There are few things that employees resent more than favoritism. It breeds the feeling that it doesn't matter how one performs on the job; it is who you know, rather than what you do, that determines who receives perks and promotions. The end result is decreased morale which can result in reduced productivity, as employees throw up their hands and take on a "why bother" attitude.

Favoritism may be isolated to the behavior of a finite set of supervisors, or it may actually be encouraged by a company's employee development or mentoring program. Management needs to keep its ear to the ground to detect the former. The latter can be detected by this means as well, but a careful review of the existing employee development program can help.

Ask yourself these questions to determine if your employee development program may be breeding feelings of favoritism and discontent among employees. Any "yes" answer should raise a red flag.

• Does an employee have to be in a "fast track" program in order to be promoted?
• Are employees identified for inclusion in an employee development program "behind closed doors?"
• Will a fast-track employee be promoted faster than a non-fast-track employee, even if both exhibit similar levels of job performance?
• Have some employees been identified as unpromotable, regardless of future job performance?
• Are employees in the employee development program given more interesting assignments, even though others may be more qualified to assume these new responsibilities?