Lessons for Life
7. Employees are not family.
You can’t fire family, and most families are dysfunctional. Business demands clarity and efficiency; group hugs should be saved for holidays and funerals. Hire only the best. Define their role, goals, and mutually agreed upon expectations and review them every three months. If they can’t achieve expectations in two consecutive quarters, fire them.
Task: If you are in a family business, develop a clear job description for each family member, including yourself. Define the goals and expectations for each position and measure them quarterly. When there are problems, put in place a plan to remedy them immediately. If you can’t remedy the problems as a family, agree in advance that an independent third-party mediator will be brought in to help you clear the air and the logjam. You and everyone in the family has to be held to the same high standard as every employee.
If you’re not in a family business but you’ve created an environment that routinely uses the term “We’re a family,” then you need to go through the same exercise. Longtime employees, friends, buddies, and nice folk all fall into the same category. Clarity and accountability yield the best for the most.