Anyone serving a role in a family enterprise needs wise elders to provide family business advice, guidance and wisdom. Elders play an important role in family business. Modern-day elders serve the same function as elders in ancient times. An elder's wisdom lives on in the countless people whose lives he or she influenced.
Family business policies should include periodic and scheduled performance evaluations. A performance evaluation presents an opportunity to discuss quality of contribution, work habits, professional growth, demeanor and attitude within the business and with customers. Family members set the standard for the company and their behavior must be a leading example for all employees.
Family business compensation is something that should be addressed within a family business's employment policies. Family members must understand that they will be paid fairly, at fair market rate, for the position they hold. This avoids a family member from obtaining an inflated view of their contribution to the family business.
A family employment policy should address what is necessary for a family member to enter into the business. Following specific pre-determined guidelines will help a business hire competent employee who will make a positive contribution to the business. It's important to remember that a job in the family business is not a birthright.
Every family business should establish a set of family business rules. These rules of engagement should encompass a policy that states how family members will be allowed to participate in the family business. The purpose of family business rules is to guide the business, and it's important to develop a written employment policy long before it is needed.
The hiring of family members is not something that should be taken lightly by any family business. Family members should be required to work for a company not associated with the family business, and gain experience and be successful in that position, before being hired into the family business.
In family business, there is a clearly defined but invisible control mechanism called the family system. This system is often referred to as the family business psychology. In family business, the keys to implementing solutions to business problems are often locked up in the psychology of the family. Business solutions cannot be effective if family business psychology is ignored.
If the business is to thrive, there should be conditions attached to the hiring of family members. Every owner of a family business faces the issue of whether to hire particular family members. It's important to set a fairly high bar before hiring family members, or the business will end up employing less than competent people.
As a family business grows, the need for a well-defined family business structure becomes more important in order to keep the business growing. Once the entrepreneurial stage passes, more family business structure is required to define how the founder will interface with the business and find solutions to family business issues that arise.
When considering family business growth, an important task of the family business is to ensure the family business assets are compounded over the generations. This means that it is the responsibility of a business successor to work towards leaving future successors with more than was there at the beginning. It's important to have clarity with this task.
