Nepotism - Is it such a bad thing ?

[Samoan]

It's always gone on since time immemorial - the whole range of employment, small or multinational and including politics.
But is it so bad in the world of work ?
The person hiring is getting a known entity. Is that not better, safer than employing an unknown - except for their CV, references and interview

[Toby]

I don't think so. Many would argue that it is a natural state of affairs. There are so many variables that can affect the decision to employ someone, which is why the interview process is so ludicrously thorough for any job of any worth nowadays.

[Diamond Dog]

I don't think so. Many would argue that it is a natural state of affairs. There are so many variables that can affect the decision to employ someone, which is why the interview process is so ludicrously thorough for any job of any worth nowadays.

From my point of view (as an interviewing manager in Royal Mail) the process is so drawn out these days because we have to meet stringent criteria regarding diversity.

Which has to be a good thing.

[K]

I don't think so. Many would argue that it is a natural state of affairs. There are so many variables that can affect the decision to employ someone, which is why the interview process is so ludicrously thorough for any job of any worth nowadays.

Ha. I'm surprised Toby is happy with a natural state of affairs.
Just to clarify, we're happy with someone getting a job because of family connections and possibly displacing someone eminently more qualified and capable?

It's just schools that need to impact on social mobility, isn't it.

[Toby]

Ha. I'm surprised Toby is happy with a natural state of affairs.
Just to clarify, we're happy with someone getting a job because of family connections and possibly displacing someone eminently more qualified and capable?

It's just schools that need to impact on social mobility, isn't it.

No, I don't think you quite get what I mean. I think it is natural for people to be drawn to others if, for example, they feel that the person they want to employ can do the right job. If you know someone well, for instance if you watched that person grow up and knew the family well, then they will display characteristics that might not be available when interviewing someone, even if they have better qualifications and the like.

Imagine if a new person joined BCB and suddenly wanted to be "top dog" in terms of posting stuff, organising Jollies and the like. Even if their references were impeccable, I suspect that most of us would be a bit hesitant to fall into line with them, preferring what we know purely because existing members identify and respect the culture that comes with this board.

I think some of the culture of the "old boy network" in Britain for example has disappeared. My father-in-law got a job in the City purely on familial connections and I just don't think that would happen so easily nowadays. There is a corporate feel to employment that in most respects is probably a good thing, but social capital will always be around and that's why Nepotism shouldn't be dismissed so readily either. It is obviously frustrating if you're an outsider and want a position, but I think in a lot of jobs, particularly in places like the media, it happens for a reason.

[Diamond Dog]

Died-in-the-wool Tory supports Old Boys Network.

*Drops venison canape & spills Bollinger breakfast*

[The Modernist]

It is obviously frustrating if you're an outsider and want a position, but I think in a lot of jobs, particularly in places like the media, it happens for a reason.

I'm not sure why the media is so rife with nepotism, but it is, to the point where the people who got in through no prior connection are a minority from what I can see. It obviously prevents real diversity and I can't see that it is in any way a good thing.

[Goat Boy]

In the media it appears to have created some kind of middle class clique

[Dr Markus]

Would anyone here refuse a job if they thought it was due to Nepotism? Be honest.

[LeBaron]

Would anyone here refuse a job if they thought it was due to Nepotism? Be honest.

Depends.

[LeBaron]

Anyway, I would ask whether it’s such a good thing. It seems to me that it just results in someone getting a position based solely on a family connection which has nothing to do with the merits of the candidate.

[Toby]

I think objectively it's a bad thing, but it happens so there must be a reason why it goes on.

[The Modernist]

I think objectively it's a bad thing, but it happens (a lot) so there must be a reason why it goes on.

Well it goes on because people will always want to benefit their own family and friends, over a total stranger. I think we all understand that. The problem is when it becomes endemic and institutionalised as it has become in the media I think.

[Toby]

It's probably significant that the recruitment process (just as firing is as well) can be hugely expensive for both the public and private sector. Given that many media institutions walk a fine line in terms of financial safety, I'm not surprised that it goes on there.

[The Modernist]

Would anyone here refuse a job if they thought it was due to Nepotism? Be honest.

Probably not; in the same way that, given the choice, most of us would opt to be born into a wealthy family rather than one in total poverty. But that's irrelevant to whether it's a good thing or not.

[Toby]

But then you are utterly undermining your own principles.

[The Modernist]

In the media it appears to have created some kind of middle class clique

Oh definitely. But a privileged middle class clique, it's not enough to have obtained a good degree from university, it has to be the right university.
Nepotism wouldn't be such a bad thing if it was practiced by people from a varied background, but it's not so it perpetuates barriers of class and race.

[The Modernist]

But then you are utterly undermining your own principles.

I think in life Toby, you have to take the opportunities you get given, so I don't blame a 20 year old taking up their uncle's offer of an internship or whatever. I disagree with it being offered in the first place.

[Toby]

In the media it appears to have created some kind of middle class clique

Oh definitely. But a privileged middle class clique, it's not enough to have obtained a good degree from university, it has to be the right university.
Nepotism wouldn't be such a bad thing if it was practiced by people from a varied background, but it's not so it perpetuates barriers of class and race.

Well, I think that it probably does. The notion that it is white people alone who would practice nepotism is silly. Sure, in Britain, it is white people in the main because they hold key positions in virtually all major institutions. But to suggest this doesn't happen elsewhere in other countries, where say, Asian people are in power for example is highly unlikely.

[The Modernist]

I don't think anyone made that suggestion did they? Disparities in wealth and power are even greater in developing countries for sure. But again, not a good thing and I don't regard it as the 'natural' order of things either.