According to a study of more than 1,000 employers by HR consultancy www.Reabur.com, almost a third of respondents admit that they ‘favour’ certain members of their staff more so than others, due to the employee(s) in question having a ‘stronger work ethic’ than other members of the team.

Of the 31 per cent who favour certain staff members, 18 per cent say that their ‘loyalty to the company’ was why they favoured them over other team members.

A further 11 per cent of respondents say they favour certain members of staff because of their ‘sense of humour in the work place’.

More than a quarter of those who favour certain employees over others simply state that it was because they ‘liked their personality.’

The total number of respondents were asked if they felt that they had ‘personal friendships’ with any members of their team, to which just under two thirds, 61 per cent, said ‘Yes’.

In contrast, 27 per cent stated that they were not friends with any of their employees.

Georgina Read, co-managing director of Reabur.com says, ‘Staff members in small businesses often form strong friendships, frequently because in smaller businesses the staff are more closely connected to the managing director and have a greater ability to make a real impact upon the business and its future success.

‘In many offices everyone experiences the highs and lows that smaller businesses go through together, and strong bonds often quite naturally form.’

Read adds that the happiest of workplaces are often the ones where everyone gets on well as friends, and that these are often the ones that work better as a result.

‘Business owners and managers just need to be careful that no favouritism is shown, as this can be severely detrimental to the morale of the team,’ she concludes.