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Strengthening the Front Line Taking care of business How to avoid the pitfalls of employing family members By Emily Huling, CIC, CMC
Consider this scenario: Your daughter announces that she, her husband, and two children are moving back to your hometown to be closer to the family. “By the way, Dad,” she asks, “could you give John a job at the insurance agency?” How can you say “no”? Or, can you picture this? Your wife bails you out when the bookkeeper suddenly resigns. Even with limited accounting knowledge, she uncovers billing errors, company statement mistakes, and posting inconsistencies. So when she volunteers to continue do that work in the evening for the agency, how can you say “no”? Another possible situation: You thought your dad was going to retire. The buyout is almost complete. He tells you he doesn’t know what he’ll do with himself if he doesn’t come into the office on a regular basis. He offers to do the tasks that no one wants to do—take property pictures, go to the bank, handle the building maintenance odds and ends. How can you say “no”? Truth is, you can say “no”; you just don’t want to. It’s family. Even though you know family members in the business can often cause trouble. So what can you do to avoid the pitfalls of employing family members? Apply consistent employment practices. As with any new hire or valued employee, use tools such as a job description and personnel manual that clearly explain job expectations, office conduct, and accountabilities. Set up a job training schedule with the assistance of coworkers and carriers. Utilize personality profiling and aptitude services to uncover issues that may affect job effectiveness. These resources are great management and employee development tools—family or not—and can help you handle uncomfortable situations by having an expert party or substantiation to defer to. Clearly explain exact job duties. Even something as simple as taking pictures for insurance company underwriting requirements requires a procedure. What’s the expected turnaround time? What picture views are required by each company? Who’s responsible for downloading the pictures, attaching the picture to the client file, and letting the CSR or producer know it’s done? When these details are not clearly outlined, frustration builds and productivity and attitudes are affected. Everyone should follow established rules. Generally, family businesses are family friendly. Children can be in the office when necessary—when there are child care issues, doctor appointment coordination, and so on. Over time, the children of family members may take liberties that if left unchecked, become real problems. For example, family children in the office may not be a challenge when a young child sleeps or plays quietly bothering no one. A few years later, that same child is tying up office phone lines, downloading games from the Internet, and disrupting employees working in their offices. Workers may not feel comfortable addressing this situation with the owner, and thus the situation compromises business professionalism. Here’s another situation. An agency has a company policy that all visitors are to be announced and greeted in the reception area. Family members may think that rule doesn’t apply to them, so their guests come and go. Employees may think it’s unfair to have a guideline in force that applies only to them and not to family members. Family members who take liberties with hours worked, office attire, personal phone calls, accounting guidelines, and other business protocol not only lose credibility with coworkers, but they set a poor example that non-family members can feel free to follow. It’s critical that family members respect the guidelines and act as positive role models. Recognize the perspective of non-family members. Right or wrong, non-family employees perceive and believe that family members share information with the owner. In many agencies, a family member handles the human resource function, including payroll and benefits. An employee may wonder if a conversation will be kept confidential or will worry about what impact certain private information will have on his or her job. Think twice about having family members handle personnel issues. If there is no other choice, recognize the situation employees are in. Non-family members rarely will apprise the owner of jobs incorrectly done or the inappropriate behavior of family members. Owners often lament, “Why didn’t anyone tell me about that problem?” Easy answer—it’s your family and no one is talking (at least to the owner) about it. Don’t allow employees to play one family member off another. “But I talked to your wife (or son, daughter, father) about . . .” is often used by employees to get what they want in a situation. All family members need to understand the limits and boundaries that exist in their job position. A family member who is approached about a matter that falls outside his or her responsibilities should refer the employee to the appropriate person. While every family-owned agency situation is unique, they have one thing in common—at the end of the day, employees are not tied to the owners in any way other than the business relationship. Family members are part of your lives forever. Recognizing, acknowledging, and addressing the issues with all the parties involved helps create an emotionally healthy and professional business environment. * The author |
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