Task allocation is a common job requirement; however, previous research finds that managers often feel anxious and guilty about overburdening subordinates when delegating (Akinola et al., 2018). Across five studies, we demonstrate that managers assign additional tasks to employees who like them more (vs. less), above and beyond performance. We also show that this preference is influenced by managers’ impression management concerns but not by expected compliance. Moreover, we show that this preference increases in high-stakes contexts where managers' impression management concerns are heightened. This research makes theoretical contributions to the task allocation literature by demonstrating that managers use how much their employees like them as a cue when deciding how to allocate additional tasks. Additionally, this research demonstrates how managers’ impression management concerns are consequential motivators of task allocation decisions. There are practical implications for managers as well, who should be mindful of how their impression management goals can lead to the inequitable assignment of additional work.
