Avoid forced dismissal and help family members become productive participants in the company.
Editor’s note: This article is from the WeChat public account “Harvard Business Review” ( ID: hbrchinese), author Liz Kislik, edited at Qingjing.
In a family business, leaders sometimes decide on hiring and staffing based on relationships and obligations, as well as their ability and experience. After all, one of the purposes of these companies is to provide employment opportunities for family members. But this does not mean that all family members have a good performance, and some of them may feel that they are privileged or unattainable, so they are lazy or refuse to cooperate, and sometimes their mistakes or behaviors are not pursued. Occasionally, they can even disrupt the smooth operation of the business.
Whether you are a family member, what do you do as a manager for these underperforming employees?
The good news is that even if you don’t always have the opportunity to manage your family members as you would a foreign employee, you don’t have to hide your concerns. The following effective ways can help you reverse the adverse situation and achieve the best performance, while reducing the interference and risk caused by those who no longer effectively create performance (or may never have created performance).
1. Start by publicly discussing accountability. Respect for family members is good, but there is still a need to be honest about business needs. In the initial conversations with family members, they should delve into and listen to their opinions about themselves and their own contributions. In response, you need to describe yourself and other leadership expectations in a friendly and clear way, and in the subsequent emails, reiterate these expectations and thank them for participating in the conversation. Recording the above is easier to use in future performance-related conversations.
Use neutral third parties to communicate feedback. If it’s about their history or connections, or the relationship between you, direct feedback can be risky or uncomfortable. Consider using this approach to communicate feedback to ensure that information is critical and that they understand. I often play this short-term role if the family member manager is worried about hurting the relationship between relatives, or when an external manager is afraid to become a messenger of bad news and thus confuse the family.
2. Change theirRole or responsibility. In the family business, are they independent contributors or industry experts? You must look at their status and image realistically. For example, they can retain the title of vice president, but you can place them in an area where there are no subordinate employees, or not allow them to interact directly with the customer, if this is not their strength.
For example, after reassessing the technical skills of a senior agency executive at one of my clients, he found that his collaboration with external audiences and customers was more successful than working with internal teams, so he was re-appointed as sales executive. . In another client company, a family member is transferred to a position that matches her personal interests and style, where she does not have to deal with others and only needs to be a technical expert.
3. Reassign family members to non-family leaders. Internal competition between family members is commonplace, as performance and responsibility issues are prone to bad feelings, perhaps due to the pain of ownership and hierarchy.
For family members who must report to another family member, you can arrange for it to be a strong non-family supervisor who does not need to consider how to maintain family peace at the Thanksgiving dinner.
And For non-family leaders, the key is to ensure that they are supported by senior leaders, including the family. At a client company, I was hired to direct new non-family leaders and reassigned family members. I arranged for them to participate in early discussions, emphasizing the benefits of business changes to the business and ensuring they are on track.
4. If necessary, lay the road ahead. In some cases, you may need to consider other options to maintain your personal dignity while clearing the way for more efficient employees. Some family members may realize that they are no longer suitable for senior positions, but they are not planning to retire, or feel frustrated because they know they can’t find a similar job on the open market. You can consider designing a vacation process for experienced employees or letting them try part-time, flexible or remote work. One of my clients created a “on-call” mentor role for a family member, allowing him to act as a “flame guardian” and historian, responsible for telling the company’s background and mission to motivate employees, but not to work every day. .
Create opportunities for non-core family members to take leadership positions in communities or industry groups to help them maintain their identity and connections, play a nominal leadership role, and serve the business.
They can lead family committees, host community events, or emulate one of my clients and host a family foundation. These practices can make them less exposed to business activities and less stressful, but still enjoy Provide decision-making, public leadership fun.
If a family member passes any of the aboveWhen the path goes to retirement, then it must be celebrated in recognition of their loyalty, long-term service and family identity, making them feel loved and recognized. Prepare plaques, souvenirs and appropriate presentations to ensure that the transition process is as comfortable as possible and minimizes interference.
Excluded family members are resentful, but they may still have some ownership. Therefore, if you must use Thunder to expel a family member, make sure that the HR specialist or legal counsel pre-checks all the details in your plan and wording. However, by using the above four methods in combination, it is possible to avoid forced dismissal and instead help family members become productive participants of the company.
Author introduction
Leeds Kislik has helped the Fortune 500, state-owned non-profit organizations and family businesses solve many of the toughest problems. She has taught at New York University and Hofstra University and recently gave a presentation at TEDxBaylorSchool.