Nepotism in Workplace

Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives or friends, with no regard to merit. Nepotism can happen at home, school, college, politics and even in workplace. Workplace Nepotism is hard to tolerate.

Remember at school or college, your class teacher, lecturer or lecturer who gives preferences to his/ her favorite student who might either be their relative or related through some means. Students who perform cannot tolerate such kind of favoritism.


Political Nepotism, is also common, where their relations and friends are given importance and prominence, when it comes to allocating important political positions or to play a powerful role in politics.

Similar is the case of Workplace Nepotism or favoritism. Every employee wants to be appreciated for his/her work and performance. But, the one hindrance that they face and is a common occurrence even in the corporate world is nepotism in work place.

Nepotism in Workplace
In the workplace, when someone or perhaps a group of people appears to be treated better than others and not necessarily for reasons related to superior work performance it is referred to as nepotism. It can also be seen in cases where the supervisor is favoring a relative at the workplace and providing the particular person with more facilities and be lenient than the other employees working in the same office. It is a demoralizing factor for an employee who is part of the organization.

Nepotism is a threat to an organization and needs to be dealt consciously before letting it creep into the system. The role of HR is very important in the case of dealing with the problem of nepotism and should be able to remove nepotism from an organization, to look out for the welfare of the other employees.

In present times, this subject has become a very sensitive issue causing a lot of stress leading to a drop in commitment level of the employees, dissatisfaction in the company and ultimate decision to move on from the present company.

Nepotism Problems in an organization

The problem of nepotism creeps into the working of an organization when the senior management officials start favoring family members or friends, or known persons often with no regard to the person's suitability for the job, or even not considering the performance. This also has its impact on virtually all functions of HR, including hiring, performance evaluation, compensation and succession planning and also for the employee's appraisal.

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The other employees in the organization, gets rejected, when they are not being appreciated or treated on par, when not considered for promotion purely on basis of performance and capability,w hen Nepotism creeps in to the organization.

Need to eradicate Nepotism in workplace

Nepotism can make other employees feel insignificant and their contribution to the business goals of the organization look small or not even considered. This causes a deep indent in the minds of the employees and such an unfair practice leads to the problem of maintaining discipline in the workplace. This arises from the fact that the employee feels that there is no fairness and justice in the office setting and hence there is no point in following the office decorum or the rules and regulation in the workplace.

Favoritism in certain forms can be considered as discrimination, yet most employers deny its existence. Favoring one employee over another reduces morale, increases employee turnover and slows down career advancement. It also inculcates the feeling in the employees, that it doesn't matter how one performs on the job, what matters is the extent to which your superior favors you. And it is this favoritism that determines perks and promotions one will receive.

Vodacom Nepotism Scandal

Recently, the Vodacom Nepotism Scandal, was a very popular example. There were reports that one of South Africa’s most prominent telecoms personalities, Alan Knott-Craig, exploited his position as Vodacom CEO to benefit his family.  According to the newspaper Vodacom is fighting to “keep secret a potentially embarrassing and explosive forensic report from KPMG concerning allegations that former CEO Alan Knott-Craig snr exploited the cellular company's resources for the benefit of his family.”

Cronyism & Nepotism

Nepotism is also similar to Cronyism. Cronyism & Nepotism are forms of favoritism. Cronyism is a more specific form of favoritism, whereas, Nepotism is an even narrower form of favoritism.

Cronyism is often defined as partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications. Hence, cronyism is contrary in practice and principle to meritocracy. Cronyism exists when the appointer and the beneficiary are in social contact; often, the appointer is inadequate to hold his or her own job or position of authority, and for this reason the appointer appoints individuals who will not try to weaken him or her, or express views contrary to those of the appointer.

Avoid Nepotism

The best way to prevent nepotism and to avoid infringing the rights of the employees is to make employment decisions based on work-related reasons such as their skills, competence and experience rather than other unrelated things. If there is fairness and equality in the workplace, employers can expect to earn their workers’ loyalty and dedication and thereby get motivated to prove their excellence in work rather than trying to become the favorite to their boss or employer.

Also the decisions of an HR manager are most examined in areas of hiring and promotion and the problems that may arise, if employees suspect favoritism or if the criteria for promotions and hiring appear to be different according to whether the person is or is not a member of the owner's family or a friend. The best way is to have a consistent approach, clear communication and heightened sensitivity to avoid such problems. Also, Employers may create anti-nepotism policies to avoid employee discrimination charges.

Nepotism is illegal in workplace is only a hindrance to the growth of the business as well as to the company or the organization. Employee's welfare and their happiness is most considered for the growth and development of a work environment, which indirectly dictates the company's advancement too. Thus favoritism or Nepotism is something to exclude from a workplace rather to have a diminished workplace.

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