How to determine whether there is nepotism in the administration. Nepotism in law: a terrible flaw in our mentality. Nepotism at work, in culture, in everyday life - we are dying under the weight of connections with incompetent people

Nepotism - the preference given to relatives and friends over everyone else in hiring and promotion - is a public or unspoken reality of business culture in many countries around the world. A BBC Capital correspondent is trying to figure out whether this is good or bad.

Take Ana Patricia Botin, who inherited the position of head of the Spanish banking group Santander from her father. Or tycoon Rupert Murdoch, who appointed his sons executive directors media companies News Corp and 21st Century Fox. Or the one in five members of the British Parliament who pay a relative to act as their private secretary.

Although nepotism can be found everywhere to one degree or another, attitudes towards this phenomenon vary from country to country.

Thus, US law prohibits government employees from hiring relatives.

On private sector There is no direct ban, but American employers - like British ones - risk costly litigation if they hire primarily family and friends.

China's state anti-corruption agency is cracking down on cronyism, cracking down on what it calls powerful "families" that control key sectors of the country's industries.

But in Italy or Spain, promotion thanks to personal connections, and not career success is a common thing. In these countries, this practice is largely considered acceptable.

Swiss-born Valerie Berset-Price founded the consulting firm Professional Passport, which helps companies overcome problems intercultural communication in a team.

When Valerie went to the United States to receive a business education, she was surprised to hear from teachers there that nepotism is undoubtedly a bad practice, and in some cases even criminally punishable.

“Until I came to America, I didn’t even know the word - nepotism,” she says.

When Valerie was just starting to create her company, she discovered that her American friends, who were high positions in leading companies are not eager to recommend its services to their business partners.

“It wasn’t that they didn’t want me to succeed, didn’t like me, or didn’t believe in the prospects of my business,” says Berse-Price. “It’s just that, in accordance with the policy of their companies, I would instantly lose any chance of attracting clients, since we were on friendly terms with them.”

Differences in attitudes towards nepotism are predetermined by cultural differences. Residents of countries in which maintaining close ties with family is an integral part of national culture(often encouraged by the church), they tend to view the patronage provided to relatives as a natural and socially approved way of caring for the well-being of the family.

“In Spain there is virtually no open competition for jobs,” says Joe Haslam, an entrepreneur and senior fellow at a business school in Madrid. Haslam lives and works in Milan, Italy.

He continues: “Apart from everything else, no one [in Spain and Italy] can consider the position they occupy to be 100% theirs - it turns out that you are warming the chair for a relative who will receive this position after you. If one of the family members does not have a job, it is considered a common problem for the whole family. Undoubtedly, with this approach, positions are often given to not the best candidates - simply because they are directly or indirectly related to someone from management.”

This practice certainly has its advantages. As Haslam explains, family ties promote employee loyalty, so employers don't have to worry about a talented employee being poached by a competitor.

In addition, hiring personnel based on private recommendations is easier and cheaper than in the case of open recruitment advertisements.

Yet everyday manifestations of cronyism can harm the economy as a whole.

For a start, they discourage foreign investors: according to a 2014 EU anti-corruption report, 67% of investors working with Greek companies see nepotism as a “very serious or somewhat serious problem.”

Moreover, according to one study, corruption combined with nepotism can cost lives.

Child mortality in countries with high levels of corruption is about a third higher than in countries where corruption rates are minimal. (emphasis added, website)

At the personal level, problems arise when a person tries to find a job alone, without acquaintances and support.

“To find a job in Italy, you need connections,” says native Gabriel Fabrizio Zbalbi, owner of a real estate firm. - This is especially true for graduates educational institutions who do not yet have business contacts. Therefore, young, educated people (about 60 thousand per year, or seven out of ten graduates), despairing of finding work in Italy, leave the country to work abroad.”

Zbalbi is confident that the high unemployment rate in Italy is one of the main reasons for the departure of graduates - among young people, the unemployment rate in June 2015 reached a record level of 44.2%.

However, the system of widespread nepotism also plays a role.

A 2013 survey by the Italian Ministry of Labor found that 61% of companies rely on personal references when hiring new employees - something Zbalbi says in the public sector, some positions are effectively hereditary.

Take the recent scandal, when it turned out that more than half teaching staff University of Palermo are related to at least one of the employees of this university.

Hiring friends and family who have the knowledge and skills needed for the job is one thing. But if their main advantage is family connections, the practice simply doesn't give more qualified candidates a chance to break into the job market, says Jane Sunley, founder of London-based recruitment company Purple Cubed.

“This approach can be destructive for corporate culture, because companies are not recruiting people who can bring new ideas and technical knowledge with them, she says. - In addition, in the era of globalization, business has to work with representatives of the most different cultures, which is not so easy if everyone in the company has similar life and cultural backgrounds.”

If you are unhappy with the practice of nepotism in your home country, you can try to find a job in a country where personal connections are not so important.

This is exactly what Zbalbi did during the 2008 recession - he left Italy and created new company for real estate trading in Mexico.

“In the new place, no one knew me or my company; nevertheless, clients still came to us, convinced of the quality of our work, he recalls. “For the same thing to happen in Italy, the country’s entire corporate culture would first have to change.”

Synectics method - using analogies to make decisions
The synectics method and what is its essence The synectics method...

Illustration copyright Getty Image caption Members of the Rupert Murdoch family (far left): all in business, all settled in

Nepotism - the preference given to relatives and friends over everyone else in hiring and promotion - is a public or unspoken reality of business culture in many countries around the world. The correspondent is trying to figure out whether this is good or bad.

Take Ana Patricia Botin, who inherited the position of head of the Spanish banking group Santander from her father. Or tycoon Rupert Murdoch, who appointed his sons as chief executives of media companies News Corp and 21st Century Fox. Or the one in five members of the British Parliament who pay a relative to act as their private secretary.

Although nepotism can be found everywhere to one degree or another, attitudes towards this phenomenon vary from country to country.

Thus, US law prohibits government employees from hiring relatives.

There is no direct ban on the private sector, but American employers - like British ones - risk costly litigation if they hire primarily family and friends.

China's state anti-corruption agency is cracking down on cronyism, cracking down on what it calls powerful "families" that control key sectors of the country's industries.

Until I came to America, I didn’t even know the word - nepotism Valerie Berset-Price, Swiss born

But in Italy or Spain, promotion due to personal connections, rather than career success, is commonplace. In these countries, this practice is largely considered acceptable.

Swiss-born Valerie Berset-Price founded Professional Passport, a consulting firm that helps companies overcome cross-cultural communication challenges within their teams.

When Valerie went to the United States to receive a business education, she was surprised to hear from teachers there that nepotism is undoubtedly a bad practice, and in some cases even criminally punishable.

“Until I came to America, I didn’t even know the word nepotism,” she says.

When Valerie was just starting to create her company, she discovered that her American friends, who held high positions in leading companies, were not eager to recommend her services to their business partners.

“It wasn’t that they didn’t want me to succeed, didn’t like me, or didn’t believe in the prospects of my business,” says Berse-Price. “It’s just that, according to their company policy, I would instantly lose any chance of success.” attracting clients because we were on friendly terms with them."

Differences in attitudes towards nepotism are predetermined by cultural differences. Residents of countries where maintaining close ties with relatives is an integral part of the national culture (often encouraged by the church) tend to view the protection provided to relatives as a natural and socially approved way of caring for the well-being of the family.

“In Spain there is virtually no open competition for jobs,” says Joe Haslam, an entrepreneur and senior fellow at a business school in Madrid. Haslam lives and works in Milan, Italy.

He continues: “Among other things, no one [in Spain and Italy] can consider the position he occupies 100% his own - it turns out that you are warming a chair for a relative who will receive this position after you. If any of the members there is no work for the family, this is considered a common problem for the whole family. Undoubtedly, with this approach, positions are often given to not the best candidates - simply because they are directly or indirectly connected with someone from management."

This practice certainly has its advantages. As Haslam explains, family ties promote employee loyalty, so employers don't have to worry about a talented employee being poached by a competitor.

More than half of the teaching staff of the University of Palermo are related to at least one of the employees of this university

In addition, hiring personnel based on private recommendations is easier and cheaper than in the case of open recruitment advertisements.

Yet everyday manifestations of cronyism can harm the economy as a whole.

For a start, they discourage foreign investors: according to a 2014 EU anti-corruption report, 67% of investors working with Greek companies see nepotism as a “very serious or somewhat serious problem.”

The West is the West. East is East. And they won’t get along together... An important difference between Russian corporate culture and what is customary in Europe and the USA is the tradition of employing “our” people - relatives and friends.

Almost every translated manual for managers says: you cannot employ friends and relatives in your company. However, in reality, they were hired, are hired and, apparently, will be hired. This usually infuriates HR managers (personnel specialists). "The main work of personnel services in personnel selection is the assessment professional competence, psychological characteristics and the possibility of “constructing” a team of like-minded people,” says Natalya Kalinina from the Arktel company. - Relatives are most often introduced without giving them the opportunity HR services evaluate them according to all criteria. Hence the problems of team building."

Indeed, finding employment for relatives and friends is fraught with problems within the team. But at the same time, in real life There are also positive examples of introducing “our” people into key positions. According to Vladislav Bykhanov, a representative of Penny Lane Consulting, traditions of clannishness and nepotism are especially characteristic of Asian and Russian companies. “In Western and pro-Western companies, such principles are not welcomed at all,” emphasizes a specialist from Penny Lane Consulting. “All appointments are made on a competitive basis. In some companies there is even unwritten rule: If two employees get married, one of them should definitely leave the company." Perhaps the trick is to avoid conflict between pro-Asian traditions Russian leaders and implemented corporate values, which, as a rule, turn out to be pro-Western.

When giving ordinary employees recommendations on safety precautions for communicating with “their” people, experts take this “trick” into account. “If a person finds himself in a company with stable family ties, then first of all he should understand these connections so as not to inadvertently quarrel with someone close to the management,” says Vladislav Bykhanov. According to him, if an employee wants to advance in this company, he needs to understand the interaction scheme, that is, establish good relationship with the person who can put in a good word for him in front of management. If such a model of behavior is unacceptable for a candidate, then it is better not to go to work for such a company at all. Because, no matter how good a specialist you are, you will still remain a “stranger” for management.

What to do if the manager brought his relative to your company? “You should look at the situation as a whole and not make decisions without understanding it,” advises Natalya Kalinina. “Maybe you are lucky - a completely sane person has come. Try to abstract yourself from whose relative he is. First of all, he is the same person as You".

More than once I was in a situation where I found myself “special, close to the sovereign-emperor.” That is, either a relative or a good friend of high authorities. It’s a very unpleasant feeling, I’ll tell you...

From an early age I was sent to a pioneer camp, the director of which was my aunt. At first, when I was 10 years old, I was happy: at least some kind of soul mate was nearby! And he will feed and help, if anything. Then I noticed that they were looking sideways at me...
The older I got, the worse I felt. Everyone was afraid of me, both pioneer leaders and peers. Of course, not those with whom we became friends since childhood and traveled together year after year, but newcomers. Against my will, I had to carry the annual burden: I was obsequiously elected chairman of the squad council. If only I could get some sleep, I have to get up before everyone else for the planning meeting in the director’s office! Friends and boys are walking, and Katya is preparing another competition... Brrr!
But there were also advantages. The counselors were afraid that I would tell my aunt about their nightly adventures, so they had to take me with them to barbecues (the company included a forwarder who, naturally, stole the meat...). They drink vodka themselves, but for me, 15 years old, they specially bought me weak wine... So that I would be “tied up” with them...

Having received a diploma as a teacher of Russian and literature, I was confused: in those days, teachers were not paid for six months. The father quickly spoke with his good friend– the head of a women’s teenage colony, and they quickly sent me “outside the fence” to evening school.
My fellow teachers just hated me! Firstly, the youngest teacher was 35 years old (I'm 22). Secondly, they paid there on time, and with all sorts of extra charges, so everyone dreamed of either getting a job vacant place your friend (relative), or grab yourself a second bet. Thirdly, never in the history of the existence of this school has a snot taught with absolutely no work experience. Thus, the teachers there immediately figured out that I had not fallen from the sky, but was a protégé of someone very high. They also soon found out who exactly...
At first I was really annoyed with all sorts of things. open lessons, the director and head teacher periodically looked in during the lesson. When they realized that I was doing a great job and had no problems with ladies in peacoats, they fell silent. But this seemed to anger them even more...

A few years ago I showed up to one of the newspapers that was edited by a very good friend of mine. “Where is Kolyunya?” - she blurted out like a fool from the doorway. Well, I didn’t know that he would offer me a job on a permanent basis. And I never knew his middle name.
So, from the first day of work, employees twice my age began to call your humble servant exclusively by her first name and patronymic... I asked a hundred times to be tied up with this patronymic - to no avail! This is what I got from Kolyunya. I was ready to pull out all the hair under my arms by my stupid tongue, but nothing could be fixed...

2. Try not to let anyone know about your friendships/family relationships at your new job.

3. If you do find out, you will have to prove for months that you are not just a professional, but a superpro.

4. Under no circumstances give food for gossip like “they are lovers”

5. Be prepared for the fact that you will have to follow the orders of a friend/relative with whom you have had more than one glass of tea.

6. Have the courage to leave if new job I won't like it.

Well, that's probably all. If my advice helps anyone, I will be very glad!

Corruption threatens the very existence of the state and is the main obstacle to improving the standard of living of the population, economic development, and the formation of civil society. The growth of corruption in Russia is one of the main anti-factors for attracting foreign investment and modern technologies into Russian industry. The list of negative consequences of corruption is long. In this regard, an effective fight against corruption inevitably entails fundamental changes not only in the state, but also in society as a whole. One of the reasons for the “rootedness” of corruption in Russia is its systemic nature.

The authors of the monograph devoted to the problem of corruption in modern Russia examined, in particular, the typology of this phenomenon: from “grassroots” corruption to “ high level", corruption in government and in civil society, economic and ideological corruption. In this material we will talk about “soft corruption” - nepotism, crownism, protectionism, favoritism, nepotism, clanism, localism.

Excerpt from the monograph: Sulakshin S.S., Maksimov S.V., Akhmetzyanova I.R. and others. "State policy of combating corruption and the shadow economy in Russia." Monograph in 2 volumes.

Corruption “soft” and “hard”

In addition to bribery, there are many other specific forms (manifestations) of corruption: favoritism, nepotism (nepotism), cronyism (protectionism), lobbying and cronyism (connections). It is apparently impossible to compile an exhaustive list of types of corrupt activities. In Russia, “feeding” once existed legally, difficult to distinguish from bribery and extortion, and - what can we say - about such a widespread in Russia, almost ritual form of bribery as “greyhound puppies”. Feeding may have been the first manifestation of what is considered, from an economic point of view, to be double taxation66.

Nepotism, nepotism, crownism, protectionism, favoritism, nepotism, clannishness, localism in general

About conflict of interest

Favoritism: nepotism, nepotism

On tolerance for conflicts of interest

Given the current tolerance for conflicts of interest, the efficiency of public administration (including spending) of public resources is irreparably low.

Any volumes of budget resources in this case will be embezzled or spent inappropriately in the interests of the managers of these resources. This will inevitably damage the prestige of the state, civil service and a specific government authority.

Most of the distrust of government authorities among a significant part of Russians is generated precisely by the prevailing tolerance for conflicts of interest in society. The population cannot trust government bodies whose officials, without hiding the existing conflict of interests, demonstratively ensure the priority of protecting their interests in relation to state interests. Moreover, the use of official position for personal gain, which is usually difficult to prove during an investigation, is usually obvious to others. This may not even be condemned (“we all live like this”), but trust in government agencies doesn't add.

In Russia, a significant number of officials (including federal ministers, their deputies, deputies of the State Duma and members of the Federation Council, other persons holding government positions, ministers and up to chief specialists) of various ministries and departments are included (often for remuneration) on the boards of directors joint-stock companies and companies, in connection with which there is an actual “fusion” of the state and business, which in most cases represents, in our opinion, legalized corruption. This practice actually legalizes the constant conflict of personal and state interests, which serves as the objective basis for the illegal lobbying activities of persons holding public office. Power merges with property, creating new deeply hidden corruption technologies.

In our opinion, it is necessary to reconsider the issue of representation of civil servants in joint stock companies with a share of state capital. According to current legislation, civil servants are prohibited from engaging in other paid activities, including entrepreneurial activities, participating in the management of joint stock companies, etc. In some countries, for example in the USA, even scientific and teaching paid activities of civil servants are prohibited or limited. In Russia, on the contrary, this is a common practice. It is rare that a high-ranking official today is not a “major scientist” in the relevant field of public administration.

Clanism and financial crises

It is known that the clan is the most durable and dominant form of solidarity, consanguineous and patron-client integration-identification of individuals for thousands of years, which grew out of traditional primitive society. At the same time, this is the most dangerous and disastrous form of grouping and recruitment of elites for undeveloped democratic societies, since here the connecting people are not personal qualities and virtues, but random biological and natural relationships of kinship, nepotism, fraternity, etc. As a result, the nation weakens , is fragmented into many competing clans, tribes, zhuzes, their segregation, inequality and injustice arise, leading the ethnic group to self-destruction.

Some experts believe that Asian countries (Korea, and especially Indonesia and Thailand) are characterized by significant levels of corruption, including nepotism, sheltering from taxation of profits and assets, which can be called “criminal capitalism.”

At the epicenter of the 1997 financial crisis, strange as it may seem at first glance, were the most dynamic countries - South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, which have historically managed short terms to go a considerable (albeit unequal) part of the way that separates them from the leaders of the world economy. The fact is that during the formation of basic economic structures in these states that played the role of engines of growth, many “distortions” were made associated with the traditions of nepotism and favoritism, manifested in clan, family and other informal ties that do not “fit” with the laws of modern market economy. “Greenhouse” conditions facilitated and accelerated the formation of these structures and their subsequent expansion. But at the same time, the issues of separation of power from property remained unresolved. The necessary business transparency was not achieved either.

The traditions of nepotism, fraternity, and economically unjustified favoritism that are still thriving in Russia, breeding personnel confusion, incompetence and corruption, may well, as analysis shows, nullify all the state’s efforts to modernize the economy and return Russia to the status of an economic superpower.

From localism to separatism - one step

It should be noted that the term “localism” can be used as a characteristic not only of economic, but also of political corruption that produces separatism (Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria, Chechnya). The transition from clanism, tribalism and localism to particularism (regionalism) and separatism occurs quite naturally as the necessary conditions mature and (conscious or unconscious) the weakening of legitimate forms of public communications. This can also be combated by the legislative introduction of the concept of normative (mandatory) ethnic (national) proportional representation in government bodies (both local and state), which is practiced in other countries. For example, in the Soviet Union, a “proportional” composition of workers, women and national minorities in party and government structures was ensured by calculation.

As is known, ordinary crime flourishes when it finds support in political crime, in the corruption of the bureaucracy. Contrary to declarations about the fight against privileges, distribution of benefits has taken place on an unprecedented scale in the past, making it possible to almost uncontrollably plunder the state treasury, nepotism, nepotism, “telephone law,” and the use of power to discredit political opponents and business competitors. All of these are fairly traditional features of the disintegration of state power. In Russia it has assumed frightening proportions, and the fertile ground for it has become the process of privatization of state and municipal property, often illegitimate or controversial in legal terms in a manner that is nevertheless recognized by a certain part of society in whose favor the corresponding privatization was carried out.

Friendship or cronyism?

Friendship and nepotism (nepotism) are identified as a separate type of corruption. They lead to such facts as large concessions in making deals, the appointment of relatives to key positions, preferential purchases of personal property, access to hard currency and other similar facts. Control over these areas of business creates the preconditions for using them for corruption purposes. The distribution of such benefits is carried out among a small group of elites and members of their families, from whom returns are expected in the form of bribes and other “thanks”. Corruption in the family circle is not as widespread as commercial bribes and patronage systems. As already noted, from a legal perspective, corruption can be briefly defined as the illegal use of public office for personal gain. The term “illegal” means that there are laws (regulations) governing the behavior of persons holding public positions as state and municipal employees. The actual compliance or non-compliance with these laws and the punishment for violating them is another matter.

Although it is not considered abnormal in our society to accommodate relatives and friends, nepotism is not at all so harmless. In many countries, nepotism is officially prohibited. Thus, in the United States there is an Office of Government Ethics. Its experts develop sets of rules for all civil servants and also monitor their compliance. In the United States, they also monitor crownism, when stable friendly relations exist between senior officials. So, for example, if an inspector is sent to a company to conduct an inspection, and the director of this company is his classmate, he must report this.

And yet, an opponent of the current Washington administration, Hillary Clinton, now a Democratic senator from New York, said in January 2006: “We now have a culture of corruption, cronyism, incompetence. I predict that this administration will go down in history as one of the worst that has ever ruled our country." Other countries are also fighting nepotism. In March 2005, Israeli Finance Minister B. Netanyahu signed new rules for hiring in state-owned companies. Now an enterprise does not have the right to hire an employee if his relative works there, holds a management position or receives a large salary.

The Parliament of Cyprus passed a law back in 2001, according to which nepotism became a criminal offense. Those found guilty of this must pay a fine of $4,000 or serve a year behind bars.

China deals with nepotism in its own way: a disciplinary commission has banned the children of high-ranking Chinese officials from doing business. Family members executives do not have the right to enter into real estate transactions, work in advertising, own law firms, or open discos, night clubs, or karaoke bars. And those already employed in these areas should quit or be punished.

In Poland, all civil servants are required to inform their bosses if their family members are involved in business. For attempting to conceal such information, officials must pay a fine or lose their position. Moreover, in the event of dismissal, they will not be able to accept gifts from people whom they helped while working in government bodies.

Some results

To summarize, it should be noted:

Classic (“hard”) corruption (bribery, commercial bribery) is fully institutionalized as public relations become more complex and is supplemented by ever new pseudo-institutional corruption mechanisms, which at each specific historical period of time adapt to new conditions of public and personal communications, easily replacing those that are missing or delayed in development of legitimate social mechanisms;

The distinction between “hard” (classical) and “soft” corruption may make it possible to develop additional mechanisms for protecting against relatively new types of corruption and to control old ones;

The transition from localism to particularism (regionalism) and separatism can be explained by the development and degeneration of economic corruption into ideological (political), which certainly makes it possible to notice in time danger signals for the very integrity of the state.

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