Never Hire Family

Hallo... I come from a successful business family which has been around for almost 200 years. However, I have this advice for those out there thinking of hiring relatives, "Never Hire Family!"

Yes, that is right - never hire family! Please note, this advice is based on my personal professional experience and has nothing to do with my family business, of which I am not a part of and shall be reserved as a different story for another time.

Hiring family makes bad business sense. Why? Well, you can't get rid of them when they don't perform, you are forced to give them a salary raise and promotion despite their not delivering, they argue with you till you give in, you feel sorry for them, they make you look bad in front of other employees, you have to cater to their whims and cries, and worst of all... despite the business downfall, you have to attend family functions with them for the rest of your life!

You might ask, "What about trust?" Yes, we all want to work with people we can trust and feel comfortable with and the first instinct is to go with family. Wrong! Not wrong because family cannot be trusted, they should be and there should be a strong bond between family members. Wrong because once you mix business with pleasure or business with family, you have a concoction for disaster.

Strange thing is, even though I grew up around a red-tape, bribery-filled, money-under-the-table society, I am a solid proponent of the merit system. Oh yes, if you work hard, you deserve the credit and not someone who happens to be a relative of the boss! So, rule number one in business... refer to the title of this blog.

-zensufi-