Risk

Non-transparent recruitment and promotion

Jobs are awarded based not on merit but on personal relationships.

Risk type: Practice

Risk driver: Internal

DESCRIPTION

If clientelism, nepotism, and favouritism are entrenched in human resources management, decisions on appointments of staff or managers will not be merit-based or driven by qualifications. This could mean for example that supervisory board members, management, or human resources staff exploit their positions to award jobs, promotions, and other favours to friends, family, or clan members, even though they may not be qualified or deserving. This results in overstaffing and poorly qualified staff and/or management. Moreover, it can demotivate other staff, because they feel that despite good performance they will not have chances for promotions.

RED FLAGS

  • Several staff from the same family
  • Poorly supported disqualifications of job applications
  • Several staff members that do not meet job requirements
  • Lack of or non-compliance with HR guidelines
  • Recruitments without open advertisements
  • Promotions issued without clear justification or not following the official patterns

KEY GUIDING DOCUMENTS

ICAC, no year, Recruitment and selection, Independent Commission Against Corruption New South Wales (ICAC), http://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/preventing-corruption/knowing-your-risks/recruitment-and-selection/4303, accessed 15.10.2015

GENERAL EXAMPLES

Interference in selection process1

Location: n.a.

  • An employee (convenor/panel member/other) manipulating selection procedures to secure the appointment of a close friend or family member.
  • A selection panel member failing to declare a conflict of interest and acting to advance the interests of an applicant who is a close friend or a relative.
  • The convenor of a selection committee appointing members to the selection panel whom they can influence in order to ensure their favoured candidate will be selected.

TARGETED EXAMPLES

Problems of Asian utilities2

Target group: Utilities

Location: Asia

  • Staff, including senior managers, are often selected because of their political connections rather than their management abilities or technical skills.
  • Water utilities are overstaffed, primarily because of political interference and nepotism. Unions are very strong and generally well connected politically.
  • Accordingly, downsizing is a difficult task because of strong union opposition and explicit or implicit political support. Overstaffing ensures low productivity and low staff morale.
  • Utilities are not allowed to pay their professional staff members the going market rates for remuneration, which sometimes can be two or three times higher.
  • This means that they are unable to attract and retain high quality staff. Many staff members moonlight to obtain extra income, and corruption is rife in nearly all levels.
  • Poor management, overstaffing, and promotions based on seniority or political connections ensure that it is very difficult to recruit good staff, and if some do join, it is equally difficult to retain them because of lack of job satisfaction, poor working environment, and absence of incentives for good performance.

Patronage in Kenyan public service3

Target group: Utilities, Public institutions

Location: Kenya

[…] two major problems continued to afflict the public service in Kenya: political nepotism and corruption. […] soon after independence political leaders found it expedient to use the public service as an instrument for patronage. This led to the tendency to reward political and personal loyalty with personnel recruitment staff promotions. This caused much disenchantment within the sector and led to the demotivation of personnel.

FULL REFERENCES

  1. ICAC, no year, Recruitment and selection, Independent Commission Against Corruption New South Wales (ICAC), http://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/preventing-corruption/knowing-your-risks/recruitment-and-selection/4303, accessed 15.10.2015
  2. Asís, M. G. de, Leary, D. O., Ljung, P., and Butterworth, J., 2009, Improving Transparency, Integrity, and Accountability in Water Supply and Sanitation, World Bank Institute and Transparency International
  3. Chepkilot, R. K., 2005, The development of motivational strategies for public sector workers in Kenya, Thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Doctor Technologiae: Human Resources Management in the Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University South Africa
Last updated 19 February 2019

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