We all hope to be given a fair chance to succeed at work, but unfortunately, we aren’t always granted one. One study revealed that more than half of managers polled had a favorite in mind for a promotion before the formal review process even began. Almost 100% of the time that person ended up getting the promotion.

One tech employee recently shared how they’d asked their boss for mentorship so they could gain new skills and grow within the company. Instead of supporting this employee, the boss threw them in the deep end and watched them sink. He then seemingly nurtured other colleagues in a blatant act of favoritism. When the employee sought revenge, it became very apparent that the boss was nobody’s favorite. Bored Panda reached out to the employee to find out more.

One-on-ones with a manager can help pave the way for future career growth

Image credits: cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)

But when one employee asked for mentorship, they ended up getting the exact opposite

Image credits: Thirdman / Pexels (not the actual photo)

Image credits: ScarcityTight9515

Image credits: Christina Morillo / Pexels (not the actual photo)

“His ‘pets’ put up a tear-filled show”: employee tells Bored Panda how the faves stayed untouched

The employee told Bored Panda they decided to share their story because they weren’t in a good headspace after being excluded from the company meeting and needed to vent. They felt the level of betrayal was unmatched, especially since the boss had mentored them from the beginning of their career.

“I thought it was not really something a lot of people would understand, but seeing some of the comments being supportive and suggesting responses to my boss’s freak-outs was funny to read and made my day,” they said. “Although seeing some comments taking my boss’s side or straight up calling me incompetent because of one botched meeting dampened my schadenfreude.”

They revealed that everyone was called into a meeting after missing the bootcamp. “He chewed us all out and his ‘pets’ (the other guys who shadowed him in the NT meeting) put up a tear-filled show about how they felt awful about missing that bootcamp and deeply regretted it,” explained the employee.

“Obviously I didn’t participate in this Shakespearean tragedy, but it somehow convinced him to set up another bootcamp the next week. Everyone attended it this time and it was a lukewarm Saturday that I could have spent with a few beers and a good movie instead.”

The employee said while the revenge was sweet, it hasn’t helped improve the outlook of their career. “The only option for me is to learn what I can and try not to derail my career any further,” they said. “To top my misery off, all the low performers are being dumped into this project with my client, so yeah not a bright future for me.”

It turns out the employee is relatively new in their career, and only entered the workforce 2 years ago. Up until now, they’d been eager to learn and succeed, and had been a little too naive. “The rose-tinted glasses welded into my skull came off today and I finally feel like an adult, having seen how I am not immune to getting f*cked over by people I trusted,” they told Bored Panda.

The entire situation has had a massive impact on the employee’s career and mental space. “A substantial part of me is mad that I couldn’t play a more active role in my revenge and honestly craves more of my boss’s suffering, but I’m not strong enough to fight my good-natured will to bring about the vengeance I truly deserve,” they said.

“I genuinely was hurt that day and cried a lot at home. I guess the silver lining is I may not be working for him for long with how things are going.”

Image credits: Tim Gouw / Pexels (not the actual photo)

Favoritism can have a negative impact on employees and the company at large

Ever been in a position where there’s a blue-eyed boy or girl at work who can do no wrong? They get preferential treatment and better opportunities, while others get the scraps.

Research shows that favoritism in the workplace is rife. One study found that 56% of managers knew who they wanted to promote even before the formal review process began. 96% of the time, that employee landed the top job.

According to Ohio’s Fisher School of Business, there are several reasons why managers might play favorites. Sometimes it’s blatant nepotism. “Some leaders practice favoritism to strategically maximize their self-interest — they adopt favoritism to seek their personal interests or the interests of a friend, a family member,” notes the school’s site.

Other times, there’s a touch of narcissism at play. And a boss will use favoritism to manipulate and control situations “by deliberately favoring some employees instead of others to gain loyalty and centralize power.”

There are times when favoritism is—purely because a leader connects more with a particular employee, has more in common with them, or simply “likes” him/her more than the others.

Being a victim of workplace favoritism can have a negative impact. The most obvious reason is that employees who aren’t seen as blue-eyed boys or girls feel unfairly treated. They might end up having a bad overall view of the organization, which in turn equals less loyalty, less job satisfaction, and less motivation.

The Fisher School of Business warns that those who’ve witnessed or perceived a boss playing favorites have also reported having “poor work relationships with the leaders; receiving less recognition and professional help, such as mentoring and coaching, from the supervisor…; receiving less support at work, and having less trust toward the supervisor”—much like the tech employee at the center of this story.

An employee might even end up quitting as a result of an unfair manager who constantly overlooks them in favor of others.

Netizens had mixed reactions, with some praising the employee and others berating them for being “shallow”

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