Family in the business
mcmel
306 Posts
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 08-03-05 AT 03:44PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Hi all! It's been awhile since I've visited the forum, but I'm working as a consultant temporarily for a small company, trying to iron some HR things out for them, and have to ask your advice:
A small-business owner has his mother and sister working in the office, the mother being the previous owner of the company. The son / owner purchased the company from his parents about two years ago.
The sister had the option of purchasing the business with the brother, but the siblings didn't work well together and the decision was made for the son to have the only option of purchasing.
I've been brought in because they don't have an HR department and besides developing a handbook, some policies, etc., I'm there to help remove some of the "waste" from the office, the large part of which is turning out to be the mom and the sister. They both believe they are too good to answer phones and spend most of their days filing their nails, and really add nothing to the company besides taking up space.
Although it may sound like I'm simplfying the situation is it just that. Once the mom and sister are gone, (mom being accountant and sister being "office manager"), there are other, trained office staff, who will be able to step up and be trained in these positions as solid employees of the company.
This is just the beginning, but regarding the family situation, I'm prepared to be the "cleaner" in the situation, although the owner needs to step up and have some responsibility too. Does anybody have similar experience and how did they handle the business situation while still keeping as much of the family relationship intact as possible?
A small-business owner has his mother and sister working in the office, the mother being the previous owner of the company. The son / owner purchased the company from his parents about two years ago.
The sister had the option of purchasing the business with the brother, but the siblings didn't work well together and the decision was made for the son to have the only option of purchasing.
I've been brought in because they don't have an HR department and besides developing a handbook, some policies, etc., I'm there to help remove some of the "waste" from the office, the large part of which is turning out to be the mom and the sister. They both believe they are too good to answer phones and spend most of their days filing their nails, and really add nothing to the company besides taking up space.
Although it may sound like I'm simplfying the situation is it just that. Once the mom and sister are gone, (mom being accountant and sister being "office manager"), there are other, trained office staff, who will be able to step up and be trained in these positions as solid employees of the company.
This is just the beginning, but regarding the family situation, I'm prepared to be the "cleaner" in the situation, although the owner needs to step up and have some responsibility too. Does anybody have similar experience and how did they handle the business situation while still keeping as much of the family relationship intact as possible?
Comments
Now to it. Since they don't have a handbook, P&P in place, I assume job descriptions are out of the question. So, I suggest some are made, you sit down with mom and sister individually with the brother/son/owner and say, "This is the job that needs to be done. Will you or won't you do it?" If they say no, say goodbye. If they say yes, then it will be a matter of performance issues if they don't. Wow...good luck!
Welcome back! I suggest that you by-pass the pleasantries and touchy-feely Kumbaya singing. Sit-down with the owner and have a frank, candid and poignant conversation with him regarding the state of the business. I doubt you'll be telling him anything he doesn't already know. The fact is that very few people are ever able to make this type of arrangement work.
Gene
It sounds to me like the owner has hired you to be the paid hit-person. He is the one that needs to maintain the family relationship and you will probably be the fall-girl.
He will say something like, "...on the advice of my fabulous HR professional consultant, she says the jobs I need done are different than you two can do, so gee, I am reeeeally sorry, but she says you have to go and I have to develop this talent in my other staff."
"Yeah, I know I am the boss, but she knows what she is doing and has helped right-size other businsses. My hands are tied - this is the professionals opinion."
"Really sorry mom, what time is Thanksgiving dinner? Yes, I am mad that's the way it turned out too. Can I help you clean out your desk? Yes, it's too bad that's the way it has to be. And since this is so hard on everyone, as soon as you two are gone and I have identified the staff that will take your places, I will let the consultant go."
Ok, so I am not a great screen writer, but when you mess with family - they will eventually find blood is thicker - even if getting them out is the right thing to do - and it sounds like it is.
Good luck with it - he probably won't really fire you, but you may have to hide when mom comes in the office.x;-)
My last job was for a family company that had these issues in phases. Keeping things on a keep-the-family-business-going level helped.
In your situation, what is the brother's actual goal? Is it to find a way to get rid of mom & sis regardless, or take care of performance & budget issues and since mom & sis seem to be the problem they MIGHT have to go?
I agree with Leslie about sitting each one down with a job description and give them the option of working or leaving.
He hasn't pointed the finger at sis and mom; they are just a glaring problem within this company.
At Christmas time, mom tells owner that sister should get her bonus. Then sister approaches owner and says mom should get her bonus. Owner doesn't have any communication within the company, therefore doesn't know how much bonus the company can actually afford. Sister and mom don't share details with the owner and owner isn't confident enough to know what questions to ask.
Sis and mom are just a small part of this. Owner also has to network with other small business owners, get some permanent HR help, get some Supervisors in place, etc. They aren't even orientating new employees right now because when a newbie shows up the "office manager sister" looks the other way and doesn't want to go through the orientation, but when it comes time to pay the new guy, she wonders where his paperwork is.
It's a ridiculous situation, which is why I couldn't wait to help them out. I appreciate each of your comments already about putting job descriptions in writing, policies and procedures and reviewing them in detail with each individual. That alone may make mom step away, and sister may have to be molded a lot. I know I may come out looking like the bad ass in this, but if I know what I'm doing is right, I won't worry about it.
Sorry for the length of the posts! There's a lot to say about this company. The company I left in November made me shake my head. This one just stuns me.