My Family Business Perspective

My first job was given to me by one of the greatest man I’ve met in my life, my father. He employed me in our family business back when I was still studying in college. His approach was like this. He offered to give me more allowance for school if I helped him out. Naturally, I had agreed and I think it was one of the pivotal moments of both our lives. My dad taught me a lot of things and I had learned a lot from him. He even made it easier for me by giving me a job that didn’t require much work. He assigned me as a disbursement officer, so it was a pretty easy thing to do. I only did the employees’ payroll, counted their salaries, and then on weekends, I handed them their paychecks. I was focused on my work and I didn’t even bother asking about taxes and the like.

College taught me those other things when I majored in Management. Then I realized why my dad had hired me in the first place. He was a genius! He was indeed preparing me to run the family business.

To sum it all up, the reasons why family members get hired for the family business in the first place are because of the trust and confidence that works for both the employer and employee, the responsibilities and commitments that are being taught to the future successors of the family business, the savings on health insurances and taxes that are lowered, the social security issues, and more.

When I had a chance to apply for a private company, I can vividly recall the HR Manager emphasizing on the retention of employees. It made think why the manager had to expound on it. I mean, how hard can it be to find good employees that will stay with the company for a long time? Then I thought of my father and I figured that not a lot of people actually have a chance to work for a family business.

The manner of which training and education is being imparted from parents and other family members are quite different. Apparently those that work for a family business seem to be more dedicated in carrying out their duties. It may be because of the notion that family comes first and even if you are asked to do something outside of office hours, there is no real issue because again, you’re doing it for the family.

When faced with money problems, people who work for their family businesses seem to be more understanding and even generous enough to offer free services and the like just to help out. You don’t see a lot of that happening with private companies. The relationship between co-workers and family members working together are two different stories. All I’m trying to say is that when you are working for the family business, you have the “heart” for it, and that is mainly because you are not just a working individual but you are part of the family.

I have also observed that when parents teach their kids and impart to them knowledge and wisdom, it is different from when managers teach their subordinates to do something. There is more tolerance and kindness in the family business. This is due to the fact that parents want the best for their children and are teaching them the ways they see fit should the future generation be the ones running the family business. In other words, private companies will not having any trouble firing and replacing employees while parents will have a really hard time disowning their children.

For family businesses, any conflict can be easily resolved especially when communication between family members are open and developed well. Even work ethics of employees under a family business is nurtured. The way I see it, I think that this what contributes most to my preference of working for the family business over climbing the corporate ladder.

By: Katherine Thompson

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