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Favoritism

Here are the questions filed under this category. To read Ken's advice on any item, click on the link "Read Ken's Answer."


I have worked at this company for 26 years, and I don't want to work here any more. I went on vacation for two weeks, and when I got back my boss said if one of the secretaries makes any mistakes, just correct them and do not let her know. He wants her to think she is perfect. This is just one example of many, and I feel I no longer fit. Should I stay and ignore it or move on?
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I recently promoted an employee to the position of supervisor, and now one of his co-workers is saying that I based my decision on favoritism. Nothing could be further from the truth. I read somewhere that employees who claim favoritism are usually the weakest. Is this true?
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I work for a great company and enjoy my job. My problem is I recently found out that one of my co-workers makes double the salary that I do. He has others help with his work, sleeps at his desk, and holds onto work for weeks. When I addressed this with the supervisors, they laughed. I am flabbergasted over the salary. Should I let it go?
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How does a company decide who to lay off? My friend was a buyer and received a good performance review, but another buyer who had previously worked for the Purchasing Director received an excellent review, although she had only been in the position for six months and her performance was inferior to my friend's. When my friend finds a new job, how she can track her performance so she has backup at review time? Could it be that the Director evaluated the other buyer based on past performance rather than present?
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I am a teller at a bank, and one of my responsibilities is to generate customers for checking, savings, loans, etc. I have a monthly quota, but there are a few tellers who meet their quotas without doing any work. Some of the officers who close the sales are giving these chosen few all the sales they need to stay afloat. Meanwhile, the rest of us are picked on by the managers and officers if we don't make it, often threatened with our jobs. How can we stop this from happening without looking like sour grapes?
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I used to enjoy working here, but the company recently overhauled my department and fired some of our best employees. The new director hired a group of her friends as replacements. The new people dislike those of us from the former regime, and they have no experience in this field. The HR manager said that if I cannot follow the new lead, I should move on. Is it time to move on?
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One of the managers from another department was telling me why he fired a female whom he recently hired. He said that since the department already had two females, he never should have hired a third one since women are more likely to bicker than men. He concluded by saying that he won't make that mistake again. I was dumbfounded. This guy has an MBA. Shouldn't he know better?
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I work with a person who our manager really likes, and she has been complaining to him about me. He then comes to me and says that I need to try to get along better with my co-workers, but I get along fine with them. It's his little favorite who is the problem. What should I do?
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There is one person we work with who does practically no work at all. She's often absent, and when she's here, she's either on the phone or wandering around doing nothing. We have talked to her, but she ignores us. We discussed this with our manager, but he hasn't done a thing about it. What else can you suggest?
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We have monthly meetings that have turned into monthly beatings. Last month two people thrashed me publicly in the meeting. I informed the department head that if this happens again, I will leave the meeting. One of the people complaining at the meeting has a ten-year friendship with the department head. What do you advise?
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I work in the Human Resources Department of a large corporation. There are four of us, three females (myself being one) and one male. Our boss gives us many projects with unreasonable deadlines, doesn't help with the work, but takes all the credit. She just bought a new house, so she is gone a lot. We work 60+ hours every week, but our male co-worker only works around 40. The president is completely snowed by our boss, but one of the vice presidents is slowly becoming aware of the problem. If we go over our boss's head, we fear retribution. Would you please make some suggestions?
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Our boss keeps promoting his girlfriend even though she does less work than the other employees in the department. What's worse, we work in city government, where this sort of thing isn't supposed to happen. What can we do?
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I work for a small, privately-owned company. The owner, who has an office in the building, always wonders aloud why we cannot keep any workers. The reason is the managers. One manager hires his relatives and favors them, and another throws money away on frivolous things. I find it hard to believe that the owner cannot see this. Should I tell the owner?
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We have a female in our department who gets all sorts of favors from the manager, and the reason is that she is a big flirt. She readily admits this and says that it is too bad for the rest of us. Should we say something?
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My manager criticizes just about everything I do. If I make a comment at a meeting, he either ignores it or insults me. If someone else makes a similar comment, he is all ears. I don't know why he is so upset with me, and he refuses to meet with me. What do you suggest?
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I am a volunteer coach for my ten-year-old son's soccer team, and I drafted my boss's son onto the team. I thought it would be fun, but it's a disaster. My boss keeps telling me where to play him and not to take him out. If I follow what he says, it's not fair to the other children, but if I don't, this might cause trouble at work. What do you suggest?
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I have a co-worker who is critical of my work, but instead of coming to me, he goes directly to our boss. The two of them are buddies, and I get nothing but grief from my boss as a result of this co-worker's comments. How should I deal with this?
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I work with a smooth co-worker who is in very tight with our manager. When work gets assigned, this co-worker does whatever he wants and pushes most of his junk work on me. If I try to push it back, he informs our manager and I end up looking like I am not a team player. This co-worker has convinced our manager that he is always right. What can I do?
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Over the years, I have promoted various employees, and I just promoted one who is outstanding in terms of her output, attitude, and ability to communicate. There is one longer-term employee who is now accusing me of favoritism because I did not promote her. Her work has not been great, and she knows it, and she has not pursued any supervisory training. What else can I tell her?
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My manager is always nitpicking my work and making critical comments about it. I work very hard, but it never seems to be good enough for her. She is nowhere near this tough on the other employees, and they have even said this to me. I don't want special treatment; I'm just tired of being singled out for criticism. What should I do?
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One of our co-workers is the boss's pet. No matter what she does, she is never wrong. She gets everything she wants, and we don't think it's fair. How should we deal with her?
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We report to a school principal who plays favorites. She takes certain teachers to her summer house, plays golf with them, and gives them choice assignments, schedules, and students. How should we deal with her?
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For several months, my manager had been telling me that he was most likely going to give a very desirable work assignment to me. A few days ago, he gave it to one of his pets. All my manager said to me was, "We owe you one." What do you suggest I do now?
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It's very apparent to everyone that our manager shows favoritism toward me. While I have no problem with this, the issue is that my friends are giving me a bad time about it. How do I handle them?
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I work with a person who our manager really likes, and she has been complaining to him about me. He then comes to me and says that I need to try to get along better with my co-workers, but I get along fine with them. It's his little favorite who is the problem. What should I do?
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What do you do about a co-worker who is constantly reporting to the boss about the poor performance or behavior of the other employees? These "reports" range from exaggerations to outright lies. This person is the boss's buddy, and that makes it very hard for the employees to defend themselves.
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Our manager micromanages most of the employees and shows favoritism to a select few. Several complained about this, and the manager's immediate supervisor has spoken to him about it more than once. It stops for a week or two, then starts again. It has gotten to the point where several have quit and others are in the process of leaving. How can those left behind deal with this?
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I work for a national footwear chain in one of their stores. I am a top salesman, a Jewish male, and my regional manager refers to me with an anti-Semitic term. He also uses racial slurs to describe an African-American woman in our corporate office. I emailed a letter to Human Resources, and they called other witnesses and spoke to the regional manager. He admitted to the slurs, but nothing was done after that. Now I have to work with this manager, and I feel like a fool. What should I do now?
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We are a small company, and I have a co-worker who is always late, frequently uses her cell phone and ipod when the owners are not here, and does not want to do special projects. We report to the same owners, and since she does not finish work on time, I end up doing all the reports. The owners are not aware of what she has been doing, and she is a relative of one of the owner’s close friends. Should I tell the owners what is going on?
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I am upset that some of my co-workers are getting mid-year raises and I am getting nothing. Raises are given annually, but certain people get extra raises along the way. I told my manager that I would like to be included in these raises, and he said they are all special cases. What should I do?
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We received our bonuses for last year, and I am not satisfied with mine. I was under the impression that if I did a good job and the company made its numbers, I would get a larger bonus. How can I go to my manager to discuss this without sounding like an ingrate?
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I work in a small office environment. My current boss is related to the part time worker who is her sister-in-law. Her sister-in-law is a part time worker who doesn't have to work holidays or weekends as I and the other full timer have to do. She is supposed to be a "Fill in" when one of us full timers can't make it to work, but the manager will work the hours for her instead, when this is not the company plan. For some reason, the manager is very loyal to this relation she works with, and that is why in the past the former company before the merger kept them apart. It may seem petty, but I am tired of this woman getting away with murder and feeling she can take off at the drop of a hat, while I have to account for every minute. I would think that full timers would get more consideration. Confronting her about the problem has done no good. She gets upset and says we're stressing her out. She hates the idea of being firm and fair with her in-law. Should I go to HR?
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