SHOULD I EMPLOY MY CHILD IN THE COMPANY?

Employing your child in the company is frequently the cause of the deterioration of relations in the family, but if nevertheless you decide to do so, you need to set precise goals and define the steps the two of you will take to achieve them.

I received an e-mail from an entrepreneur who wrote:: “My son just graduated from the Faculty of Economics and, since he is not having much luck finding a job, I was thinking of hiring him in my company. He has occasionally helped me with some projects so he knows his way around the company. I was wondering if it was a good idea to employ my child, and if so, how should I treat him, what salary should I pay him? J.Z.”

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Employing children is very common in domestic and foreign companies, but it is also the most frequent cause for the deterioration of relations in the family. Parents are convinced that they can expect more from the child than from other employees at times, and for less money—with the excuse that it will one day all be theirs.

Consequently, this is also how the relationship between parents and children develops. If parent are too lenient, children very quickly start bossing other employees around, but if they are too strict, they make enemies. Thus, problems from the home are transposed to the company, and relations in the company start resembling domestic quarrels which is very quickly reflected in the company's operations.

But before you decide on hiring your own child, check why they aren’t having any luck getting a job elsewhere. Their job applications may have been written badly, they don’t show interest when being interviewed, they are not confident enough or they no longer want to do the job they originally studied for. It is very important to talk about the cause as this will allow you to get to know your child and their problems better. At the same time, they will start seeing you as an ally. Try to find a solution together. Try to share your experiences, listen to the responses and find out how people you know have dealt with this.

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Do you and your child have common goals?

If you decide on hiring your child in your in the company, you need to know very precisely what your goal is (whether it is to make them your successor, give them a foundation on which to build their career, provide them with a job ...). These are the expectations they will have in the future as well. And it can also become a cause of problems within the family. We have a completely different picture of our children from what they really are. This is most evident in quarrels when the answer you get is: “You don't even know me!”—which is quite true.

Because of the fast pace of life, we forget about our children and only deal with what we should be doing to make their lives better; in doing so, however, we are only thinking about material things and not emotions. And only when we explore our own and the child’s emotions, desires and expectations can we improve our relationship in the family and at the same time avoid the resulting business problems.

During the conversation about the possibility of employment in your company, you need to find out from them what they really want and what their goals are, and you then need to compare these with your own goals. If you find that their goals do not correspond with yours, you need to decide whether to change your expectations or whether to even hire them. Otherwise, you will have conflicts all the time. This means that you need to set precise goals and the steps for reaching them. You should be aware, however, that it will be very difficult to 'disconnect' the emotional component and the father-son or mother-daughter relationship. Things are much easier if you have precisely defined goals. The moment you decide to hire your child, you also need to start trusting them and have confidence in their work. When you reach the decision within yourself, have them write you a job application and have them do a test project (from idea to solution).

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Recruitment

The goal of family entrepreneurship should not be to keep everything in the family, including the workforce, because sooner or later family members (children and their partners) become just a labour force and we start treating them this way as well. The goal must be for family members to stop performing operational tasks as much as possible as they get older and become strategic decision makers themselves, which means that they must also develop this way of thinking and living. That is why it is important for them to attract as many different professionals as possible to the company. In doing so, they must put in place quality staff selection procedures, a quality relationship and the transfer of knowledge and skills as well as development. When all is said and done, these people represent the quality of the company and a secure future for the family. This is why we must not submit to our employees, but treat them as equals and allies. We must therefore treat them as we treat ourselves.

Of course, we do not start recruiting staff because we either like someone or we are comfortable in their presence, but rather when we see the following happening in the company:

·????? increased workload,

·????? a vacancy opens up,

·????? departure of a worker or promotion,

·????? reorganisation of work, etc.

I strongly advise against hiring friends we have met spontaneously or because we have a good feeling about someone because this can bring great chaos into the company. We should not do this if we want to have a separate personal and business life, because otherwise we can extend our working day to 24 hours because we can no longer draw a line between different feelings.

When selecting staff, it is recommended that they are chosen by an outside person rather than by family members. Family members should, of course, participate in the final selection. Family members are selected according to the same principle as the one applied to all other candidates (all possible tests and assignments), except that they are also provided with mentoring programmes for succession; other employees are assigned a mentor to get to know the company, to have a person in the beginning who is their ally and who they can turn to at any time.

At the beginning, we must clearly present the goals and the ways of working in the company to the employee and offer them the company code for signing when they sign the contract, otherwise the contract is not valid. If they do not accept the stipulations of the code, they cannot be employed in the company. Based on psychological testing, a development programme is also prepared for them, which is carried out through mentors, training courses, etc.

Above all, it is important that we give them a sense of being accepted and to inform them regularly about all the things they need to know. But we should avoid burdening them with information that is not necessary for work in the company.

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