Firing Family

While you’re building a home based business you may give in to the temptation to hire a family member. This may or may not work out well. If the family member you’ve hired to help you in building a home Internet business turns out to not have the necessary skills, experience, interest, dedication or perhaps even ethics, to work for you what do you do then? How on earth do you fire a family member?

The first thing to keep in mind is that whether it’s part of building a home Internet business or a well-established multi-faceted large firm, firing a family member seldom goes anything but badly. Sometimes it even ends up in court with one family member suing another. We read about such goings on in corporations almost on a daily basis. This is something you want to avoid. You want to focus on building a home Internet business – not on getting litigious with your brother, mom, aunt, uncle or cousin.

Handling this familial firing correctly means not only keeping the family peace but keeping your home Internet business on the right track. A basic principle of hiring family members to help you in building a home Internet business is that they know right from the start that they will be held to a higher standard than any other employee. Why? Because they are family and because that familial relationship should bring with it a more personal sense of dedication and commitment to your business success. Another important factor, should you have to fire a family member, is to do it clearly and quickly. Don’t drag it out.

Make sure that the fired family member is clear about the details of the reasons, and draft a clear and consistent statement that you give to all others involved – family, employees, vendors, and other associates affected by the termination.

Building your home Internet business has to take top priority but that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice family relationships to do so. You can terminate a family member without ruining the good relationships you have with your family. The best way to accomplish this is to offer at least one verbal followed by two written warnings, and then a documented written notice of termination. Prior to writing it up as a firing, however, offer the familial employee the chance to resign. You might offer a severance package that is face-savingly attractive, or perhaps let her or him continue as a contractor or supplier. Letting family members walk out your home Internet business door is about building a new bridge that will save him or her some dignity.

What you must keep in mind, if you are committed to building a home Internet business is that that business must come before that family relationship. After all, isn’t one of the primary points of your business to take care of your family?

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/management/familybusiness/article160224.html

posted by Chris Simpson