When hiring a family member for your business, it’s usually best to forget that you are related.
Approach this type of hire in the same way that you would approach hiring a stranger, says Joanne Ferguson, president, coach and consultant of Advisor Pathways Inc. in Toronto. Consider how this hire will affect the dynamic of your team, and your business as a whole.
To help ensure that everything goes smoothly, here are four questions to ask a family member before hiring him or her:
1. What are the hire’s long term goals?
Ask the family member why he or she wants to be involved in the business, says Ferguson. Find out what new skills they can offer to the practice.
If the family member is being considered as a successor for the business, ask how they see their career unfolding. Explore the ways in which their vision for the business matches your own, and how it may differ.
2. How will the new hire fit with the team?
Talk to the potential new hire about their approach to working with your current team.
You may have to remind the family member that there are others on the team who have been with the business longer and have more experience, says Ferguson. If the family member is being considered for succession, they may need to be reminded that they will not be in charge from day one.
3. What will the timing be?
If you plan on hiring a child as part of a succession plan, you may not want him or her joining right out of school.
Sometimes, advisors want a child to have a career of their own before joining the business, says Ferguson. If you plan on hiring a family member in the future, talk to that person about the timeline and whether they will join the business immediately or at a later time.
4. What is the exit plan?
Have a plan in place in case things don’t work out with the new hire.
Even for family members, you need to have an exit strategy, says Ferguson. A family member may decide to quit if being a part of your business does not fulfill their expectations.
The second of a two-part series on hiring family.