1. It's tough enough in your profession to be good and work your way up.

Now
imagine that you are doing all right and outperforming all your colleagues, and for
that open role you are always somehow ignored. Conflicts like this have been around
for such a long time and it's dishearting how depsite how unethical and
unfavourable it is, it has been ingrained in the culture and in the minds of
numerous people and companies. It’s no secret that the playing field among workers
isn’t level in most workplaces and chances are each of us has been on one end of
blatant favoritism at some point in your our lives. We have to realize that the
dispatcher gives more opportunities or benefits to one employee over others for
reasons other than skill and performance. Sometimes when a boss and an employee
have formed a relationship outside the workplace, favoritism happens. Favoritism
happens when two colleagues have already worked together and have a mutual history,
or maybe they have connected themselves to similar external interests, such as
sports or music. Favoritism is human nature. We start out with a favorite toy and
grow from there. When a boss assigns a critical, high-profile project to one
individual, she hopefully selects the best person for the job. But when she gives a
friend the office with the best view based on no other criteria, that crosses into
favoritism. And we have to realize that the effects of favoritism in the workplace
can become even worst when these friendships turn into potential harassment. A
common example would be how young women’s treatment at work, pay and wellbeing are
trailing far behind those of young men. Another form of favoritism is nepotism. In
a work situation, family members may be hired, promoted, or otherwise unfairly
favored over other candidates, simply because they’re part of the family. By age
30, about 22% of sons will be working for the same employer at the same time as
their fathers. Bear in mind that not playing favorites is up to the boss or
manager. Sure, there are brown-nosers who reap the rewards of sucking up, but do
not want the praise at all from the recipient of favoritism. When other employees
begin to catch on to the increased opportunities and preferential treatment of
their colleagues, frustration starts to grow, even though the employee did nothing
to promote the actions as what can be seen with the dispatcher and the drivers.

2. Now what can be done in order to alleviate this conflict? With respect to the
dispatcher, this wouldn't have happened at all if he/she had maintained his/her
professionalism. It wouldn't escalate up to this point if he/she understood the
gravity and consequences of such actions. In the same vein, the dispatcher must
recognize that favoritism does exist. He/she should've record instances and
incidents at work when the activity takes place, even if it is just for
himself/herself in a report. Using clear examples of times workers got special
treatment, he/she has to be careful about spreading gossip or sounding nervous
about his/her actions, so it is advisable to ask a trusted friend outside the
workplace if the behavior sounds like favoritism. In our personal lives, part of
having friendships is supporting others, doing favors, and listening when they need
our support. Friendships established at the workplace, however will spill over into
workplace duties. This is when favoritism for other persons is more pronounced and
most stressful. Additionally, the dispatcher should've kept tabs on his/her own
behavior. Although one might enjoy friendships more than others with a few of your
colleagues, don't make someone else feel left out. The manager could've done more
by being more cordial to his/her various colleagues and ensuring that he/she models
thoughtfulness in the same way to everyone in the workplace. The dispatcher
should've realized that one of the things that’s fascinating is that while
friendship can have a lot of individual benefits, too much friendship can lead to
destruction in the workplace. Sometimes we get caught up in some of the dynamics
and it can be really distracting. Lastly, the dispatcher should've been aware of
this kind of behavior and did his/her best in order to sort things out and treat
everyone fairly. He/she should've made sure that nobody gets left behind and that
great job performance is properly compensated. For the general manager, there are
also many steps that he otherwise could've taken in order to make the most out of
this situation. First of all, he/she must be able to encourage professionalism.
Favouritism, at its very heart, is unprofessional behavior. Then, he/she must be
able to foster and promote integrity in the company to preventing it. They say a
strong defense is the best offense. He/she must be able defend the business from
perceived favoritism by establishing a professional atmosphere that actively
discourages unfair treatment of any kind. Moreover, he/she must be able to provide
training. Another way to help prevent organizational favoritism and prejudice is to
educate and inform managers and workers alike. Give a training session on what
favoritism is, why it is harmful, and if they spot it in the workplace, what
workers can do. If the staff are clear about what to look for, if they see it
they'll be more likely to mention it. Then, he/she must be able to facilitate
interaction. It is crucial that workers realize that they have an open avenue to
confidentially disclose favoritism, along the same lines as training. Unchecked
favoritism is dangerous, but if they're not sure how to do it or if they think it
will come back to affect them negatively, workers won't risk disclosing it. Bring
it to the bottom. The most important thing if you learn that favoritism is taking
place in your business is to make sure it stops. To be sure, it can be a very
delicate situation, but the damage that it poses is much too great to be
overlooked. When anyone comes forward with an accusation of workplace
discrimination, don't dismiss it. Collect the facts to get to the bottom. With that
being said, the general manager should've also asked for the assistance of the
people who are equipped for the job. He/she could've asked for the assitance of HR
in dealing with problems like this, made sure that each and every voice is heard,
and saw to it that such actions are dealt with accordingly.