Nepotism is an affront to Catholic Social Teaching. Nepotism is the practice of favoring relatives or friends over other employees who are outside a leader’s personal circle of friends and family. The pillars of Catholic social teaching are based on selfless Biblical principles.
Nepotism is different than a multi-generational family business but leadership needs to take great care to hold family members to a higher standard of accountability than other employees, not lower as their actions can affect the family’s legacy and reputation.
Although the temptation might be to hire friends and family members, in general nepotism can be bad for your business in several ways.
- It can lead to the hiring of unqualified or incompetent people in key positions, which can negatively impact the business’s performance and reputation. Family love can blind even the most hard-nosed business person.
- It can demotivate the other employees: When employees see that promotions and opportunities for advancement are given based on personal relationships rather than merit, it can lead to a demotivating work environment and lower morale. Why work for a promotion when “Skippy” is going to run the place eventually?
- It can limit the range of talent and strengths needed in a company’s workforce.
- In general, nepots are not held accountable for anything by anyone. Who is going to bring an issue up to the boss, who is the brother or father of the problem employee? The answer is no one if they want to keep their job.
- Exposure to legal risks, such as discrimination claims or conflicts of interest. Often there are two sets of company policies; one set for the nepots – always more lavish and generous (such as unlimited vacation days, other benefits not offered to all) and the other official set for the rest to follow.
- Very few friends and family have the same level of interest or passion for the business than the owner.
- Nepots spawn more nepots through the hiring process. Sons bring in wives into the fold, or their children, or nieces – you get the point. Adding further drag to the performance of the business.
Nepotism is also an affront to Catholic social teaching.
The four pillars of Catholic social teaching are the dignity of every human person, the common good, solidarity, and subsidiarity. Nepotism, on the other hand, prioritizes personal relationships and changes the leader–employee relationship and self-interest over these pillars which are selfless.
Dignity of the Human Person
Catholic social teaching affirms the dignity of every human person, regardless of their social status or connections. Nepotism, on the other hand, treats some individuals as more valuable or deserving of opportunities based solely on their personal relationship with the owner or the leadership. Allowing this dichotomy to exist opposes Catholic social teaching.
Common Good
Catholic social teaching emphasizes the importance of the common good, which means that decisions and actions should benefit everyone in society, in this case the business, and not just a privileged few because of their family connection. Nepotism flips this by prioritizing the interests of a select few individuals, which is often at the expense of others.
Solidarity
This pillar of Catholic social teaches the importance of community, compassion, and social and that each human person has a responsibility to care for, look after the well-being of others. Nepotism prioritizes looking after oneself and self-interests through personal relationships over personal achievement and the interconnectedness of all employees and the responsibility that each person has to contribute to the well-being of others in the company.
Subsidiarity
This pillar of Catholic social teaching stresses the importance of decision-making based on merit, trust and the expertise of employees who are most directly involved in a particular issue or problem in the business. Nepotism on the other hand gives preferential treatment – which includes decision making and ability to override the decisions of others – to only certain employees (family members and/or friends).
