Nepotism is a practice that has been running in our blood since our ancestors’ time.
You prefer seeing our family, relatives or friends being successful more than the strangers you have just met.
Often, you try to enroll your family members and friends in a certain job regardless their qualifications.
You try to get your work done faster by using our family, relatives’ names, especially in government offices.
Taking favor of your own family members is actually good, but it depends how much?
How much do you support your family regardless their capabilities that hampers the organizations system?
Let’s be real. Walton family, heirs of the Walmart Empire, topped the list as the richest family in the United States in 2015.
Lesser known facts, they are also known for the explicit nepotism, or favoritism of family or friends.
So, in this article, let us know some of the negative effects of nepotism in the workplace that could hamper your work life.
Lower Employee Morale
When someone hires his relatives or friends as your colleague who is less qualified than you and is getting high salary, how would you feel?
What if the new person gets constant attention and praise regardless of his performance?
These are certain scenarios that makes an employee willing to leave their job.
When employees see these kinds of activities happening around the office, they start to feel unappreciated.
As a result, they lose your concentration and motivation to achieve the goals and day-to-day tasks.
Risk Legal Action
This is probably one of the common consequences of nepotism at workplace one would ever know.
Did you know, companies who practice nepotism could be at risk of getting sued by employees?
Nepotism at workplace could result in a lawsuit if an employee or potential employee has proof of unfair practices.
Also, it could be a legal risk if an employee finds his boss giving more salary, benefits and promotions to the family members.
Discrimination
Favoring family and friends can lead to discrimination at workplace as well.
Especially when employees consistently favors individuals who belong to a certain age, caste, or origin, there is high risk.
Nepotism also may lend itself to claims of hostile work environment, a form of harassment.
Hostile work environment occurs when a coworker’s or superior’s behavior in the workplace is such that an employee feels to quit his job.
If family members are appointed to positions within the workplace regardless of their qualifications, it can lead to workplace negativity.
Lack of Fairness
One of the chief impact of nepotism at workplace is that companies in favor of nepotism lack fairness.
Perceived favoritism of a relative can cause dissatisfaction among workers and lower morale of employees.
Employees might feel disheartened when they know that to get promotion one needs to be a family member or relative.
A company employing such tactics might eventually lose even the most hardworking employee of their company.
Impedes Talent Retention
Like I said earlier, when companies follow the practice of nepotism, there are high chances of losing even the best employee of the company.
According to the Deloitte Millennial Survey 2016, two of three Millennial surveyed anticipated leaving their current job by the end of 2020.
These figures were only slightly lower for Millennial that held senior positions within their organizations.
One of the most significant reasons was that organizations were not doing enough to build leadership skills.
If leadership positions are filled by family and friends, there is no incentive by the management team to encourage employees to aim for leadership roles.
As a result, either the productive employees leave the job or continue their work regardless their interest at work.
Risk of Family Feuds
When family members and close friends work together in a same company, there are high chances of them having conflicts.
They can bring on the issues of their personal lives which can easily turn into huge conflict at workplace.
These feuds can be the major cause of workplace disruptions.
It can not only effect the productivity of those fighting employees, but also everyone else present there.
They can easily get distracted with the issues going on and will focus more on the gossips rather than their own work. That’s how we all are.
Bottom Line
To have a peaceful workplace you need to kick out all the consequences of nepotism from your office.
You need to create an environment that is moralizing to your employees.
What’s best is to consult with an attorney to develop appropriate anitnepotism policies that is suitable for both the company and the employees.
