It’s not enough contending with the 'who you know' syndrome anymore to get ahead; ‘who you like’ is just as powerful a deciding force.

If you’ve been wondering why all the long hours and going- beyond-the-call-of-duty that you put into your work isn’t bringing the hoped for results of promotion or higher pay, a recent study might hold the answer.

According to the study released by Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, connections and relationships play a significant role in employee promotions. Despite extensive policies and procedures that most companies put in place to lower the impact of non-objective assessment and despite everyone knowing that favouritism leads to bad decision making, the practice of giving preference to those you like is apparently still alive and well.

The study was conducted by research firm Penn Schoen Berland (PSB) and commissioned by Jonathan Gardner, an executive at PSB, as part of his Executive Masters in Leadership studies at the McDonough School of Business.

A staggering 92% of the senior business executives surveyed said that they have seen favouritism at play in employee promotions, including 84% at their own companies. But while nearly all see favouritism as widespread, only 23% were willing to admit they have practiced favouritism themselves – and only 9% held their hands up to admitting that they have used favouritism in their last promotion decision.

Despite the fact that 72% of respondents said their companies actually have processes to make the promotions process more objective, and that 83% agreed that favouritism - giving preferential treatment to employees based on factors other than qualifications and performance, such as friendship or connections - leads to poorer decisions, the practice still appears to be thriving.

Confirming what many have suspected for years, Gardner points out that “favouritism plays a much greater role in employee advancement than companies normally portray.”

If you have had cause to doubt that decisions on who gets promoted are not always based on rigorous and unbiased criteria, you may well be right. For the research also indicated how common it is for managers to know in advance who they want to promote – in fact, 29% of respondents said their most recent promotion considered only a single candidate. When more than one candidate was considered, 56% said they already knew who they wanted to promote even before any deliberations took place. Not surprisingly, of that group, nearly all - 96% - reported promoting the pre-selected individual.

Office politics manifested as favouritism in the workplace is by no means a new phenomenon, but if you are a company manager that fails to tackle this, and even joins in, beware the consequences.

High profile victims who failed to see it coming include the former World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz, who had to resign after being accused of arranging a big raise and promotion for a woman with whom he was having a relationship. South African President Jacob Zuma continues to feel the heat for his decision to nominate Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng as his preferred candidate for the position of Chief Justice of South Africa, effectively sidelining the apparently more qualified Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke in the process.

Pressure aside, a company that condones unfair practices will also suffer financially, according to Wharton management professor Jennifer S. Mueller. Her research - Does Perceived Unfairness Exacerbate or Mitigate Interpersonal Counterproductive Work Behaviors Related to Envy?- has shown “that organisations seen by employees as unfair in pay, promotion or other practices have higher rates of stealing, bad-mouthing and other damaging behaviours.”

Perceived unfairness and envy — the two primary ingredients in favouritism — are catalysts for a potential chain of behaviours that can negatively impact the company, her research showed. “We know that unfairness leads to all sorts of problems,” she says.

So how is the average hard-working employee supposed to deal with this situation, particularly if they are at the ‘less liked’ end of the scale but still putting in a storming performance at work? It seems like it’s not enough contending with the ‘who you know’ syndrome anymore; when it comes to getting ahead, ‘who you like’ is just as powerful a deciding force.

Career coaches advise caution and also to be sure that being overlooked for promotion is actually unfair. People caught in this situation are asked to first critically analyse their actual performance before moving onto the ‘he/she doesn’t like me’ line of thinking. The advice, then, is that before you decide your performance assessment was a complete sham, take a hard look at the facts. Did you meet/exceed your targets? Have you added value to your team or company? Can you quantify or qualify this with indisputable evidence?

If you have managed to get on the wrong side of your boss, there is a chance you can find your way back.

The study included questions on leadership that offer further guidance for employees seeking to make an impact on managers. The top five leadership qualities cited by respondents were: 'good communicator; ethical; trustworthy; honest; and good listener'.

Respondents were also pretty consistent when it came to the reasons why they would promote someone. When asked their reasons for giving the most recent promotions, most respondents cited primarily objective factors, with the top five being: 'has excelled in current position; leadership potential; job-related skills; strong interpersonal skills; and history of strong performance reviews'.

This, says Gardner, offers hope to those trying to be seen in a positive light by their managers. “Employees should keep in mind that despite widespread favouritism, objective measures such as past performance, leadership potential, and job-related skills are viewed as key criteria by those in charge of promotion decisions, and it is important for young workers to focus their efforts on these factors that are well within their control.”

Strategic networking can also help deflect some of the impact of favouritism in the workplace, when you are not the beneficiary. Networking internally and raising your profile with other persons of influence is one approach career coaches suggest, enabling you to bypass the biased supervisor and reach out to more powerful people in the company.

According to Professor Lamar Reinsch, Gardner’s advisor on the survey, “this survey reminds us that favouritism remains alive and well in the executive suite - many playing fields still aren’t level”.

As most women might say to the men facing this situation: ‘Welcome to my world!’

At the end of another (13 hour) day, though, you might want to question if your current job is worth fighting for? Do you actually want to work for a company that tolerates favouritism? Times may be tough and jobs more scarce but being at the wrong end of a working environment that tolerates favouritism can leave you demoralised, frustrated and miserable.

My advice? If all else fails, recognise your worth and find another organisation that will value what you do and – hopefully – like you too!

Author of 'Everyday Heroes – Learning from the Careers of Successful Black Professionals'. Available from www.everyday-heroes.co.uk