bahrainthismonth.com | NOVEMBER 2026 OPINION 118 An undeserved promotion or appointment does more than reward the wrong person. It can humiliate capable colleagues, destroy trust and drive an organisation’s finest talent straight into the arms of its competitors. In this article, I examine the human cost of favouritism in the workplace. Over many years as a senior human resources and strategic management consultant, I have encountered something that still troubles me deeply: the appointment or promotion of people not because they are the best qualified, most capable or most deserving, but because of whom they know. Personality over performance. Relationships over results. Association over ability. And somebody else invariably pays the price. Recently, I met a young professional woman working in Bahrain’s financial sector. She was intelligent, diligent and exceptionally capable with analytical systems and Excel. She was also constantly studying to improve herself. She was the sort of person I would welcome onto my team without hesitation. Yet she described being passed over while others advanced through what she believed were personal associations rather than objectively assessed performance. Worse, she found herself reporting to a newly appointed manager who, in her experience, showed little understanding of the people or capabilities already within the organisation. She felt humiliated, not simply because she had missed a promotion, but because her dedication, qualifications and contribution appeared to count for less than somebody else’s connections. There is a profound difference. In his monthly series for Bahrain This Month, Bill Grieve casts his civic lens on areas of concern, offering an enlightening and engaging perspective on various issues affecting life in the Kingdom. When Connections Count More Than Competence Being disappointed by a fair decision is one thing. Being diminished by an unfair process is quite another. Eventually, she left. Another organisation recognised her abilities. Within three months, she was promoted and entrusted with leading a team. Think about that. Her talent had not suddenly appeared. Her intelligence had not magically improved. Her work ethic had not changed. Only the people assessing her had changed. Her former employer had not merely lost an employee. It had lost a future leader. And what about those who remained? They had watched what happened. They had learned a lesson about what the organisation apparently valued. Not necessarily competence. Not necessarily commitment. Connections. There is a principle of justice that has always resonated with me: when wrongdoing goes unchallenged, innocent people invariably suffer the consequences. Workplace favouritism operates through a similar moral failure. When an undeserved promotion is granted, the damage is not confined to the appointment itself. It extends to every capable colleague whose effort has been disregarded. Morale suffers. Trust evaporates. Initiative declines. And eventually, good people stop trying or start leaving. Research into workplace fairness confirms that employees’ perceptions of promotion procedures influence their commitment, trust and willingness to remain. Of course, the longest-serving employee is not automatically the best candidate. Nor is the best technical performer necessarily the strongest manager. Promotion decisions must take account of leadership potential, judgement, qualifications, results and suitability for the role. But those criteria must be genuine, transparent and applied consistently. Senior executives and HR professionals should be prepared to answer one straightforward question: Could we defend this appointment objectively, with evidence, in front of every unsuccessful candidate? If the answer is no, the decision deserves reconsideration. Promotion is not a personal favour to be bestowed. It is a professional responsibility to be discharged. And when organisations reward association instead of achievement, they do not simply overlook talent. They teach their best people that excellence is valued more highly somewhere else.
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