Family employees-does it work?

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kbrandt

Member
Location
arizona
This should be a poll.

In business, does it really work with hiring family members?

Whats your experience with this--good or bad?
 

Cow

Senior Member
Location
Eastern Oregon
Occupation
Electrician
I don't care for it. One of my bosses(not the owner) has a brother that's also an electrician. He's had more screwups and pulled more boneheaded moves than all the rest of us combined. But he's still here. I can only assume he isn't fired by the owner due to the potential backlash from his brother(the boss).

Some of the guys have gotten their buddies/family members on with us too, and it seems like when they don't work out as well as they should they seem to stick around way longer than if they weren't family/friends.

Maybe others on here will have a different point of view....
 

Ken9876

Senior Member
Location
Jersey Shore
If they are treated and paid the same as everyone else. I used to work for a father and two sons, one very smart and a hard worker. The other not so much, he would bs all day, had to pick him up at his house, I did most of the work and I knew he made more. On a another note if I was to hire my sons in the future, I'd hold them to a much higher standard than others.
 

jmellc

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Occupation
Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
I've had my daughter work with me a bit. She sometimes did great, other times had to go sit in the truck, depending on her moods. My other daughter isn't as handy but follows directions better. She's never helped on a job but does OK when helping around my shed, cleaning up, etc.

All depends on the individual. A solid person will make extra effort to not embarrass the family member. A lazy person won't care & will milk the relationship for all it is worth.

I worked at a firm where a partner was a relative. I never slacked off, did my best work, as I always do. If I did screw up (yes, sometimes), I got scorched by him at least as much as anyone else would have. I would also keep an extra low profile until things settled down. Not show my face if I didn't have to, arrive early & start work, avoid the morning gatherings, etc. when I could. Coworkers knew I had no special influence or knowledge. I worked for him twice. When work slowed down I went elsewhere. I still help out occasionally if they need an extra man for a day or week, etc. I have "borrowed" a guy from them too.
 
It can work if the family members are hired because they can do the job, not because they're family. It also helps if they have a stake in the business. It does not work if cousin Joey can't hold a job anywhere else; you not doing anyone a favor in hiring him. Family is family, but business has to be business or you're out of it.
 

gaelectric

Senior Member
My son works for me. 13 years now. My dad was with the company until he passed. I treasure the time we got to spend together.

It's not always perfect but I like saying we are a three generation company.
 

Electric-Light

Senior Member
I'd say the number of employees make a difference. If you have many employees and when a terminated employee files a grievance and its clear to everyone else that family member employee is getting away with more you're likely to run into wrongful termination issues.
 

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
A lot depends on the individuals. I have seen a fair number of small businesses that went down hill pretty rapidly after the kids took over from the old man. They just never had to work as hard as the old man so never appreciated that a lot of success is hard work and not something that is owed to them.

I was always afraid the kids of the owners where I work were going to take over some day, but they have only worked here as summer jobs for a few months, and the fields they have chosen don't seem likely to lead them back.

They are not bad kids, in fact generally they seem like good kids, and pretty decent workers as summer help goes. But none of them ever HAD to work to survive. As best I could tell they all had cars and credit cards provided by their parents. I don't know that any of them ever worked at McDonalds, or had a PT job while going to school.

Better that such people go out in the real world and get some experience at places where they have to survive by the work they do for a decade or two.
 

Electric-Light

Senior Member
A lot depends on the individuals. I have seen a fair number of small businesses that went down hill pretty rapidly after the kids took over from the old man.
This happens with big businesses too after merger or acquisitions. It could go either way.

They just never had to work as hard as the old man so never appreciated that a lot of success is hard work and not something that is owed to them.
Hard physical labor is not the indicator. If someone doesn't know what they're doing in their business office, it will fail. If you browse contractor forums, you'll see plenty that are good at the work, but fail at business and vice versa.


Better that such people go out in the real world and get some experience at places where they have to survive by the work they do for a decade or two.
But they are. They're getting real world experience in summer just as people do in internships. Just shadowing is an important training in managerial skills.
 

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
Long story short, I threatened to fire my brother one time, right in front of the whole crew. The good of it was is the rest of the crew started working a lot harder, they figured that if I'd fire my brother I'd fire anyone.
 

Cow

Senior Member
Location
Eastern Oregon
Occupation
Electrician
Long story short, I threatened to fire my brother one time, right in front of the whole crew. The good of it was is the rest of the crew started working a lot harder, they figured that if I'd fire my brother I'd fire anyone.

That made me chuckle.:D
 

sameguy

Senior Member
Location
New York
Occupation
Master Elec./JW retired
I started in my brother in laws Co. and out worked most all of his men; one day a jw (lazy) told my b.i.l.s brother also working on the job to fire me due to not getting coffee for him in the mornings. The brother told him "I was the brother in law and also was out working him so if anyone gets fired it would be him!"
I started in a Co. where:
Father= master owner,retired
Son= plant elec., master
Son= master
Son(my bro. in law)= master owner
My sister= first(female) jw in East Texas
I had some one to tell me what to do no matter where I turned! Was good and bad. I do have a masters.
My son= jw I.B.E.W.
 

Besoeker

Senior Member
Location
UK
Mrs B works for me as engineering support/buyer.
We have a simple arrangement.
I'm the boss at work - she's the boss at home.
Works just fine for us.
 

renosteinke

Senior Member
Location
NE Arkansas
Thinking over my experiences ....

I have worked plenty of places where the boss's kid / brother / whatever worked, and it certainly poisoned the atmosphere. There was no doubt who didn't need to worry about a layoff. There was this undercurrent even if the kid was a good worker, and there were no overt signs of favortism. Somehow, there's never any doubt who Papa will leave the company to in his will.

Yet, this is balanced by the many small firms that work quite well with the Boss having a wife / sister / cousin running the office. When it's the wife, the business relationship also seems to help the home relationship.

I've noticed that a 'family only' firm can escape a lot of regulatory silliness. THOSE kids aren't looking for dead-end jobs over summer vacation. It's just another version of the old complaint that 'you can't get in unless you have a relative as a member.'
 
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