When at work, you can often find yourself in a situation where no matter how hard you work, you feel like you make no difference. Other workmates or a particular workmate is being unfairly favoured and your feel like there is nothing you can do about it. But there are various ways to deal with favouritism in the office.

Favouritism is very damaging to the overall success of a company.

It leads to less morale, discouragement, less commitment, lower productivity, higher chance of mistakes being made and this is why it should be dealt with as soon as possible.

If you feel like your boss is favouring somebody else over you, heed the following.

Make sure you aren’t jealous

Often our feelings can deceive us into seeing things that aren’t there. You could be an unproductive worker or you simply didn’t perform as remarkably as your compatriot. If you are sure that another workmate is being favoured over you and it’s not just you feeling left out, then you can do other things to help with this.

Talk to your boss

Make yourself heard but don’t be a nag. Occasionally try to chat with your superiors and float your ideas and make sure they’re solid ideas. Engage with them when the occasion calls for it and get their opinion on something that you have that is ongoing.

Get mentorship

According to wewomen.com you’re encouraged to get a mentor within the office. A mentor will help you with career advice and will also be a witness to any favouritism that may be taking place. The mentor can also be your “cheerleader” and can help equal the field with your favoured counterpart. This is especially important if your job is entry level.

Avoid complacency

If you let the favouritism of your workmates get to your head, you may decide not to bother any more. This will be detrimental to your future evaluations. Even though other employees are being favoured, your quality of work should not be low.

Watch your reputation

Don’t turn into a whiner. Don’t start blaming other people for your lack of recognition. While getting mentorship or outside recognition can help, don’t get a reputation for being that employee who is always whining about your boss’ blatant favouritism.

This may be the status quo and you’d be better off working around it or dealing with it head on. But don’t keep moaning about it when your colleagues are probably in the same boat as you. You need to watch your behaviour if you want to ensure that you finally get your rewards.