Anti Nepotism And Career Advancement Policies - Reasons They Are A Must

How are anti nepotism and career advancement linked and what do we understand by these terms? Nepotism as per its dictionary meaning refers to favoritism. In the workplace, nepotism is seen when people in a position of power favor their spouses, friends and relatives by bestowing jobs or job promotions upon them. Nepotism is a controversial subject, even though it has always been observed in organizations either formally or informally. Normally, this subject generates negative feelings among people.

People usually look upon negatively since they believe that favoritism is a privilege obtained due to relationships within a family or through social connections. People believe that the merit of an individual must be at the forefront; therefore, anti nepotism policies are important. Thus, career advancement through family ties is a wrong practice. Besides, job performance and growth of the organisation, both are based on the merit of people working there. So, nepotism and career advancement is potentially harmful to a company.

To counter anti nepotism and career advancement, a number of companies have come up with either formally notified policies or unwritten ones. The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor has found that in more than sixty percent of married people, both the spouses are employed. This raises the question about whether practices pertaining to hiring, anti nepotism and career advancement are at all useful to organizations. While some people consider it nepotism if favors are given to two or more than two generations, others believe that a husband, wife or a paired employee also comes under the ambit of anti nepotism and career advancement.

Within a small business, the business owners have been against nepotism due to the belief that if family members work in the business, other employees will consider them to be a hindrance to their advancement in the organization. However, contrary to popular belief, nepotism can actually be used as a positive influence in small and family owned business. The right way of doing this is to ensure both family and outside employees are rewarded for their contribution to the success and growth of the company. Also, prescribed policies for hiring, training, job responsibilities, reporting structure and succession plan go a long way in reassuring all employees. These factors can vary to suit the nature of business, its organisation culture, history and the size of the family of the owner.

Experts say that even when hiring a family member, apart from appropriate education as relevant to the job, certain other prequalifications should be fulfilled before they join the business on a permanent basis. Most important among these is a minimum of three years of work experience gained with a different organisation. The belief of the experts is that this way, a fair idea can be gained about the worth and market value of the person, an opportunity to deal with challenges and learn from them as well as bring a fresh perspective to the family business.