What should I consider in establishing a nepotism policy?

Nepotism is a very important thing to avoid in the work place because of the problems in can cause amongst employees. Almost all workplaces establish a nepotism policy that sets forth that company's rules having to do with nepotism. When establishing a nepotism policy there are a few things that should be considered. You should always keep your employees foremost in your mind and always consider how they might act under certain conditions. Since your employees are essentially the ones who keep the business running, it is very important that you consider how they will act.

In places where nepotism is allowed it has been shown that there are conflicts amongst the employees. Non-family member employees tend to start feeling excluded. They see favoritism amongst employees that are family members. They may get jealous of the family member employees. There would start to be conflict between people because they would not get along. Quality of work would decrease. Non-family member employees would not want to do jobs for family member employees. Sometimes it is possible for family problems to be transferred to the work place. This can cause even more problems and conflicts in the workplace.

Say you have an open position in your business and you put that position up for hire. A person that has been working in your business for many years applies for that position. They feel they understand the business very well and could do well in that position. You also have nephew apply for that position. He has better credentials than the other applicant, but he has never worked in your business and knows little about it. Say you decide the hire the nephew based off his credentials. Even though he has not ever worked there, you think it is something he could pick up very quickly.

As clean and honest as your intentions are, the applicant who has been working at your business for many years is going to have problems with the fact that you hired a family member who has no experience in the business. Do you really think that the employee would be happy to work under your nephew? They probably would feel upset and would not want to cooperate too easily.

This is something you need to consider when establishing a nepotism policy. You will want to be sure that anyone who hire has to go through the same application process. You will also want to be sure that you are unbiased when selecting your employee. You will probably want to keep family members out of the same department. Even if they both had to apply to get there, it still has the potential to upset the other employees. It is true that the other employees should be able to recognize that you are not hiring them just because they are family members, but that does not mean that some of the problems will not arise. You want to be careful that you do not show any favoritism and you treat your family member just like you would any other employee.

When establishing a nepotism policy you want to be sure that everyone you hire has to go through the same process to get hired. You want to be sure that you establish a rule which says you will not discriminate or play favorites when considering new employees. It is probably a good idea that you also establish a rule which states that no two family members will work in the same department. As much as your employees need to be able to see that you are not playing favorites, you also need to see that they deserve an equal opportunity and consideration.