As a business owner what are your thoughts on nepotism?

[john_doe]

@maldonac You sound like a guy who doesn't actually value their employees.

 

[maldonac]

@john_doe Sure I do. I value them very highly and their above average compensation and benefits reflects that.

What do you want? To be paid appropriately and treated respectfully professionally, or someone to kiss your ass and rub your belly when your feelings are hurt?

Somethings are their business and their concerns are valid and should be considered. Somethings aren't their business and they simply have to suffer what they must to enjoy gainful employment at this organization.

 

[john_doe]

@maldonac My company is ran where every position is filled internally first. If an VP position is open, I always promote into it and keep promoting until the lowest position is available and then I outside hire. Every team has at least 3 people being mentored for the next position up.

If I broke that rule to hire a family member, 90% of my staff would walk out on me.

 

[maldonac]

@john_doe

If I broke that rule to hire a family member, 90% of my staff would walk out on me.

No they wouldn't. For the same reason you own the business and they don't. They aren't in the habit of taking risks of that nature.

When you pass away who does the company go to? That's the question being asked.

 

[john_doe]

@maldonac The shares get distributed to my family, running the company goes to my next in line. (My current VP of Clinical but I am currently mentoring someone to take over the business side)

I own the business because that is what I studied, everyone else is much more educated than me ( minimum hiring requirement on the clinical side is a master's). I poached entire departments based on above industry pay, mentorship and advancement, clinical hours for designations and licenses and bonuses. The majority of people who came over were wanting the clinical hours and the mentorship and advancement. Since we have fulfilled all the clinical hours, removing that fair advancement would drive individuals towards private (where they get paid twice as much) or government ( which has much better benefits and pensions).

 

[maldonac]

@john_doe Maintaining a controlling stake but not necessarily direct control of day to day operations seems reasonable.

The line of argumentation in my head was biased toward that anyway.

At the end of the day though... a controlling stake necessitates a controlling position doesn't it? I'm simply dispelling the notion that there is an expectation of being an equivalent of an entry level employee for 20 years when the reality is they will be expected to make decisions for the business.

 

[feliciadecker415]

@ivymeow The business isn't there for the employees, society, or to provide tax revenue. It is there for the business owner and the family. Yeah...often the owner is blind when it comes to family - like everyone else - but that goes part and parcel with every other venture.

 

[schubert]

@feliciadecker415 This! Precisely this! If other people don't like it, why is that relevant. You are the business owner, which means you make decisions for the business and it succeeds or fails because of you.

 

[metaole]

@ivymeow We opted not to hire our kids. We preferred for them to follow their own path. My husband's father wanted him to work in that business and my husband did not want to. It left a mark. Not a huge one but still a mark.
Side story. A good friend and her husband had a business. They brought the son in and gave him odd jobs. He didn't go to college. They gave him a company car. The son thought he would eventually take over the company. But the father dropped dead when the son was in his 20s. The business went to the partner, the wife (my friend) and a truste for the kids. The kids share was automatically sold for cash. The son ended up getting fired for cause.

No education, no dad, no job.

Good news is that he straightened up and went to trade school. He is still a bit of an asshole but it's good he didn't go full on into drugs and depression.

 

[_ari]

@ivymeow I'll hire someone I know over someone I don't every single day of the week.

Sue me.

 

[turboizak]

@ivymeow Personally, I believe in nepotism. My children are what is most important to me in my life. I hope to be able to leave a successful business to them when I leave this earth.

I think if someone doesn't like a business bringing in their family to work, then they could always start their own business.

 

[truthforsaints]

@ivymeow If it's a family business I think it's legit.

If you are the ceo at some company (not founder and owner), and contracting your nephew it's shady as f

 

[stog]

@ivymeow I'm a son of an owner who started a company. I have since taken it over, modernized a lot of the processes and have grown it from a side hustle to a full time job with an added apprentice. I have always been a work horse since I started working as a teenager. I used to help my dad on the weekends and work my regular job. I have always treated it as an opportunity, not a silver spoon. I have always had an ax to grind, proving the nepotism stigma wrong. This company isn't a self sustaining operation though, I have to do all the work and all the paperwork and everything else. Some shoe ins are just handed over a full fledged company that could sustain itself without them. That's the difference.

 

[anthonyprite]

@ivymeow It's not giving it to them because they are your kids. It's giving them a chance to earn it because they are the type of person who can continue your success.

My oldest is 16 and started working for me for this tax season. He is the perfect person to take over for me. Good with people, good with numbers, can multitask. But he wants to do different things. My other 2 children don't seem as natural for my business, but time can change things.

 

[ricetick998]

@ivymeow I have a friend who is a therapist specializing in family businesses. I asked her why she would do that. Her response? She doesn’t have to look for work, there is as she put it, no end family business overflowing with family drama. As a consultant I dealt with 15 maybe 20 family business. Most, not all were dysfunctional and I watched very talented employees leave tiring of the family craziness.

The kids have to want the business as much as you do. If none of them really want it badly it does not matter what your dream is.

 

[sherryanne]

@ivymeow I think you answered your own question. It all depends and if it is a small family business it is to be expected, so why would that not be okay for a larger company as well. It really depends on the individual and their drive.

I would want my kids to be more successful than I a d try to give them a boost if it was the right decision for them.

 

[anthony70]

@ivymeow This issue really casts a spotlight on the original/current owner and their business management quality or lack thereof. If an owner is going to blindly bring family/friends into the fold, they really have to gauge whether they'd be a good fit. In most cases, probably not.

If they really care about their employees, they will need to judge the leadership quality of anyone they choose to place in a position of authority. And for that matter anywhere in the chain of command. If they make their son the lowly janitor, the folks above them will still feel pressure to treat this person with white gloves and they will get special treatment because of it. This leads to resentment. Family/friends if brought into a business, need to be brought into it at the very beginning before anyone else is hired or not at all. A good businessman/woman can see this problem and avoid it. A bad businessman cannot.

 

[yume16]

@ivymeow just like employees, some are good and some are bad.

 

[drazhenkoy]

@ivymeow I know plenty of 2nd and 3rd generation business owners who do great jobs!

and even in cases where the son/daughter stinks, I try not to care because it isn't my business. A lot of people start businesses with the idea of it becoming something that future genrations will be part of. More times than not people who grow up around those who work hard tend to pick up good habits but of course there are those whose kids are spoiled rotten and end up destorying a company but I think that the former is more common than the latter.

And if you choose to sell your company, that is great(often times they are sold to their children), but i can think of a lot of situations where the children were working at the business on the weekends when they were growing up...and when they get out of school(whether that be collage or high school) they learn the ropes. It isn't as common as people think for the owners kid to graduate school and be made 'executive VP'(and many small businesses are as driven by titles as some thing)

There is a large retailer whose headquarters are near me. (they have like 5000 employees). They are probably 3rd or maybe even 4 generation running things but I do know that the 2 'co executives' both started working retail and were expected to learn every department of the store. Then they worked in purchasing. Then maybe management, first managing a department and then a store. They may advance more quickly than others but they had to start at/near the bottom.

and I think that that is common. I know people who own electrical contracting companies/plumbing/hvac...most often the 2nd/3rd generations owners I know started out going through an apprentiship. While it was less common for women to join the trades in one case I know a daughter went through her apprentiship...but in other cases they start out working doing jobs in the office.

Of course I'm not saying that you should sell or partner with your children but if they were as invested in the business as you and had drive it would be something to consider

 

[immortaldesign]

@ivymeow I've hired both my siblings as well as two of my brother's kids. I'm glad I can be there when employment issues come up. But, none of them are interested in being permanent parts of the job. I've been accused of nepotism, simply because they work there, but I think I'm harder on them than my other employees.