Nepotism again...

A reader asks about the positives and negatives of nepotism in a school setting.

His comment read:

Regarding nepotism and ethics, what about a situation where a teaching staff where the principal has a practice of hiring married couples? Approximately 25% of our staff is comprised of married couples. He is very open about the practice saying it's like a family, but I argue that it could turn into a dysfunctional family. .... What are the positive and negatives of such a practice in a school setting?

I'm not sure I would consider hiring married couples nepotism. I have worked for many companies where several members of a family were employed. Usually, the company did not allow these people to work in the same department or for each other.

I consider nepotism to be the favoring of a relative or a friend over other employees. When family or personal connections interfere with the orderly management of a company, it is a recipe for disaster.

When workers or managers are productive and do the job that people expect of them, nobody cares who they are related to.

When employees or managers are incompetent and are protected because they are friends with or related to someone else in the company, the company has a hidden chain of command and hard working people resent it. Good people will leave as soon as they spot this occurring because it is unfair and unprofessional. Timid employees will remain and moan about their lot.

Are the incompetent people in your company being protected by someone?

Comments

[Murray Abramovitch]

The question of nepotism in any environment is one usually asked by those outside the family circle. It is a sign of frustration, of real or perceived obstacles to advancement, of actual or imagined favoritism.

In fact, being within the family circle is hardly the perfect place to be either. The ostensible comfort is an illusion, the apparent safety is, in fact, always threatened by a two-edged sword. Talent is dismissed, achievement is tainted, advancement is questioned. Sadly, the real questioning is most often done by the supposed beneficiary of the nepotism. He or she never really has a sense of accomplishment, never knows for sure if promotion is truly merited.

It is a rock and a hard place for everyone.