When Cronyism Backfires at Work
When does recommending a friend for a job hurt you?
July 10, 2008 — -- A marketing director I recently met was kicking herself for recommending a friend for a temporary position doing administration work for her boss.
"Everything started out OK," said Christie, who works at an arts organization in San Francisco. " And then the whining started."
The job was beneath him, didn't pay enough and wasn't what he saw himself doing long-term, her ungrateful pal whined. Then he told Christie that he "would be gone in a month or so."
Only he didn't quit. Instead, he stayed on nearly a year, "calling in sick once a week and showing up 30 to 45 minutes late every day," Christie explained.
But the slacking didn't stop there. There were the two-hour lunches, the "dental appointments" that required him to leave work early at least three days a week, and the maddening fact that he kept telling Christie about his necessary absences instead of dealing directly with his manager, something Christie was forever reminding him to do.
Fortunately for Christie, her boss was understanding of her predicament -- wanting to save the friendship, but not wanting to endure another protracted coffee break with her pal. Mercifully, the boss solved the problem by laying the loafer off.
I bring this story to your attention for a reason. Primarily, because most discussions of nepotism focus on how promoting the boss' boob of a nephew to a management position he can't possibly handle, drags down employee morale.
But how about the Christies of the workforce -- those of us who choose to help a friend in need with a glowing recommendation, only to regret the day we volunteered to stick their resume under the boss' nose? Just how badly can hiring a friend or relative backfire? And are we really doing our cronies any favors by letting them ride on our coattails and coast through their career?
When Detroit attorney Karen Evans was promoted from application processor to recruiter at the college she used to work for, she was asked to help find her replacement. An "unemployed, chronically dramatic" friend, known to be unreliable, begged to interview for the position, and Evans caved.
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