Can nepotism and favouritism be taken as a form of corruption?
Mughal Emperor Akbar had a brother in law who was corrupt to the core. But Akbar had to give him official employment since he was the brother of one of Akbar’s favourite wives! The man was so corrupt that he would get shifted from one department to another by Akbar’s ministers who couldn't tolerate this man beyond a point. And Akbar had to find some alternative employment for this scumbag who would go crying to his sister every time he was fired.Image courtesy: DainikbhaskerFinally, Akbar called on Birbal and asked Birbal to find employment for his brother in law in a department, where he could do no mischief. Birbal, the straight forward man that he was, clearly told his Emperor that it is impossible to find such department. “Your brother in law is so used to corruption that he will find a way of taking bribe no matter where you put him. In fact, I would advise you not to hire him at all and if possible give him some punishment for his past crimes,” Birbal told him.“I expected some sense from you, Birbal. Your suggestion is ridiculous. But I will show you how smart I am and find a department where this man can do no corruption,” Akbar thundered. He had already thought of something.Few days later, Akbar called upon Birbal to boast of his success. Akbar had created a completely new department for his brother in law; it was called ‘counting the waves in Yamuna’ department! What could go wrong with that? “I told you, I could think of something. See, this time I have outsmarted you,” he told Birbal with pride.Birbal smiled. My emperor, I have kept a close eye on your brother in law. In fact, he has outsmarted you. Come with me tonight to the banks of Yamuna and I will show you.”That night, they went to the Yamuna and watched the man from a hideout. The man was sitting relaxed, sucking on to a hookah pipe! Soon, a fisherman came there. Akbar’s brother in law smiled. He stopped the fisherman. “Don't you know that I have been given the all important task of counting the waves in Yamuna. If you venture into the river now, you will be disturbing my job. Of course, if you pay me a fee then I can allow you to fish.” The poor fisherman gave him some money and walked towards the river. The same incident would repeat itself every time a new fisherman came there. Birbal was smiling. Akbar had no where to hide. He admitted that he had no choice but to keep the man employed!So, yes! Nepotism and favouritism can be taken as a form of corruption!
I am giving my 2 weeks notice at work, but I want to tell them why their treatment has led me to leave. How can I word this in a professional manner?
Key Question: What are you getting out of telling them what they did wrong?Essentially, as your last act, you are helping them. Why would you help someone that kicked you consistently and without any remorse? Take Karen Tiede's advice. You don't want to burn any bridges. In fact, the best thing you can do is make them think that you absolutely loved each and every one of them. Why? So you can squeeze a letter of recommendation from them or, at least, make sure they don't remember you if someone calls. Because they will remember you if you write how you really feel.The fact that you don't get this concerns me. It makes me think you don't know how to play office politics very well. Your lack of office politics skills mean that others can play you and kick you and treat you disrespectfully without any real consequence. You need to take some ownership of this situation. Make sure you have different skills in the future so this situation never repeats itself again. I know you have the need for closure. But I assure you that there is no benefit here. Companies like this don't give you closure, they ruin your life while you work for them and ruin it even more afterwards - if you let them. Leave, learn some new skills, take your talents and new skills to another place (hopefully a competitor) and use your knowledge to make them look like the fools they are for letting you go!
Which industry has the worst nepotism?
The answer is simple. There is one business sector that is rife with nepotism. It is hard to believe they can get away with it. It is a rampant issue.That business sector is family-owned businesses.And, according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, about 90 percent of American businesses are family-owned or controlled.So a huge percentage of businesses in the US are guilty of this heinous crime.For some reason, business owners think they have the right to hire their spouse, their kids, and other relatives. Then you have even more family members running the family-owned business. Shocking!Who do these people think they are hiring their own relatives? Owners or something?Okay, if you can forgive the sarcasm, I was just trying to make a point. Nepotism can be a negative thing in some companies. But the vast majority of companies are owned by individuals and many of them are family businesses. They can and often should hire their own family members to take over and run the family business.As seen in US SBA statistics, 99.7% of companies are small businesses. By shear numbers, small companies greatly outnumber big companies. And in those relatively small number of big companies, nepotism may be forbidden or strictly controlled (e.g., no relatives in the same department or reporting chain).
What is wrong with corporate culture in India?
A lot of things.But there are some things which boil my blood. And I am going to talk about them.Working hours: on an average the working hours are 8–9hrs. But the one who leaves on time is looked upon as someone who doesn't work hard enough. There is hardly any work life balance in India. No wonder working ladies in India think of quitting their jobs soon after they have a family.Culture: we are fearing people. We fear our gods and we fear our boss. And we are expected to do it. Boss is always right is something that is being etched on our minds since the very first day. There is hardly any scope for 2 way communication.Favoritism: almost all the bosses in the world have their pets. In India the bond is even stronger. The pets are allowed to sit with their bosses and gossip but it's not tolerated when the team members spend some time with each other over tea. No matter how hard one works, the ratings are given basis your impression on the boss. In short, you just have to get your boss to like you. Boss is God in India.Micro management: A lot of bosses practice micro management. They will not only be interested in your work but also what you do throughout the day. He/she will track everything. Right from how many breaks you took, how long was your lunch break, how much time did you spent chatting with your colleagues and much more. And when the time comes, he will make sure he taunts you to death.Recreational activities: these things are looked down upon as wasting time and not being serious. Indian bosses don't believe in relieving stress or taking breaks.Workload: Indians feel the happiest when they get double the value of their money. You will be made to work for twice the amount of money in the name of learning. And you cannot deny it or you can be in trouble for not meeting expectations.No psychological counselling: given the amount of stress and responsibilities we have, none of the Indian companies have the facility of counselling.I know a lot of you could relate this answer with your situation.We Indians are too tolerant. And this quality is exploited to its fullest by the employers.We need better laws. It's time to go beyond chairs and tables and clean toilets. It's time to look at employee experience. There are some countries which moving to 4 working days a week and we are struggling to even go vegetable shopping.
Could I sue my employer for this..... ?
*** Just to be clear, since I know see how this is sounding, I am not trying to sue to get back at anyone, actually I didn't want to sue anyone I'm extremely grateful for getting to keep my job. I was approached by my co-worker, ex cop about the matter, who started putting ideas in my head about suing the company about the whole situation. I took every word with a grain of salt and wanted to research the whole matter on my own. My ex-manager had 2 other affairs with some of the staff ladies (he bragged about himself to me). This whole thing happened exactly a year and a half ago, so any scruples I had against my supervisor and director are now non-existant. After the meeting with the two, the director made it specifically clear that I was NOT responsible or accountable for the whole situation about the e-mail or with my boss. I think she told me that to make me feel better about the whole thing. Guess my co-worker is trying to blow smoke up my a**?
Why is the work culture of Kolkata so bad?
Simply because people over here wants to do everything but work.People are more inclined to politics in their office and city that doing their work.Let me cite with examples:My previous organisation( HDFC bank) is the worst place to work for. (Thank God I am in a much better organisation now)In HDFC bank, we have to come to office 8.30 in the morning(which was useless) as works started from 9.30 and we couldn't leave office before 9.30 at night though as per hr we should work till 7. All this happened because the Circle head wanted so, it seemed the senior management thought that more time we stay at office would result to high results but which was vice-versa.Employees have to butter their seniors to get promotions and benefits, your hard work or good work doesn't carry any value.My boss used to treat us like slaves, all his work was done by us, even his reporting mails was drafted by me and he just used to send it. The boss used to give us dirty slang but we couldn't do anything. The HR doesn't have any power to do anything here , he is just a puppet.When I used to talk to my peers of HDFC Bank in other cities like Mumbai or Delhi, there was no problem and they were happy.Due to the bad work culture of the city, many people go to work somewhere else or go to other organisation with better work culture.