By
Ronalyn R. Tagudin
Ph.D.
Development Management Student
ABSTRACT
Nepotism
should not be considered as a habitual management practice. It is considered
illegal and immoral because it impedes the right of someone to fairness and
breach the ethics in public service. Making nepotism as a relative choice could
bring negative social and economic impact. In the studies of Puiu (2004),
“nepotism upsets trust and resulting in unethical management, owing to the
ability of a select few to weaken control measures on account of their personal
relationship with the policy-maker, and by reason of their not being easily
dismissed or replaced by others”. Workforces may stop giving their best and
accept a career at their current level. The favored treatment of one individual
over another, without taking into account the relative merit of the respective
individuals, signifies nothing but victimization of an individual. Thus one has
to avoid nepotism because this is not a bestowed privilege to someone and
considered as breach of professionalism, therefore it is contrary to the idea of
Adam Bellow (2003) that states “nepotism
works, it feels good, and is generally the right thing to do”.
Keywords: nepotism, illegal, immoral, breach of
professionalism, unethical management
INTRODUCTION
Most often, nepotism is
considered inherent in an organization. Nowadays, there is no such thing as transactions
free from family connections or kin ties especially towards a certain position.
Is this an act of bestowed privilege to someone closer to the management? Maybe
it’s a yes! It is considered as a battle of professionalism with regards to
competence and abilities or the notion that favoritism cannot be avoided. The dilemma
is that is nepotism really ethical in any perspective? Should personal loyalty
and intimacy outweigh competence, seniority and the merit system? This article is
an avenue to cite the intricacies of nepotism and how it works in an
organization.
Nepotism
in History
Looking back when authors
wrote bases for the existence of nepotism in times it was noted already in
America in the 18th century. The war against nepotism started with
the abolition of English inheritance practices. The trend continued in the
nineteenth century, with the creation of a federal civil service based on merit
and efficiency rather than on family connections. Therefore, this would herald
the defeat of the principles of freedom, meritocracy and equal opportunity,
which were the ideals for which people fought in national revolution
(Makabenta, 2014).
In the Philippines,
nepotism is not without historical antecedents. The barangay of early
Philippine society was viewed more as a socio-economic unit composed of members
with consanguinial ties and those related by affinity. Cooperation in the
community was a function of personal connection than pre-determined programs and
impersonal procedures (Tendero, 2000). These historical antecedents nurtured a
tradition and a culture which considered public office more as a source of
private gain than a public trust.
Nepotism
as a Negative Thing
Simply, nepotism is
favoring relatives. Nepotism in the workplace occurs when employers favor
relatives in making employment decision, with little to no regard for anything
but kinship. It is readily innate in person’s mind that nepotism as a practice
is a negative thing. An example is hiring or promoting relatives solely because
they are family members, with no consideration of the qualifications or merits
of other job candidates or employees. There is also an instance wherein all the
members and close relatives of the family occupy the highest managerial and
supervisory positions belonging to different divisions and sections. This
scenario is very common in government practices that may lead to declining the
quality of public service. If one is an employee working hard for a position
became complacent due to the fact that another person closed to the management
comes in to a higher position, does fairness exists? Does freedom to
opportunity is achieve? How can one be favored in terms of others just because
of knowing the “man” of the organization? Thus, social war begins to grow.
The
negative notion on nepotism was supported by the study of Arash & Tumer
(2008) which stated that nepotism occurs when relations are more significant
than the qualification or competency, skills, and experience and it affects the
performance of employees as well as performance of the organization. It
involves in hiring and firing of employees just to give priorities to their
favorite ones. In this regard, it breaches the principles of professionalism.
We all know ethical values and we can identify cases in which behavior may be
wrong. According to Puiu (2004), some actions are definitely good or definitely
bad, but others may be in a grey zone and make it difficult for a person to
make the right decision or to reject someone or something.
In
addition, nepotism is a version of graft and corruption exemplified by favors
showered on relatives by appointing them to government positions regardless of
qualifications. The practice may be viewed as an aid to responsive management
if blood relatives do their share in achieving organizational goals with
minimum time and effort expended. On the other hand, nepotism can be pernicious
to society if the relatives in the employ of government use blood relationship
as the key to open themselves to the opportunity of improving their lives at
the expense of public good and general welfare. It can foster the growth of
dictatorship and the formation of “political dynasties” which the 1987
constitution prohibits.
The prohibition against
nepotism is articulated best in the statement made by the late Ferdinand Marcos
in 1972:
“Let no man who
claims to be friend, relative or ally presume to seek license because of the
relationship. If he offends the new society, he should be punished like the
rest.”
However,
despite those cited negative sides of nepotism, Adam Bellow (2003) contradicts
those statements in his writing that states “Nepotism
is widely condemned yet even more widely practiced…this is not necessarily a
bad thing. Nepotism, likewise, is universally condemned but seems just as ineradicable.”
In his interview, he was asked “How did nepotism earn its bad name?” then he
said:
“People began to feel that the
American business elite was too nepotistic, they had gotten rich and given out
partnerships to sons and sons in law, and they allowed family interests to
outweigh business rationale. It was the subtext of the Depression, and it had a
powerful and lasting effect on our view of nepotism and family management in
general. After WWII, American business went global. There was a boom in the
economy, and a new era of corporate management and governance was introduced.
Along with that came efficiency, meritocracy, etc. It was the era in which
nepotism rules were instituted in big corporations and government. And that was
a good thing. It's not my purpose to say that nepotism should be left alone,
because what you get then is what you see in Nigeria, India and Brazil.”
Bellow (2003) further
added that:
“The
New Nepotism, an improved American
version of the old, is voluntary, not
coercive; it springs from the motives of children, not the interest of parents.
You can get in the door, but once inside, you will be under close scrutiny. By
such standards, one wonders how he would assess the worthiness of the most
powerful man on earth, who would not be in the Oval Office without his father’s
name and help.”
In the Philippine context, there is a legal basis why
nepotism should not prevail and practiced, not just as an unethical issue but also
as an illegal management actions. As stated in the Revised Administrative Code of 1987 on the Civil
Service Commission Chapter 8, Section 59 of Executive Order No. 292:
“Nepotism – all
appointments in the national, provincial, city and municipal governments or in
any branch or instrumentality thereof, including government-owned or controlled
corporations, made in favor of a relative of the appointing or recommending
authority, or the chief of the bureau or office, or of the persons exercising
immediate supervision over him, are hereby prohibited.”
Indeed,
nepotism undermines public trust because it makes government looks like a
family business run not for the interest of the many, the public, but for the
families in power. It is also bad for the morale of the organization because it
goes far beyond hiring, thus it remains as a problem every time raises and
promotions occur.
Effects
of Nepotism
In heavily
nepotism-oriented organizations, the human resource management practices cannot
work independently. Hiring relatives is easy and can lead to greater trust
(what we call “swift trust”) if the relations get along and share a common
purpose. According to Ombanda (2018), under such conditions appointments based
on competence and knowledge accumulation seem impossible. Moreover, based on the
study of Riggio (2012) nepotism becomes problematic when non-relative employees
feel that there is unfair favoritism, and when relatives are hired over more
competent non-relatives. There are consequences of nepotism (Brookins, 2017) as
follows:
1. Risk of Legal Action
Organizations who
practice nepotism could be at risk of getting sued by employees. Nepotism could
result in a lawsuit if an employee or potential employee has proof that a
company is using unfair hiring practices and when an employer or manager shows favoritism
when it comes to salary, benefits and promotions towards their family members
and friends, neglecting the needs of their other employees.
2. Lower Employee Morale
When nepotism has
a negative effect on a workplace, employee morale decreases, which affect how
smoothly the company operates and whether employees are productive. Employees
may feel unappreciated, and as a result, they may lose their motivation to
achieve their goals and accomplish their day to day tasks.
3. Get Accused of
Favoritism
When a manager or
business owner has a pre-existing relationship with an employee, they often get
accused of favoritism
4. Risk of Family Feuds
When family
members and close friends work for the same company, issues from their personal
lives can easily turn into problems within the workplace. These feuds can cause
major workplace disruptions, which can reduce overall productivity and
negatively impact employee morale.
5. Consider Fellow
Employees Incompetent
When employees are
hired at a company because of nepotism, other employees may question whether
the family members or friends have the necessary knowledge, skills and
attitudes to perform their jobs. If employees question their abilities to do
their jobs, they may show them less respect, ignore their ideas and
instructions or comment to the employees that they were only hired because of
their relationships with the management.
Furthermore,
Safina (2014) stated that nepotism could lead to personnel’s demotivation,
having permanent fear and negative anticipatory thinking like the fear of
demoting from position being occupied. This could result to apathy, loss of
self-belief and abilities of an employee. Somehow, employees could feel social
alienation, the feeling of being needless in the organization. Furthermore,
employees could also experience the feeling of dismissal of high-potential
co-workers desperate to occupy the desired position in view of the fact that it
is already occupied by a favorite. In such a case, it destructs the foundation
of teamwork and it creates weak and unhealthy organizational culture
characterized by intrigues.
Stated
further, these notions were even strengthened by the writing of Wechsler (2009)
when he stated that nepotism includes many of the basic government ethics
issues like conflict of interest, misuse of office, preferential treatment, and
patronage.
As such, it was noted
that nepotism has a great impact on employees and the organization as a whole. It
is similar to a calm river that when there is no unethical practices, the water
is steady but when you throw a stone into the water it creates waves that
affects its calmness. The stone is like the practice on nepotism, the larger
the stone the greater its impact to the entire organization. Then when the
water gets back into its calm state, the stone settles into the bottom of the
river and it will never remove unless someone intervenes to eliminate it. At a
long time that it was being practiced, nepotism will be imbedded in the
organization until employees are already immune of such negative state that
only acceptance will lessen the injustice within it, unless someone who is
strong enough to fight will lead an action to change the way it was.
Avoid
Nepotism
Dealing with nepotism in the
workplace can be tough, especially if you’re receiving the short end of the
stick while someone else is gaining opportunities due to what you perceive as
unfair favoritism. The bottom line is that the way people respond to nepotism
at work depends largely on the candidate’s qualifications and self-awareness,
transparency in the hiring process and other variables. But if you find
yourself in a work situation where nepotism is a flagrant problem that disrupts
your health, workplace satisfaction and professional growth, look to these five
ways to cope (Sun, 2017).
1. Check your feelings.
Take a deep breath. So before you jump the gun and scream
“nepotism,” take a step back. Focus on maintaining a professional attitude and
a strong performance. The last thing an employee with a legitimate complaint
against their employer wants is to not be taken seriously because of some sort
of technicality.
2. Be
professional - very professional.
Let’s say it’s definitely
nepotism, and that person benefitting is an unqualified, obnoxious monster. You
can’t control someone else’s behavior, but you can be responsible for your own.
Double down on professionalism, even if you are being provoked or plan on
leaving the organization. You should keep
doing all the things that professional people do: be courteous, show up on
time, follow through on your responsibilities and keep growing your learning
and skills.
3.
Document your great work at the organization.
Often in cases of nepotism, what is most frustrating is that
a person feels overlooked because of opportunities given to someone perceived
as less qualified. So, your best bet to get what you want (say, a raise or
promotion) is to not make it about the other person. Harness data and document
what amazing things you have done over time.
4. Talk
it out with a carefully selected individual in the organization.
Nepotism is dangerous territory - especially depending on
whom the nepotism involves. As such, employees need to proceed with caution and
be careful about whom they trust with their complaints. With this in mind, if
you need to report the person benefiting from nepotism, HR is almost always the
wrong choice. Instead, identify a third-party ally - someone higher up than
you, and thus has more power within the organization, but has no skin in the
game. As with any complaint, documentation and witnesses are important.
5. Focus
on what you can do for your health and happiness right now.
Dealing with nepotism at work can be stressful, and the matter
won’t be resolved overnight. Patience is crucial. Some might feel compelled to
act out of emotion, but it’s best to build a case with evidence and details
including any information from colleagues who may be experiencing the same
things you are before approaching anyone. And consider this for the bigger
picture: Nepotism is everywhere. In some instances, it can hinder you
professionally and be toxic. But that’s not every case. Know that people may
not realize they’re acting partially. So it’s best to approach any conversation
about partial behavior at work as something you’ve noticed, not something
that’s been done to you.
CONCLUSION
Nepotism is not a good practice
because it is against fairness, freedom, professionalism and considered illegal
management practice. According to Oseña (2008), nepotism is one pernicious evil
impeding the civil service and the efficiency of its personnel.
This reminds the employees
and the entire organization that the basic purpose of the objective of the
prohibition against nepotism strongly indicates that the prohibition was
intended to be a comprehensive one. The court was unwilling to restrict and
limit the scope of the prohibition which is textually very broad and
comprehensive. If not within the exceptions, it is a form of corruption that
must be nipped in the bud or abated whenever or wherever it raises its ugly
head.
Nepotism is, not a petty
offense. Its deleterious effect on government cannot be over-emphasized. And it
is a stubborn evil (Oseña, 2008). The objective should be to eliminate nepotic
acts, hence, erroneous decisions allowing nepotism cannot be given immunity
from review, especially judicial review. Therefore nepotism must be avoided by
all means, thus the idea of Bellow (2003) is being argued and rejected as there
are legal basis that supports the unethical side of favoring nepotism.
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