Employees may also suspect favoritism when they are not selected for promotions within their organizations, particularly if they do not receive feedback when they were not selected, according to the report.
It said honest feedback from the selecting official in that case can both help employees improve their readiness for future opportunities and also to provide transparency to decrease perceptions of favoritism.
Following are select recommendations in the report for helping improve the practice and / or perception of favoritism within agencies:
Agency leaders should select supervisors based on their ability and willingness to manage fairly and effectively, provide them with training on how to uphold merit principles while avoiding the perception of favoritism, and hold them accountable for violations.
Supervisors should strive for objectivity in personnel decisions, carefully document decisions and exercise transparency such as by providing feedback, rotate acting supervisor responsibilities, and maintain awareness of employees’ abilities, goals and interests.
HR management staff should advise supervisors to support merit principles and avoid prohibited personnel practices, work with supervisors to identify job-related criteria and incorporate them into all of the steps of the recruitment, selection and performance management processes, and take action when they witness violations.
Employees, for their part, should seek out feedback and work to improve and be ready for opportunities when they arise, understand that there could be more to a decision that’s made, and otherwise consider alternatives including approaching a supervisor directly or even filing a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel, the report said.
