Lately we’ve been hearing horror stories about business owners getting burned by employees who took advantage of their friendship and "family style" of management. These owners, now reluctant to continue with their current style, have a new passion -- grow a thick skin. They declare their lack of trust in all employees. When questioned further, one learns that most of these owners originally approached their business as a venture with friends, and in many situations, their first employees were friends. But something happened to change all that.

What usually happens is that employees get very comfortable operating on friendship and slowly the privilege of working in this manner begins to be viewed as an entitlement. Over time, employees not only want to keep those entitlements, but they begin to ask for and even expect more.

Owners also get comfortable operating in this manner. Often they feel "great" about their accomplishment of achieving a culture so different from the traditional corporate model. But, over time, they find it harder to address employees, "family", who are taking advantage of their generosity. Their silence about the situation eventually leads to the employee’s unsatisfactory performance becoming acceptable. It’s hard, uncomfortable, and almost impossible to address unsatisfactory performance such as tardiness, sloppy work, and productivity one day and expect a friendly, "we’re in this together" relationship the next.

Although we all want to work at a job that is rewarding, we also want to work with people that we respect and enjoy being with. The trick is creating the culture that creates that balance. Consider the following mix:

• Relationships that acknowledge roles and responsibilities for both the company and its employees, through business processes that include job descriptions, policies and procedures.
• An internal system that supports employee development while holding employees accountable for measurable goals.
• A work environment that nurtures and provides opportunities for honest two-way communications.
• Business practices that are applied fairly and consistently to all employees.

The decision to start-up and run a business is one that is certainly not made lightly. With proper planning, the link between human resources and operations can have a significant impact on the profitability of the company, as well as the energy to move the company forward. A company relying too heavily on "friendship" and not enough on solid business processes may find it necessary to almost stop the operations and start over to make the necessary course correction.

Consider your approach to business. Do you have the right mix?

© Debbie King, Evolution Management, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.