I have Seen Destructive Corruption at Work in Swaziland

Back in 2001 when I started working for the giant postal service provider in Swaziland, I got to learn that corruption is the worst thing that can happen for an employer, particularly when hiring staff. I witnessed an incompetent fellow (favoured by the boss and then employed for a job she didn’t qualify) doing the company more bad than good and I concluded that this is detrimental to all companies that hire people based on favour and not on credit.

You want to know what incompetent hired through corruption people do? I will tell of what I saw then and is still happening even today:

1. They get favours from the bosses to hire subordinates that will do the work for them
2. They get high salaries at the expense of the hard workers
3. They misuse company assets. For example, they often have limited restrictions on telephone usage (such as unbarred from making international calls) and access to restricted company systems (such as having personal printers/fax machines when such assets are shared by all other staff members).
4. Qualified staff members often get de-motivated at sharing equal (or even less) benefits to someone who is not qualified for the job, thus reducing productivity.
5. They don’t follow correct procedures to solving problems. For example, instead of rebooting a computer, they’d go straight to the main plug and switch off.
6. They commit the company to unnecessary costs. For example, mistakes they make could warrant legal claims against the company.

Such effects are lasting and contribute to revenue leakages that the company may not even notice. In Swaziland, if you happen to see this happening in the organization you work for, you just have to devise some copping strategy and live with it. If you do challenge it, you may face some uncomfortable consequences that may last you a life time or even shorten you life.