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I like this article by Mike Kappel “Things To Consider When Hiring Family Members” published on Forbes.com, listing the pros and cons of hiring family members. If you are running a family business or employ family members it’s worth a read to see if you are falling into any of the common traps.
Working with family members can be highly rewarding and beneficial. But taking family relationships into the workplace can cause problems.
As a business owner, I know both sides of this. I’ve hired several family members at my businesses. I’ve learned that hiring a relative can be a good experience, but you need to understand what might go wrong and how to prevent negativity.
The Pros And Cons Of Hiring Family Members
Hiring family members can have both good and bad results. Here are some pros and cons of employing family members.
Pros Of Hiring Family
One of the best parts of hiring family is that you already know the people.
During the normal hiring process, you thoroughly interview and research candidates in hopes that you can get to know them well enough in a short amount of time to make a good hiring decision. After you hire the employee, hidden information might appear.
But with family members, you know what you’re getting. You’ve been around these people for a long time, so you know their personalities, skills, and experience. You know their strengths and weaknesses. Your entire familial relationship serves as a background check of sorts.
Also, your relatives probably have more interest in your business than the average employee. They want to see you succeed. They likely have a better understanding of your vision and goals because they’ve watched you build the business from the beginning. Unrelated employees might not understand everything you’ve done in the past or behind the scenes.
Cons Of Hiring Family
Hiring family members doesn’t mean sunshine all the time.
An employee who is related to you might assume they have special privileges. They might try to abuse you and your business. At the same time, it’s easy for you to take advantage of your relative and set higher expectations for them. You might exploit them into working more or taking less pay.
On the other hand, you might let your family member get away with everything. You might hold them to lower standards than other employees. This is family favoritism in the workplace, also called nepotism. Your other employees might begin to resent you and your family members, causing unhappiness.
