Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of TimePeace: Making peace with time – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies. I recently received the questions “What is your #1 tip on hiring friends or family members?”
Small business owners may look to family and friends for staffing assistance. Even if you are not a business owner, you may feel obligated to recommend a friend or family member. Though you may know and trust these people more than a stranger, there are several things to consider up-front.
There’s always a high risk of losing the friendship or creating bad feelings with the family member or friend. It’s just a risky business proposition. If you are still going to do it, here are 5 tips to implement to make is a smoother experience.
1) Have the right reason for hiring your family or friend.
Example of the wrong reason: Simply to help them get on their feet and you feel obligated because they are ‘family’. This isn’t the best reason to invite a friend or family member into your business. If you want to help them out, help them with their resume, forward job leads their way, pay for their skills training or certification course, coach them in other attributes that you feel is keeping them from success, etc. There are many other ways to help them get on their feet, other than having them affect your business and your quality of life.
Example of the right reason: They have the right skills, personality, work ethics, business reputation, professionalism, exceptional work experience in relevant industry, you have successfully worked with them in the past, and you would love to work with them in the future. They are also mature and feel that your relationship will not be affected if the business relationship does not last.
2) Documented detail expectations and work contracts.
In the interview and hiring phases, get everything in writing. It’s especially critical to have formal contracts when working with friends and family. This assures everyone is on the same page and that you have a ‘meeting of the minds’ before you start. Have the contracts and documented approved and signed by all the appropriate stakeholders. Any modification of these agreements must also be documented, approved and signed.
These documented expectation and work contracts should be instituted for all employees; but critical for family and friends that you hire. Follow-through on any consequences or rewards documented in those signed contracts.
3) Avoid being their direct report on the job.
To eliminate daily conflicts, it might be good to assign your family or friend to an experiences and high-performing manager or mentor. Share the particulars with your manager to assure him/her that your family member should not be treated any differently than any other employee. Share the PBC and IDP documents with the manager (Sign up for the Professional Development Toolkit to learn more about PDB and IDP documents). Also, tell your family or friend that they need to go through the manager or mentor – and not directly to you regarding work issues.
4) Proactively eliminate venting to other family members.
Because this is your friend or family member, you will have mutual family and friends in common. And they might have a particularly hard day and vent to mutual friends and family members. Realize that it is very possible that you might hear “through the grapevine” some grievances and complaints; and friend in common might feel obligated to take a side in the conflict. This will not only cause strain on your relationship with your employee but with the family and friends you have in common.
Before you hire your friend or family member, outline your grievance policy and procedures. Make it very clear that you expect him/her to take any grievances directly to his/her manager. If the issue is associated with the manager, they should follow-up with their 2nd line manager. Make I clear that you will not tolerate any side-routes through family members. There will be consequences to not following this grievance policy that could include probation or lose of position.
This grievance policy should be abide by all employees – but especially critical for employees that share family and friends.
5) Be over-diligent in equal treatment to all employees.
If you feel you need to institute a new policy, procedure change, rewards, bonus, advance pay or improvement plan, you need to institute, document and announce the change for the entire company. You need to avoid the perception that your family member is receiving special treatment (either positive or negative treatment). You can do this by being over-diligent in your documented company policies. You also need to document all your employee interactions regarding performance reviews, rewards, performance improvement needs, reasons for pay increases or decreases, etc. Error on the side of too-much proof regarding all employee interactions and performance issues.
Bottom line: I am not recommending anything that should not already be done for regular employment and company policies. The key is not to deviate these procedures based upon a personal relationship with the potential employee. If you friend and family member feels uncomfortable with the level of professionalism of your business, then your company is simply not a good match for them. It’s best to find out at the interview stage.
In my IT Professional Development Toolkit, I go into the: who, what, where, when and how to accomplish all of the above. I also have a transferrable skill worksheet. For more information about the toolkit, please contact
vConferenceOnline.com/Bits on the Wire, Inc.
6420 E. Broadway, Suite A300
Tucson, AZ 85710
520-760-2400 or (877) 853-9158
info@vconferenceonline.com
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