More than half of workers surveyed by eLearning Industry said their companies do not offer learning or training opportunities that would allow them to learn and reach promotions, according to a report released June 20.

That’s especially true for workers in the retail space; 60% of those surveyed said as much.

Additionally, workers must contend with clear favoritism in promotion decisions, showcasing a lack of solid promotion policies, the report said. More than three-quarters of workers surveyed said their leaders show bias, and 60% said their leaders only promote people who share their same opinions. Tech, manufacturing, retail and hospitality workers all particularly pointed out issues with favoritism and bias.

“Part of creating a strong company culture includes supporting employees’ development, growth and rise to success,” the report said. Nearly one-third of those surveyed said they do not believe they have upward mobility in their company and don’t see a fair chance of promotion.

Notably, diversity also plays an important role in this perception, the report said; 41% of workers surveyed said their company doesn’t prioritize diversity, which could play further into issues of bias in promotion and development.

For L&D to be truly effective, employers need to ensure employees at all levels — not just high level or C-suite level managers — receive quality training and development opportunities, a survey published in May by CYPHER Learning said. Learning opportunities generally need to be more flexible and enjoyable, employees said.

Managers, in particular, may need better training to prevent issues such as favoritism and bias, other surveys have shown. Tech managers, for example, tend to be promoted based on technical expertise but are not given training on how to lead, an Info-Tech Research Group report said, which could cause employee dissatisfaction.

Read the full report here.