A crucial aspect of developing any enterprise is a team of great employees. Friends and family are sometimes a good fit for companies. There are many benefits to hire friends and family, but it can easily go wrong quickly with significant consequences. Here are some things to take into consideration before hiring a friend or family member as part of your team.
Benefits:
First-hand knowledge
Hiring and training takes time and money away from your business. You probably already have a good idea of what their strengths are and how they can be used to the advantage of your business. Your personal relationship with them, you might not have to run a background check and can already determine the quality of their character. The best part about hiring family and friends within your business is that you know you are gaining employees you can trust.
Great communication
A team needs to maintain good communications between one another and with their bosses. If you know someone well it increases your ability to communicate effectively. If you already have a positive relationship you know if they are a good fit for your team and bringing them on board could be a very real advantage for your operation.
Commitment
Family and friends will be more willing to go the extra mile for you. If you are close your already a team in other parts of your life. This make it easier to get on a project together and ensure you have someone you trust on your side. Their commitment to working hard can be extremely valuable. The bonds you already have in place could be enough to keep them motivated when times get tough and extra efforts is required.
Drawbacks:
Favoritism
Making a personal hire can run the risk of nepotism. You may not even think you’re showing favoritism, but it’s may be perceived by other employees. Once the thought of employee preference is there, it can be challenging to get rid of. This can negatively impact the rest of your team, and cause resentment that persists.
Personal issues
At the very least, allowing personal feelings and patterns into the workplace could be detrimental to your business. That the damage could extend to outside relationships if hiring someone with whom you have a personal relationship ends badly. Firing someone is never an easy interaction, and it’s even more uncomfortable when you have personal history with the person you’re firing. When you consider hiring a friend or family, ask yourself what it would be like at the next family get together if you had recently fired them.
Limiting your choices
When you hire within your small circle you limit your pool of potential applicants your business could suffer for it. If you hire without seeking other applicants you can be ignoring the best candidates. Plus, your decision to hire someone you know could be based on emotion rather than reasoned thought, which means you could end up with a totally incompetent employee. You should only hire those who have the skills and are qualified for the job.
The high trust level makes for a pre-seasoned employee, which can be an excellent investment for business owners. There’s no denying that the hiring game can be a complete crap shoot. While working with family members might seem like a good idea, it can often lead to challenging and uncomfortable situations or even potentially hurt relationships. Ultimately what it comes down to is making the right business decision for your company.
