging situations

Your voice as an employee is important when it comes to standing up against favoritism, but how it’s expressed can make a significant difference.

❌ Here’s what you should avoid:

Emotional outbursts: They overshadow concerns, harm credibility, and strain relationships
Pointing fingers: Blame creates conflict and derails solutions

✅ Instead, focus on:

Showing impact: Do high-quality work, meet deadlines, and align with team goals. Highlight contributions with measurable results
Seeking feedback: Regularly discuss areas of improvement with your manager and act on suggestions
Discussing calmly: If necessary, have a private, constructive conversation with your manager to discuss your contributions and growth opportunities

Document incidents for future reference

Employees must note down everything about the witnessed act of favoritism, starting from the date and time to the incident description and its impact on their work. This helps report favoritism with proof.

✨ Add the following details to record instances of favoritism:

Date and time: When the incident occurred
What happened: Clear description of the act of favoritism
Who was involved: Individuals directly or indirectly practicing favoritism or connected to the situation
Impact on work: How the favoritism affected morale, productivity, or team dynamics
Supporting evidence: Emails, chat transcripts, or task records if relevant

These records can be invaluable when reporting favoritism to the HR department or management so that the issue can be addressed fairly.

You can use ClickUp Docs to document all favoritism incidents in detail and securely share them with all relevant stakeholders. It also lets you set privacy and edit controls so you can manage who has access to sensitive information.

HR managers can also use Docs to categorize incidents by department, type, or severity, making it easier to track favoritism patterns and address issues proactively.

ClickUp Docs to document policies and make them accessible to all — *Document policies and make them accessible to all with ClickUp Docs*

Strategies for communicating with management

Reporting favoritism incidents might be awkward. Here are a few tips employees should follow for communicating with the management about favoritism:

🙌 Voice concerns constructively: Share how favoritism impacts morale and performance while focusing on aspirations and contributions

🙌 Engage in transparent peer communication: Initiate transparent horizontal communication with colleagues to understand shared experiences and workplace dynamics

🙌 Discuss with management: Talk about opportunities, expectations, performance, workplace culture, and decision-making processes

🙌 Frame concerns, not accusations: Avoid outright accusations of favoritism. Instead, express concerns calmly and constructively

🙌 Have conversations, not confrontations: Approach these discussions as conversations to solve issues, not as confrontations that escalate tension

📌 Example: Karen Dillon, author of HBR Guide to Office Politics gives a practical example—”I notice that Sarah has gotten a chance to do XYZ, and I would like that opportunity too.”

Considering options and potential career moves

Prolonged blatant favoritism eventually leads to employee churn. If all other strategies fail, then it might be time to move to organizations with a positive work environment.

To break free from the cycle of favoritism while searching for a new job, consider the following:

✅ Seek guidance from a mentor who can provide insights into navigating workplace challenges

✅ Check Glassdoor reviews of companies to ensure they promote fairness and transparency

✅ Prepare an answer for why you’re leaving your current job without speaking negatively about it

Like employees, HR managers play an equal part in handling workplace favoritism. This brings us to our next section.

HR’s Role in Managing Favoritism

One in five employees feel their employer doesn’t care about their well-being. This is where HR managers must step in to stop favoritism and retain top talent before it’s too late.

Here are a few ways you can prevent favoritism in the workplace and promote fair employee treatment.

Developing transparent and fair promotion criteria

Make sure there are no loopholes in your promotion policies that give way to favoritism.

Be transparent. Establish clear criteria such as leadership capabilities, quality of deliverables, technical competencies, etc., to identify deserving employees. Communicate these criteria openly with all employees to eliminate ambiguity
Set measurable benchmarks tied to specific role requirements such as successful completion of relevant training programs, new skill development, number of projects led, and more
Use performance reviews and 360-degree feedback to gain employee insights from multiple sources such as peers, managers, leaders, and sub-ordinates to ensure fairness
Establish a structured process where managers document reasons for promotion decisions, supported by specific examples of achievements and alignment with the set criteria
Create a panel to regularly review and update promotion policies for relevance and inclusivity

This ensures that employees are promoted based on their accomplishments instead of their personality or background.

Promoting team-building initiatives

Team-building activities strengthen organizational culture, ensure better conflict resolution, strengthen trust, and minimize favoritism.

📌 Example: MotorInc. Pvt. Ltd. faced challenges like low employee engagement, conflicts, and lack of employee trust. To tackle this, they arranged a three-day employee engagement program at a campsite, which included debriefing sessions and games. This resulted in positive employee feedback, higher productivity, and higher ROI.

Here are a few team-building ideas to help you manage teams better:

Conduct debates: Organize topic-driven virtual debates to encourage employees to interact with each other (both on-site and remote employees). Set clear rules and focus on respectful interactions, promoting an appreciation for diverse perspectives
Host hackathons: Give your tech teams the opportunity to find and sharpen their hidden skills and strengths for career advancement and performance improvement. Provide clear objectives and team incentives, encourage cross-functional collaboration, and share outcomes across the company to celebrate their efforts
Monthly meets: Schedule monthly meetings, in-person or virtual, to communicate with employees about work and beyond. Talk about their hobbies, interests, work-life balance, trips, and more
Plan group challenges: Include activities like escape rooms, trivia contests, or virtual fitness challenges to strengthen teamwork in different settings

Along with organizing team-building activities, promote real-time collaboration daily during work. ClickUp Whiteboards can help you here. You can create a Whiteboard to brainstorm strategies for managing favoritism at work, add notes for any common instances of favoritism, and link them to tasks.

ClickUp Whiteboards for real-time collaboration — *Brainstorm ideas, map out strategies, and plan sprints with ClickUp Whiteboards*

Implementing workplace surveys to gauge employee sentiments

Workplace surveys are a great way to check how employees feel about the work environment and if they have faced any favoritism incidents.

For example, you can conduct employee engagement surveys to measure how happy your employees are about their work and management decisions. Include both rating-scale and descriptive questions to gain detailed insights.

✨ Ask your employees questions like:

How would you rate your work-life balance on a scale of 5?
Do you feel you’re fairly compensated?
Do you receive ample learning opportunities?

However, provide anonymity options when conducting surveys like the work environment and manager effectiveness assessments.

You can also implement 360° feedback software that gathers insights from peers, subordinates, and managers to ensure a seamless and secure feedback system. Analyze survey results and take tangible steps, like addressing favoritism concerns, revising policies, or improving workplace culture.

Use tools like ClickUp Form View to create comprehensive surveys and collect anonymous employee inputs.

Use ClickUp forms to conduct surveys for favoritism at work — *Use ClickUp forms to conduct* *favoritism surveys at the workplace*

Plus, you can leverage ClickUp Automations to automatically distribute the survey forms to the right people within seconds.

Establishing anonymous reporting mechanisms

Reporting favoritism or other workplace issues is risky. It might cost employees their promotion and even their jobs. So, establish anonymous reporting to protect the whistleblowers.

Here are a few mechanisms you can implement:

Online portals: Create a secure reporting portal with end-to-end encryption where employees can report about managers who practice favoritism without thinking twice about ‘getting caught.’ Include user-friendly forms that allow employees to submit detailed accounts of favoritism or unfair treatment, along with optional evidence like screenshots or emails
Anonymous reporting form templates: Give employees access to reporting form templates they can use to report incidents in different categories, from favoritism to harassment or ethical violation. These templates should guide employees to include all necessary details, like dates, times, individuals involved, and the incident’s impact
Mobile app or Hotline: Set up a hotline or create a secure app where employees can report workplace issues via 24/7 calls and anonymous texts, respectively
Follow through transparently: Assure employees that every report will be addressed promptly and fairly. Share insights on resolved issues without compromising confidentiality to build trust in the system

Solutions and Strategies for Organizations

According to Gallup, 12% of US employees left their jobs due to senior leadership issues. This indicates that the entire organization, from team leaders to senior executives, must take steps to create a favorable workplace environment for all employees.

Here’s how you can do it.

Implementing policies to prevent favoritism

Establishing strict organizational policies prevents favoritism at all levels. Here are a few actionable tips:

Set up a structured opportunity distribution policy to ensure equal task delegation and prevent unfair distribution of resources and opportunities
Implement a transparent promotion and review system, using objective metrics, such as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and involving multiple evaluators to minimize bias
Publicly share promotion criteria, like tenure, skill sets, and achievements, so every employee understands how decisions are made
Clearly define acceptable workplace behavior, including a zero-tolerance stance on favoritism, and specify the consequences for such actions regardless of their positions in the hierarchy
Make these policies easily accessible via internal portals or handbooks. Employees should know where to find the rules and how to report issues related to favoritism
Regularly train managers and employees on these guidelines to ensure consistent enforcement

💡Pro Tip: Use the ClickUp Employee Handbooks, Policies & Procedures Template to create a centralized policy document that covers everything from the code of conduct to reporting procedures and anti-favoritism policy.

Training programs for managers

Favoritism is human nature, so make conscious efforts to control it. Conduct training sessions for managers to identify their unconscious biases so they don’t favor any employee based on race, job role, or gender.

For instance, favoring a male employee, assuming that women can’t perform challenging tasks, and favoring females when they join work after their maternity leave are forms of favoritism that can impact work and personal relationships unintentionally.

Provide training on fair task assignment based on skill, experience, and development goals rather than personal preferences or past relationships.

Favoring employees they work with in person or who are more readily available can unintentionally alienate remote or less visible employees. Share strategies to avoid proximity bias at the workplace by providing equal opportunities and resources for all team members, regardless of location.

Creating a culture of inclusivity and fairness

Inclusion and fairness within an organization positively impact outcomes at different levels—individual, group, and organizational. They boost employee job satisfaction and retention and improve performance and well-being.

Here’s how you can promote inclusivity and fairness:

🤝 Establish inclusive policies, conduct mentorship programs, and support groups for employees to communicate openly

🌍 Organize cultural events and encourage team activities so employees learn about and respect different cultures

💬 Maintain transparency about your commitment to inclusivity and share experiences that highlight the need for diversity and inclusivity in the workplace

TiER1 Performance Institute created an inclusive and accessible work environment to ensure all remote and on-premise employees have equal access to resources and opportunities. This increased employee engagement, improved productivity, and higher retention rates.

💡Pro Tip: Use ClickUp’s Diversity And Inclusion Communication Plan Template to create a communication strategy, ensure consistent communication channels across the organization, and engage employees in diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Regular audits and evaluations

With regular audits, you can identify patterns indicating favoritism, such as consistent promotion or project assignment to one person. For instance, you can spot a manager’s constant promotion of employees belonging to a specific background.

Implement feedback mechanisms and structured performance review systems to ensure transparent and standardized employee performance evaluations at regular intervals
Use tools like surveys or suggestion boxes to understand employee perceptions about fairness in task distribution and performance reviews
Train auditors to recognize unconscious bias and unfair favoritism and periodically rotate reviewers to ensure objectivity
When audits highlight favoritism, take immediate action revising processes, holding managers accountable, or providing additional training to address biases

Using technology to minimize favoritism

Managing employee development, performance tracking, and workplace collaboration can feel overwhelming and disorganized. Without a unified system, human resources teams waste countless hours switching between tools and trying to maintain consistency across processes.

ClickUp HR Management platform transforms these challenges into a streamlined system for hiring, onboarding, and promoting employee growth. It helps you track employee engagement and performance, centralize policies, automate processes, and create a collaborative workplace.

When task ownership is unclear, visibility suffers, and bias can creep into management decisions. This lack of transparency often leads to confusion, missed deadlines, and workplace tension as responsibilities slip through the cracks.

ClickUp Chat solves this by connecting people, tasks, documentation, and performance in one place. You can link tasks with messages to clarify contexts, keep everyone posted on the latest updates, announcements, and discussions, organize chats into spaces to get things done, and more with this nifty feature.

ClickUp Chat to connect with employees and tackle Favoritism at Work — *Connect with employees using ClickUp Chat*

Communication gaps between teams may still pop up, leading to missed updates and unclear expectations. When important information is scattered across email, chat apps, and documents, critical updates are bound to get lost, and teams become misaligned.

ClickUp Assign Comments adds another layer of accountability to prevent this.

You can also use @mentions to tag specific team members in comments so they don’t overlook important tasks. You can ask them questions, get feedback, provide approvals, and manage tasks, promoting open communication with all employees.

ClickUp Assign Comments with @mentions for specific tasks to tackle Favoritism at Work — *Assign comments to team members with @mentions for specific tasks with ClickUp Assign Comments*

Uneven workload distribution and hidden favoritism can damage team morale and productivity.

Without clear visibility into team capacity and task allocation, some employees become overwhelmed while others remain underutilized.

ClickUp Dashboards help prevent this through customized real-time dashboards where you can track employee workload and project statuses. This helps you identify and properly reward high performers.

ClickUp Dashboards to monitor employee performance — *Promote equality and fairness in task delegation with ClickUp Dashboards*

Balancing team capacity fairly can be challenging without the right tools. Many managers struggle to maintain an accurate picture of their team’s bandwidth, leading to burnout and missed opportunities for growth.

The ClickUp Employee Workload Template provides a clear view of each employee’s current workload, helping ensure fair work distribution.

Plus, when team organization becomes chaotic, the ClickUp Team Management Plan Template helps you organize your teams, get updates on who’s working on what, and communicate tasks more clearly. Using this template, you can outline the roles and responsibilities of each team member, set project objectives, establish expectations, assign tasks to specific members, and more.

Create a Positive Work Environment With ClickUp

A healthy workplace is where everyone can thrive—free from favoritism and negativity. When favoritism creeps in, it can poison the work culture and impact morale, productivity, and trust.

To tackle favoritism head-on, you need clear policies, open communication, and systems for constructive feedback and accountability. But having the right tools in place is just as important.

ClickUp is the everything app for work that combines project management, knowledge management, and chat—all powered by AI that helps you work faster and smarter.

By centralizing work, ClickUp helps address biases, enables visibility into team workloads, promotes team collaboration, ensures fair task assignments, and implements workplace surveys to address potential issues.

Curious to know how ClickUp does it all? Sign up for free now!

Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.

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How to Combat Favoritism at Work (Strategies & Examples)

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⏰ 60-Second Summary

Identifying Favoritism at Work

Unequal access to benefits and privileges