unconsciously) to make a career out of the family business. So far, so good... or is that really so? Let’s focus on those who decided to make their career working in the fam- ily company. For this group, the good news is that they may learn the business from the bottom up and decide to re- main, ultimately becoming the second, third or even fourth generation of busi- ness owners. The bad news is that they may not have any other work experience, and this can introduce a whole host of potential is- sues. Hint: Better to have your kids gain work experience outside the family busi- ness before coming on board. Don’t be selfish — let some other employer abuse them first. You’ll have your chance later. Either way, you’ll probably be accused of overworking and underpaying them. You will do them (and yourself) a favor if you ensure that they work for someone else prior to you! The key question is: Why did the adult children decide to remain in the family business? Far too oſten, the answer is sim- ply that they had no idea what they want- ed to do for a career, and the business owners/parents were only too happy to encourage a career in the family business. Frankly, it’s hard work to look for a job (especially if you don’t have much relevant experience or credentials), and it’s just easier to work for Mom and/or Dad. Moreover, Mom and/or Dad may be co-conspirators inasmuch as it’s not easy to find good help. Thus, kids of- ten join the family business for all the wrong reasons. The adult child may indeed become a contributing employee, and sometimes, this path works out reasonably well. At this juncture, the adult child is likely to be just an employee (hopefully, a productive one) and may not have even the slightest exposure to management of the business. WWW.ALOA.ORG One of the most common traps you want to avoid is turning your adult child employee into a “Peter Principle” victim. If you are not familiar with this term, it essentially means that employees tend to be promoted to their level of incom- petence. Your son Johnny may be a great technician but a lousy manager and an even worse leader. Yes, you taught him how to install or repair just about any- thing and although useful overall, that’s largely irrelevant in a managerial role. Perhaps the most-cited example of this hierarchical tragedy is when the com- pany’s best salesperson is promoted to sales manager. The result is that 1) the company loses its best salesperson. 2) an incompetent manager is installed and 3) you have now probably demoralized your better employees, especially if this new manager becomes their boss. “But Johnny worked from the bottom up and really knows the company’s op- erations. He’s smart too.” So why does this type of situation fail soooooo oſten? Because the management job/role requires a different skill set! If your intention is to ultimately pro- mote your employee kid(s) into man- agement, make sure they have the ap- propriate experience, temperament, attitude and education to function suc- cessfully in that role. Hint: Let them take responsibility for an entire depart- ment first and see how they handle it. A primary test will be the challenge of transitioning from “one of the guys” to functioning as a boss. Are they re- ally prepared to discipline and even fire their buddies? Can they earn their team members’ and peers’ respect? It helps to identify what they are good at and what work they prefer. Whatever you do, don’t force a round peg into a square hole just to carve out an artifi- cial spot for your family member. Don’t overpay the position either. Relatives as Employees So, your 34-year-old nephew “Dead- wood” has been allegedly seeking gainful employment for a very long time. Despite his college degree in ancient anthropol- ogy (a sure path to career success), for some inexplicable reason, Deadwood has been unable to find a job. Your sister Martha (Deadwood’s mom) says, “He’s a good boy and just needs a chance. He’s never caused any trouble while living in our basement for the last 10 years. You can see that he is great with computers; he reaches very high scores playing his video games, especially Fortnite and Call of Duty!” There you have it, what more proof do you need about what a promising future employee Deadwood will make in your company? Be polite, and run, don’t walk, away from situations like this. Immedi- ately close and lock your door, disconnect your phone, temporarily lose your ability to speak, develop amnesia, fake demonic possession or whatever it takes. Also, be prepared for an end run to your spouse, especially if he/she is Martha’s sibling. Relationships Between Employees It’s generally a good idea to have a com- pany policy prohibiting employment of spouses and relatives within a business. Workplace romances/relationships can create some complicated situations and potentially expose the company to liabil- ity. Such relationships can interfere with running the business or even threaten to violate company anti-harassment poli- cies, especially when these relationships crumble and turn ugly. Of course, in the real world, employ- ee strangers can sometimes meet in the workplace, and unplanned relationships form. Love knows no boundaries! Some company policies require that, under such circumstances, one of the employees SEPTEMBER 2020 KEYNOTES 15
