QUESTION: How do we handle this situation? Most family members are employed in our family business, and two siblings are not working as hard as the others. One brother in Human Resources always reports for work late (in effect, he works just half a day during the week, while the other siblings work 12 to 14 hours a day). We later found out that his absences and tardiness were brought about by his computer gaming addiction, so he lacks sleep. He sleeps late and gets up late for work.
One sister, who gathers data and field work, has no significant output and seems not to be doing her daily tasks in the “field.” The older siblings in higher positions want to remove or terminate these two from their current positions. Aside from being unproductive, these two siblings are not setting good examples to the other employees. Their work attitude has already become topics and jokes among the rank and file.
However, our parents do not want them to be terminated since our two siblings have their own families to support.
Answer: As owners, all of you need to be clear about the ultimate aim of your family business: Does your family business have profit as the goal, or is it a source of jobs for members?
If you and your family do not consciously decide, then you go into default mode, which is happening now in your family business. Default mode usually means giving jobs to family even if they don’t perform well, to the detriment of business.
There is nothing morally wrong with default mode. But you may have to settle for lower-quality work. Moreover, everyone in the family business, whether family or not, needs not just to know the situation, but also to accept it.
If you choose default mode, US consultant Alison Green says in “US News and World Report”: “You owe it any non-family employees to be upfront with them before hiring them that this is how you work. Because it really sucks to take a job at a family-run business and then discover that things aren’t done on merit. Tell people ahead of time, so they can decide if they want to sign up for that or not.”
From your letter, you likely want your family business to function as a business should. From a purely business standpoint, you know that the solution is obvious: Discuss the problem with the slacker siblings (let’s call them SS), demand that they meet company standards, or else face sanctions. After all, the bottom line is profit; those who don’t contribute are not welcome.
But family business is not just any ordinary enterprise. Because SS are family, the issue is more complex.
Make Expectations Clear
Have you as a family discussed the problem with the SS? If it’s only you and your other siblings who have talked to the SS about it, then the discussion is futile. SS know that your parents cannot bear to let them suffer; they know who holds the power in the family business (hint: it is not you).
Your parents need to discuss the problems with the SS, and explain what the standards are.
But are your family business standards clear? Unwritten rules are nebulous; they have to be put in writing, and communicated clearly to family and nonfamily before they join the family business. Since you have nonfamily employees, I assume that your family business has rules and standards concerning work etiquette, ethics, hours, deliverables, and so on, and that your employees knew these beforehand.
SS are employees, too, so expectations should have been made clear at the start. If the SS were invited to join only because they are family, with no demands whatsoever, then can you blame them now for slacking off? Unfortunately, this is the ugly side of human nature: SS don’t deliver, yet they get paid—so why should they work hard?
Avoid ‘sumbong’
First, decide on work standards and requirements. Second, discuss problems with SS based on these standards. How can these discussions be done?
In many family businesses, discussion is limited to complaining. Siblings vent their frustrations among themselves, then complain to their parents, who love all their children equally, so nothing happens, which frustrates the hard workers, who take out their resentment on SS, employees, or (alas!) even clients.
If your discussions so far have been of the constant complaining variety, then convene a family meeting, with everyone present. If you feel that your family can confront the problem reasonably, without undue anger or multiple accusations, then a respected member can lead the discussion: your parents, most level-headed sibling, or you.
If you feel that family bonds are extremely strained, then ask the help of a trusted neutral outsider (family lawyer, accountant, even priest) to lead the discussion. If you can afford to, then hire a family business consultant. Many universities have family business centers; give them a call.
A neutral, experienced family business consultant, who can guide the family, provides relief to the hard workers and a wake-up call to SS.
Tune in next Friday, as we continue this case: How can SS shape up? How can parents be convinced? And can gaming addiction be cured?
Keep your emails coming. Queena N. Lee-Chua is on the Board of Directors of Ateneo de Manila University’s Family Business Development Center. Her book “Successful Family Businesses” is available at the University Press (tel. 4266001 loc 4613, email msanagustin@ateneo.edu.) Email the author at blessbook@yahoo.com.
Originally posted: 9:52 pm | Thursday, December 19th, 2013