Roman Ružbacký
January 13, 2017
Nepotism and cronyism is a confronting issue and many don’t want to talk about it or write about it. My colleague recently experienced ‘termination by nepotism and cronyism’ and after much contemplation asked me to share their story. Not for sympathy. Not for revenge. Not to vent. They wanted to put the spotlight on this the practice which I believe is not an isolated case. It’s a practice that erodes workers’ rights.
Nepotism and cronyism excludes people through no fault of their own. My colleague recently applied for a senior part time role that allowed them to fulfil their parental and carer responsibilities only to be callously hacked out of the organisation and replaced by someone who was made full time a week after they were terminated. This occurred at five months and three weeks into their employment. There’s an old Greek saying that every obstacle is for the ultimate good. Well, you might be philosophical about it. I prefer the Greek saying, you pay for your sins in this life time!
Nepotism and cronyism (aka jobs for mates) is not a new phenomenon. It usually operates in stealth. It involves by-passing a recruitment policy and procedure. It’s a purely subjective and exclusive process where a decision maker gets one of ‘their mates’ into a job that should have really gone to a competitive selection process. When it happens, decision makers are ‘in’ on the behaviour. There is no accountability or repercussion for their actions, no remedy, no appeal and no governing body to scrutinize this type of activity. The best person for the job, the one who may have the experience and qualifications to fulfil the role as outlined in the position description, and who painstakingly addresses all the selection criteria, doesn’t get a fair go or a fighting chance.
And you don’t have to look too far to uncover cronyism. Apply for a job where you clearly have the qualifications and experience necessary to fulfil the role. Wait for a few months. Then look up the position along with the organisation on LinkedIn and then go through the person’s qualifications and experience. Then scratch your head and wonder, for example, how your last five years as a personal trainer can get you a job as a manager of strategic programs? Or how an internal applicant who has a career change trumps an external with more qualifications or experience. In my parent’s day, being qualified and experienced was seen as an asset by employers. So what has changed? Has the employee lost their hand? Has it become so competitive and divisive that we need to look after our own? Or, are we not hearing enough from employers about anti-cronyism (whistle blowing) initiatives? From a diversity and inclusion perspective, this practice has the effect of knocking out potential candidates, usually those without networks and connections, and the vulnerable (think sex, age, disability, parents, carers, race, women in STEM, etc., etc.).
Nepotism and cronyism could seriously impact an organisation’s brand and reputation, but that doesn’t seem to matter these days. In a ‘no complain’ and short term memory society, cases of nepotism and cronyism usually blow away in the wind. We might wear a little discomfort through bad publicity but everyone will forget things rather quickly and we’ll all move on. The credibility of your diversity and inclusion initiatives, however, will be severely crippled as those marginalised will talk about their experiences in stealth too.
Nepotism: the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.
Cronyism: the appointment of friends and associates to positions of authority, without proper regard to their qualifications.
Phoenix (not their real name), a highly experienced program manager (not their real occupation), recently applied for a senior, three year, part time position with medium sized company. It was the only role of its kind in the organisation. Phoenix had to jump through many hoops to get this job, including four interviews, a police check and a ‘personality’ test to see if they were the right ‘cultural fit’ for the organisation. There was no gender balance in any of the interview panels and for the three of the interviews no panel or age balance. There’s your first problem, I hear you say.
Phoenix had young kids to look after so this job was a perfect opportunity that allowed Phoenix to balance work and family responsibilities. Phoenix was successful in securing the position. Phoenix was working steadily on the work assigned which included a number of projects that was anticipated to reap many long-term benefits for the organisation. These projects had never been done previously.
The CEO of the company had met Phoenix for coffee twice in the first three months and all indications were that Phoenix was doing well in the role. Phoenix had a major project approved by the organisation’s Board and had met with all the Executives in the company. There were no meetings or emails by Phoenix’ manager to indicate that the work was of poor quality or that targets were not being met. In fact, there were no regular performance reviews conducted, no critical feedback received and no issues raised during the first five months of Phoenix’ employment. Things started to go awry when Phoenix was asked by a senior manager to complete research paper on Artificial Intelligence in less than two days, something that had nothing to do with Phoenix’s job. It was a ridiculous request by someone claiming to work at the upper echelons of the strategic upper class.
Around the four-month mark, a new person, Ash joined the organisation. Ash was also an experienced program manager (not their real occupation). Ash turned up to work one day and was introduced to everyone in Phoenix’ team, except Phoenix. As the work area was open plan, and people could see into the meeting rooms, Phoenix’ would observe the relaxed demeanour of Ash. Ash was an instant hit with his peers.
When Phoenix finally approached Ash to say hello, it became crystal clear that Ash was to soon take over Phoenix’ job. He was employed three days a week to do the same job Phoenix was employed to do. Ash did not have to apply for a job. It wasn’t advertised anywhere. Ash did not have sit for an interview. Phoenix was directed by to work with Ash, even though Ash was reporting to someone more senior.
Phoenix then started to be shut out from the information loop. Meetings would happen where Phoenix’ work was discussed by senior managers behind closed doors. Phoenix’s manager had little experience in Phoenix’ area of expertise. It wasn’t looking good. Phoenix was on probation. Phoenix sucked it in and went along with the game even though this move completely derailed the work. Then came the punitive behaviour and isolation. Working at a senior position, five layers down an organisation and being expected to work with executives was never going to work. Then being told how to speak and prepare for conversations with executive would have been quite insulting for an experienced program manager.
Ash, on the other hand, was schmoozing with executives and talking about how Phoenix’s work was going to be delivered. For an up and coming meeting with an executive, Phoenix prepared a presentation to report on progress after five months. It was a joint meeting with Ash, who didn’t bring anything in preparation for the meeting. Phoenix provided evidence to show that the five month targets had been met or had been progressed to a very good stage. The cat was out of the bag when, at this meeting, the executive started talking directly to Ash saying, ‘Remember when we were at company x, and how we tried this and did that’. The Executive and Ash had previously worked together at the same company for about four years on similar work. No-one spoke about this bizarre situation not even those in authority. The team could clearly see what was happening but no one spoke out. No one had the courage.
Around the five month and two week mark, Phoenix’s family member had suddenly passed away and the work place sent Phoenix’s a box of flowers. Approximately a week later, Phoenix was called into a frosted room by their manager and told that their employment contract would not be continued. Phoenix didn’t bother arguing the point, and after being given a flimsy excuse about not being strategic and lacking stakeholder engagement (that clearly didn’t stack up), left the workplace within an hour with young kids to support and Christmas around the corner. Like Snowball from George Orwell classic, Animal Farm, driven out of town, people finding out about Phoenix’s departure when emails started to bounce back and Phoenix’s trio of managers fuelling rumours that Phoenix was a poor performer. Trashing Phoenix at every turn. The ‘situation’ was contained and the ‘threat’ eliminated.
A week later, Phoenix heard that Ash was made full time. Phoenix had set up the projects and Ash was now going to take over the whole operation and fix up Phoenix’ stuff ups. As predicted, Ash didn’t raise the issue with anyone. Ash didn’t call Phoenix as say, bad luck chum, I took your job! He’s got a family too.
Now, my understanding is that unfair dismissal laws don’t apply during a probation period unless the termination is unlawful? So where does this leave Phoenix? Adverse action claim? What are your chances of securing meaningful part time work at a senior position when you will be possibly shafted before your probation ends by a full-time employee? What message doe this send for parents and carers wanting to secure employment? Who has your back? Well, I do Phoenix.
The Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Victoria, Australia) states that discrimination occurs if a person treats or proposes to treat a person with one of the protected attributes (eg. disability, race, sex, etc..) unfavourably because of that attribute. Should nepotism and cronyism be a grounds for discrimination? If you think about the term, protected attribute, it describes a personal characteristic that cannot be changed and is beyond your control (eg. race, sex, disability). Employment activity was the last attribute added to the EO Act that didn’t actually describe a personal characteristic, for example, sex or race. It offered protections for employees who made reasonable requests and/or voiced concerns about their employment entitlements or workers’ rights. The same case could be made for nepotism and cronyism.
So what can we learn from this experience? I have suggested the following strategies for Phoenix, a ten point plan:
1. Don’t get angry over things you can’t control when the agenda is clear. Ash probably already had the job lined up before Phoenix was appointed and given the job when he was ready to take it.
2. Do what you can to protect your reputation including setting the record straight.
3. Don’t be naïve. Nepotism and cronyism has been around for ages. Don’t expect it to go away soon. Find a safe space to talk or write about it.
4. Don’t accept a job where the organisations has never contemplated or done the work before. You end up answering to five chiefs who start behaving as experts and setting unrealistic expectations.
5. Do a background check on the people you will potentially work with, for example, their LinkedIn profile and who they follow on Twitter.
6. Do a background check on the organisation and assess whether your values align with the reputation of the organisation.
7. If an organisation can’t decide on a candidate in two interviews, walk.
8. I used to say take meticulous notes about your output and achievements, but in this case, it don’t think it would have achieved anything.
9. In relation to the role being made full time after Phoenix’s timely exit, it signals that the organisation does not value senior part time roles, thereby rejecting work-life balance.
10. Don’t let a negative experience diminish your confidence.
I urge employers not to engage in nepotism or cronyism. What would your reaction be if Phoenix was your family member? What would your excuse be if you were Phoenix’ managers explaining your actions to your mother, father, son or daughter? I just terminated someone and gave their job to my mate. This truth will require having a conscience. If you are a hiring manager, be fair, objective and ethical. Do the right thing. Do the just thing. Don’t engage in nepotism or cronyism.
Phoenix, my heart goes out to you, my colleague and friend. I hope you rise from the ashes.