Picking favorites in the workplace could have ‘motivating’ impact on colleagues: Report

Naturopathic physician and relationship coach Dr. Vicki Matthews weighed in on a recent Harvard report which found that managers picking favorites in the workplace could benefit other employees on "Mornings with Maria" Tuesday, noting that the "favorite" can motivate and lobby their colleagues to adopt favorable workplace styles.

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DR. VICKI MATTHEWS: If the person who has been singled out as the favorite is gracious about it, and there's a valid reason that other employees can see why they might be chosen as the favorite, so to speak, then it can be motivating for other employees.

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Having a favorite benefits a manager because it's someone they know they can trust. It's someone they can go to and they kind of know what they'll get from that person. It's also someone that they can hope will lobby other employees for the good sides of the management style and what's going on in the company. So it's almost like a second, if you will, someone that can go in and be a spokesperson for that manager. So that's an important aspect of who they select, who the manager selects as a favorite. And sometimes personalities just click, sometimes you just really get along better with some people than other people. And that may be subtly playing and having an impact on it as well.

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