By Bizna Brand Analyst

Moi University has been trending since last week for all the wrong reason. Prof. Ayiro was appointed the acting VC but local leaders apparently want Prof. Kosgei to take the role immediately. They claim that the latter topped in interviews hence he deserves the job. But they’ve also not hidden the fact that they favor him more because he’s a Kalenjin while Ayiro is not. This is a case of quantum nepotism at work.

You’ve seen it happen, or had it happen to you: someone less competent is promoted above you, paid more, or given special treatment because they are related to the boss or are in the right clique.

Nepotism is defined as “the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs or rooting for them.” Simply put, nepotism can be a form of special treatment only available to the few.

Horror stories of nepotism in the workplace abound. But while receiving a promotion because of favoritism is an unhealthy business practice, simply being a friend or relative of people in power doesn’t take away from someone’s qualifications. Professor Kosgei might have indeed qualified for the role but no one has said he won’t get the role. Prof. Ayiro was only appointed on a three-month acting capacity to ensure a smooth transition. The fact that local leaders can’t stand that shows that there are bigger issues in play. The “our man has to be there at all costs” mentality needs to be done away with. It’s dragging our country down.

The debate is tricky, requiring a considerable amount of good judgment for something a million bylaws can’t legislate perfectly. Below are several negative aspects of nepotism.

An Absence of Fairness

The biggest outcry against nepotism is that it flies in the face of fairness. Capitalism rests on the principle that wealth and prosperity are derived from an individual’s application of talent and effort, not from favoritism and special treatment. Foreign businesses protect this idea vigilantly.

People always say “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” but good networking definitely falls on the side of the spectrum inhabited by the individual’s efforts. You went to school to make those connections; you suffered through an unpaid internship for that job contact. You aren’t simply the nephew of the hiring manager. But once networking crosses the threshold into privileged treatment, coworkers will shout, “Unfair!”

Lower Employee Morale

Regardless of fairness, nepotism can have adverse effects on a company’s atmosphere. Employees dealing with nepotism in the workplace often suffer from a decline in morale. If employees feel like their workplaces promote inequality, their attitudes will likely suffer.

When there is blatant nepotism, employees will react to this inequality in one of two ways: either they will “undermine the favored worker’s capabilities,” resorting to backstabbing and sabotage, or they will develop an “attitude of defeat,” where they will no longer give their best as they see their efforts go unrewarded and unnoticed.  In Moi University’s case for example, people from other tribes who had ambitions of being VC in the institution will slow down knowing that their appointments will be sabotaged.

Either reaction is a festering, hostile cancer dragging down the culture of the workplace.

When it comes to the bottom line, employee morale is a direct reflection of leadership. The boss sets the atmosphere and culture of a work environment, and if all the employees are distrustful and resentful because of nepotism, the fault lies with those in charge.

Nepotism and favoriem allow a harmful culture to drive potential employees away and cripple previously hard-working team members.

If leadership is ok with rampant nepotism, chances are they are putting their own interests ahead of the good of the company.

Lower Employee Productivity

In addition to lowering morale, nepotism and favorism can trickle in and negatively impact employee productivity. Obviously employees with lower morale will perform worse, but nepotism’s potential ill effects reach wider than that.

Employees who are rewarded and promoted because of their relationships with management are likely to be underqualified for the positions they are expected to fill.

This is the logical conclusion of nepotism: if an employee is promoted or rewarded based on anything other than merit, that employee may not be able to develop the skillset to thrive in a higher position.

A vicious cycle then ensues: if an incompetent worker receives an undeserved promotion, it places them in charge of previous coworkers. A culture of nepotism emerges, and leadership – which now includes the incompetent employee – does nothing to discourage the bad vibes, poor morale, and lower productivity that result.

The Case for Diversity

The other major strike against nepotism is a lack of diversity.

The term “diversity” gets thrown around like confetti in today’s society, and many don’t like it shoved down their throats, thinking that diversity for diversity’s sake has no bearing on profitable business.

Historically, workplaces that are perceived as diverse have the highest levels of employee engagement, and engagement is crucial to the financial health of any organization.

Diversity in the workplace ensures that ideas can be pooled together from the widest collective experience. It is the classic case of unity over uniformity: if everyone is the same, ideas grow stagnant.

In many situations, nepotism can be the enemy of diversity. The recruitment of current employees’ relatives tends to perpetuate the racial, religious and ethnic characteristics of the existing workforce.”

The same could be said for recruiting unqualified friends. The essence of nepotism is a common bond outside of work between an employer and employee. If this common bond – blood relations, golfing buddies, whatever the case – is the reason for special treatment, diversity in the workplace will decrease.

Diversity can be the powerhouse of the workforce when properly harnessed. In order to do this, leadership must establish trust with employees by creating a culture that is open to everyone’s ideas and background.

In this case, “fairness” is renamed “discrimination,” and leaders who make it clear that discrimination won’t be tolerated will be able to tap into the powerful resource of diversity. If nepotism is standing in the way of this, it’s bringing down the workplace.

In conclusion

As seen from the above arguments Prof. Ayiro should be allowed to finish his three month acting capacity term. If not, we are allowing nepotism and favorism to win. If the politicians are pushing for Prof.Kosgei so bad, there is a high likelihood that he was cheated through the interviews. Or there is something big they want to gain from him. Maybe to give hundreds of their constituents a free pass to the university.

Education CS, Fred Matiangi shouldn’t bow under the pressure. For the good of integrity, Ayiro should stay.