The “Outsiders” in a Family Business

Reasons to hire non-family employees to benefit your organization

Even if you have a large family, you still may not have enough people to adequately fill all the roles needed for your business. Allowing family members to take on whatever responsibilities they’re interested in is your right as a business owner, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the wisest choice. When your business is growing, there will likely come a point when hiring outside help is essential to keep up with demand. Along with managing workloads, non-family employees provide other key benefits:

1. Eliminate gaps in skills

Your family may have great management or administrative talents but perhaps they lack marketing expertise to further their business. Rather than stretching your family thin to fill all necessary responsibilities halfheartedly, hire an expert in that field who can best strengthen your company to allow you to focus on the other core parts of your operations.

2. Provide different perspective

An outside employee can share experiences from past careers, companies, and even personal backgrounds. Even if family members have worked at different organizations (which should actually be encouraged) they still may carry similar points of view since they had the same upbringing. Chances are the customers of the products or services of your business have differing views and opinions so it would be wise to have individuals on your team who can relate to those various members of your target market.

3.Reduce conflict

Bringing in a neutral third party, especially into a management position, can help to prevent extra strain on family relationships. Hiring an outside candidate can also eliminate conflict by creating more clearly defined roles which allows people to communicate more efficiently and avoid overlap when completing tasks.

Remember that even when you decide to hire an outside employee, you can still be selective and make sure that the candidate meshes well with the culture of your business and your family’s core values. When you welcome that person to your organization, remember to treat them as fairly as possible and recognize them for their efforts.

Are you an “outsider”? Share your experiences and benefits that you’ve encountered from working at a family business. Answers may be featured in an upcoming post!

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