What Is Nepotism
Nepotism is the act of showing special favour or unfair preference to any relative, friends, family, Ethnic or associates by someone in any position of power, be it ecclesiastical, circular or not.
Nepotism can also be the act of granting an advantage, privilege, or position to relatives or close friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to: business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion, and other activities.
Over time Nepotism has been regarded as the practice of showing favouritism towards family members or close associates in matters such as hiring, promotion, or other benefits, even if those individuals may not be the most qualified or deserving candidates. It is often criticised as being unfair and damaging to organisations, as it can undermine the principles of meritocracy and lead to the appointment of individuals who are not best suited for the job. Nepotism can also create resentment among other employees who feel that they are being overlooked in favour of less qualified candidates. In many countries, including the United States, nepotism is considered unethical and in some cases illegal, particularly in government and public sector organisations.
This particular act has ruined and paralyzed many organisations and caused a lot of setbacks in some sectors in many nations of the world.
Nepotism is inconsistent with the policy and practice of making employment decisions that are based solely on potential needs and individual qualifications, skills, ability, and performance. The Policy that is intended to ensure effective supervision, internal discipline, trust, and positive morale in the workplace, will be abandoned and nepotism will enforce favouritism, conflicts of interest, the appearance of An improper act, and conflicts of loyalty in an organisation or sectors where nepotism is been practice.
In the workplace, nepotism (from the Latin word meaning showing kindness) is the practice of unfair favouring of one person or a group over others. This can take the form of giving such a person or people promotions, recognition, desirable assignments, or even juice positions.
Favouring someone can occur intentionally or unintentionally and is most often the result of biases that a person holds about others.
Nepotism has declined many people of their merit position, jobs, contracts, appointments and even what rightfully belongs to them. This act is a deadly disease in our society that can cause a lot of havoc and even paralyse destiny, economy and even the country at large if we don’t curb it on time.
Nepotism is an issue that can be very difficult to control once there are relatives or family members, Friends and associates who hold key positions in organisations or government parasternal and who have influence over who is hired and who is not hired.
For obvious reasons nepotism is common in family owned businesses and this will be viewed within the more positive terms. Nepotism in family owned businesses may end up in continuity in that the business will be passed on from generation to generation. There may be no ethical issues involved in the hiring of family members within a family owned business.
Nepotism is still problematic in most circumstances. A number of studies have investigated and explained its negative implications in leadership and organisational efficiency. Take note of the following:
THE EFFECTS OF NEPOTISM
- Promotes Corruption: Both in politics and workplace, family members can foster connivance that facilitates corrupt practices.
- Missed opportunities: Nepotism can prevent more qualified and deserving candidates from being hired or promoted, leading to missed opportunities for the organisation.
3. Authoritarian Leadership: Having a leader surrounded mostly by people familiar to him or her can enable authoritarian leaders. Note that this type of leadership has its pros and cons depending on the situation.
- Organisational Incompetence: Nepotism means hiring people based primarily on kinship and not on actual abilities and potential contribution to the organisation. These can harm the competency of the organisation.
- Conflict of interest: Nepotism can create conflicts of interest, where family members or associates may prioritise personal interests over the interests of the organisation or the public they serve.
- Harms Leadership: Family members can undermine authority by using connection and number to scheme against their leaders. These members can also exert their familial connections and entitlement toward non-relative authorities.
- Decreased morale: Nepotism can lead to a decrease in morale among employees who feel that promotions and opportunities are not based on merit but on personal relationships.
- Effects of Family Problems: In an organisation composed primarily of people who are related to one another, problems within the family can leak further to the organisation. It can be impossible to separate family affairs with organisational affairs.
- Organisational Politics: Similar to connivance against leaders, relatives in an organisation can resort to power play to undermine non-relatives, advance their own interests, and neglect their responsibilities.
- Lowered public trust: Nepotism in public institutions can damage public trust in the fairness and transparency of government institutions.
- Hinders Growth: A general disadvantage of nepotism is that it can hamper the growth or progress of an organisation due to workforce incompetency, harms on leadership, and the possibility of corruption, among others.
In conclusion, nepotism can harm an organisations, nations, and institutions by eroding trust, reducing productivity, and limiting opportunities and capacity for qualified individuals. Nepotism can destroy any good policy and cause havoc to in where it been practiced.
