Working with Family

Pros and Cons of Working with Family

Most small business owners of a family business assume that it would be easy and rewarding to hire their spouse, kids, brother, sister or any other family member. After all, you get to spend a majority of your day-to-day with your most loved personal relationships.  However, working relationships are very different than personal relationships and not always so easy.

There is always a lot to consider before hiring or joining a family business.  Everyone’s family has different personalities and family dynamics so meshing is not always easy. There are many advantages of working with family members. However, there are also many cons that you should consider prior to hiring family or joining your family’s business.

We would like to share some of the Pros and Cons of working with your family below.

Pros of Working with Family Members

1. You can probably expect your family member to be loyal to the Company or if you were hired, you’d have job security. It’s unlikely that a family member will fire you, even sometimes when you should be because you are not doing a great job.
2. You most likely won’t run a background check on your family member so can save money.  But, if you’re being hired by a family member, you most likely do not need to go through a background and references check and uncle John will never know you have been convicted of a felony.
3. As an employee, you might be able to have a flexible work schedule and may be able to occasionally come to work late or leave early.
4. You’ll work with people you hopefully trust. It is important to watch out for any appearances of favoritism or nepotism. This often
5. You get to hang out with your family. Since most people are away from their families so much due to work, you won’t miss out on making memories. (Assuming you like your family member.)
   

Five Cons of Working with Family Members

1. Your career growth may suffer. When compared to a corporate job, a family business may not have the same opportunities for career growth.
2. You might not be able to take a family vacations together. If your co-workers are your family members, traveling together would mean leaving the business unattended and not always possible.
3. An argument at home can continue into the workplace, potentially creating a hostile work environment. 
4. Non-Family employees will not be honest with you that your family member (Who happens to be their supervisor) has been harassing them because they assume you will look the other way and not do anything about it because “You are family.”  Typically. in this situation the non-family employee will just quit instead of bringing up the issue, leaving the business owner feeling and betrayed.
5. Lastly, you may have to fire a family member, which may be the biggest con.  If it is for performance issues, make sure you have set clear expectations. Often in a family business the expectations are a bit lax but it is important to set expectations from day one with a proper job description so they are clear about their role and responsibilities. (Afterall, you can’t get mad at someone for not doing something that you never asked them to do.) If you get to the point that you know you will need to let a family member go, it is a good idea to have a skilled HR Consultant help you strategize the exit plan and have them present in the meeting as a neutral objective third party to help facilitate.
   

We specialize in working with Family Owned and Operated Business.  If you don’t know how to fire a family member, or any employee for that matter and need assistance with ending their employment or maneuvering the complexities of working with family please contact us. 

Info@dsahrsolutions.com   or (707) 361-5385