What is Nepotism? Advantages of Nepotism? Disadvantages of Nepotism? Dealing With Nepotism In The Workplace

1. NEPOTISM
By Rida Zaman

2. What is Nepotism?
Nepotism is based on favoritism granted to
relatives in various fields, including business,
politics, entertainment, sports, religion and other
activities.

3. Advantages of
Nepotism?

4. Advantages of Nepotism
Private enterprises often resort to hiring family members and other relatives to
maintain secrecy and preserve what they consider as a family legacy.
Family Business:
Nepotism can help speed up the creation and operation of a startup business
because working with familiar people can promote efficiency.
Startups:
Time and cost of hiring relatives are lesser. Furthermore, in properly managed
organizations, absenteeism and turnover rates are low.
Hiring and Retention:
knowledge can be transferred and secured efficiently when passed down on
familiar people such as family members.
Knowledge Management:

5. Disadvantages of
Nepotism?

6. Disadvantages of Nepotism
Both in politics and workplace, family members can foster connivance that
facilitates corrupt practices.
Promotes Corruption:
Having a leader surrounded mostly by people familiar to him or her can enable
authoritarian leader. Note that this type of leadership has its pros and
cons depending on the situation.
Authoritarian Leadership:
Nepotism means hiring people based primarily on kinship and not on actual
abilities and potential contribution to the organization. These can harm the
competency of the organization.
Organizational Incompetency:
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.
Harms Leadership:

7. Disadvantages of Nepotism
In an organization composed primarily of people who are related to one another,
problems within the family can leak further to the organization. It can be
impossible to separate family affairs with organizational affairs.
Effects of Family Problems:
Similar to connivance against leaders, relatives in an organization can resort to
power play to undermine non-relatives, advance their own interests, and neglect
their responsibilities.
Organizational Politics:
A general disadvantage of nepotism is that it can hamper the growth or progress
of an organization due to workforce incompetency, harms on leadership, and the
possibility of corruption, among others.
Hinders Growth:

8. DealingWith Nepotism In
TheWorkplace

9. DealingWith Nepotism InThe
Workplace
The first and perhaps most important step is determining whether you
are experiencing or seeing nepotism in your workplace. Is it that other
individuals are experiencing an unfair level of favoritism or is that person
genuinely qualified for that promotion?
If there are clear signs of nepotism make sure that you approach this
problem carefully. A wrong approach - i.e. storming into your manager's
office - is not advised. Make your strategy for dealing with it clearly
documented and easy for employees and managers to work with.

10. Here Are A Few Advisable Strategies:
Take notes and document specific
incidents of nepotism. Try to
substantiate your claims by gaining
other witnesses
Make Sure To Document Specific
Incidents:
Set up an appointment with a HR
professional in the organization or
identify a third-party individual who is
higher up than you to help. Try to
organize your meeting to raise as little
suspicion as possible. Remember to be
professional and concise during your
meeting. Remember that you have the
opportunity to have more than one
more meeting with more than one
person to help substantiate your claim.
Talk It Through With A Confidential
Individual At The Organization:
The advisable alternative to a coup-type
approach! Ask probing but not
uncomfortable questions to your
colleagues to gain further knowledge.
Gather Others’ Experiences And
Opinions:
Regardless of the strategy you choose
to use, a key characteristic for dealing
with nepotism is to behave with
professionalism. Continue to work as
you would normally and approach
issues of nepotism with decorum.
Behaving unprofessionally and without
a certain level of dignity is likely to
backfire and stop you from reaching
your overall goal.
Behave Professionally

11. Here Are A Few Advisable Strategies:
Anti-nepotism policies restrict
related individuals from working in
the same department or company.
Employees who adopt these
policies need to state the cases
which concern nepotism. For
example, policies may prohibit one
relative from supervising another
or from married couples from
working together.
A thoughtful and well-defined anti-
nepotism policy should allow for
the employment of friends and
relatives while avoiding the
associated complex and
operational issues.
Anti-nepotism Policies:
Organizations may be committing
nepotism without even realising it!
Provide employees with proper
communication to discuss where
nepotistic biases may lie in the
company. This provides employees
with greater confidence in
expressing their unhappiness in a
polite and diligent manner.
Create viable communication
channels:

12. Here Are A Few Advisable Strategies:
When employing friends and
relatives it is important to be
objective about the grade of job
they should be employed in. This
will show to others that they
haven’t received the job based on
nepotism, but their pre-defined
level of skill and experience. It also
provides friend and family
members with the opportunity to
demonstrate their skills and as to
why they may deserve a promotion
in the future.
Develop A Viable Internal Promotional
Structure For Relatives And Friends:

13. Conclusion
• Nepotism is both boon and curse for our
society.
• It act as a double edge sword, if not
handed properly can damage severely.
• If better person is employed, it provide
better stability to the organization.
• If an unsuitable person is employed can
lead to shut down the organization.

14. Thank you
Rida Zaman