Reducing a Hiring Headache

Years ago, when I was still in daily operations in foodservice, I learned a valuable lesson about hiring relatives and/or romantic partners. I often had a couple come to the restaurant to look for jobs. Often, one wanted to be a server, while the other might want to work in the back-of-the-house. They generally left disappointed. I didn’t hire either of them.

The reason was simple. My experience told me that, if I had ONE of them quit (or get fired), I would lose TWO employees. There was simply no need to put myself and the operation in that position. So, rather than hire one and not the other, I just passed on both applications so I would not have that negative situation occur sooner than later.

Sure, other issues occurred from time to time in which I lost one or more employees in a short time, but rarely did I find myself and the operation short two employees on the same day or stretch of days due to a “sympathetic” quitting with no notice. On a larger scale, this is on of the reasons that larger organizations do not like to have people work in the same organization with those folks related to them. Lose one; (potentially very quickly) lose two.

It may seem counterintuitive. It may seem that, if I hire two people from the same family, they will not want to risk their livelihoods at the same time over simple sympathy. That being said, it happens more times than we think. As the old adage goes, “Blood is thicker than water.” Blood can also be thinker than a paycheck or loyalty to an organization.