One dilemma that many, if not most, business owners face at some point is whether to hire people close to them. This problem also crops up at larger companies; for example, a manager may want to hire his son but knows how it might appear to other employees. Here are a few things to consider as you mull over hiring friends and family.
Having a close friend as a coworker can be a blessing or a curse. While it may seem like a no-brainer to hire your bestie there are some key considerations before inviting your friend to join the team. In this article we’ll examine the potential pros and cons to help you decide if hiring a friend is right for your company.
The Potential Pros of Hiring Friends
Here are some of the possible benefits of hiring your friends
You Already Know Their Strengths and Weaknesses
When you hire a stranger, you have to go through the full interview process to assess their skills and personality But with a friend, you likely already know their key strengths and weaknesses This allows you to determine if they’re truly a good fit for the role.
For example, you may know that your friend Alex is incredibly organized and detail-oriented. Those traits would make Alex a great candidate for an accounting position. On the other hand, if your friend Sam is forgetful and often tardy, you probably wouldn’t hire Sam for a job that requires punctuality.
They Understand Your Company Culture
It can take weeks or months for a new hire to fully adapt to your company’s norms and values. But friends already understand your work style and priorities. This can help them integrate into the team and workplace culture more smoothly.
Increased Comfort and Camaraderie
Working with a friend can help team members bond and boost morale. Employees may feel more comfortable brainstorming ideas, collaborating, and socializing with someone they already know and trust. The existing rapport can lead to greater camaraderie across the team.
Potential for Increased Productivity
Some research shows that working with friends can make teams more productive. In one study, factory workers who were friends were 10% more productive on average than non-friends. The researchers hypothesized this was because the friends felt more comfortable exchanging feedback and collaborating.
Shared Values and Priorities
Close friends often share fundamental values, principles, and priorities. Knowing you and your friend are aligned on key issues can provide reassurance. You won’t have to worry as much about ethical conflicts or clashing priorities.
The Potential Cons of Hiring Friends
Hiring friends also comes with some caveats to consider:
Nepotism Perceptions
If you hire an underqualified or less experienced friend over other candidates, it may be perceived as nepotism. This can damage team morale and your reputation as a fair manager. Always hire the most qualified candidate, whether they’re a friend or a stranger.
Divided Loyalties
As a manager, your duty is to the company first. But for your friend-turned-employee, their loyalty may still lie first and foremost with you. This could impact their ability to act fully in the company’s best interest.
Reluctance to Reprimand
Providing constructive feedback to a friend can be uncomfortable. As a manager, you may avoid reprimanding your friend for subpar work in order to avoid tensions. But this only hurts your friend’s professional growth and ability to improve.
Inappropriate Boundary Crossing
Friends used to casual, personal conversations may inadvertently cross boundaries at work. For example, they may ask prying questions about your love life or make inside jokes that alienate colleagues. Maintaining professionalism requires an adjustment period.
Hybrid Relationships Can Get Messy
If a professional conflict emerges, it could fracture the friendship. Navigating criticism, promotions, firing decisions, and competition with a friend can get complicated. Failed work friendships breed resentment.
Time Demands Can Strain the Friendship
The heavy time commitments of work can leave little bandwidth for maintaining your friendship. The friendship that existed outside of work may flounder under the pressures of professional demands.
Privacy Concerns
As a manager, you will gain access to sensitive details about your friend, like their salary and performance. This could make your friend uncomfortable and cross friend-manager boundaries.
Key Considerations Before Hiring a Friend
While hiring friends can go well, it also has serious risks to weigh. Keep these tips in mind:
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Define clear professional boundaries upfront to prevent role confusion and tension. Discuss how you’ll handle providing feedback, salary discussions, and privacy concerns.
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Hold them to the same standards as other employees to avoid perceptions of favoritism. Make hiring and promotion decisions fairly.
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Keep friend talk minimal during work hours to maintain professionalism and prevent excluded teammates.
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Check your motivations to ensure you have the company’s best interests in mind, not just your friend’s.
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Have a backup plan in case the work friendship goes south—especially if one of you may need to be fired. Protect your team from potential fallout.
Final Considerations: Can Friendships Improve Business Outcomes?
Research provides mixed results on whether workplace friendships ultimately benefit or detract from performance. Here are a few key takeaways on the link between friendships and productivity:
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Multiple studies show that strong social connections at work increase job satisfaction, morale, information sharing, and retention. Employees who have friends at work report significantly higher wellbeing.
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However, other studies found friend groups at work can reduce inter-team collaboration. Employees may prioritize socializing with their own friend group rather than cross-collaborating with colleagues outside their circle.
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The quality of friendships matters. Superficial “office buddies” don’t provide the same benefits as close, genuine friends. Deep friendships drive collaboration, feedback, and mentorship that boost productivity.
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Balance is key. Having a close friend or two at work can reap rewards. But if cliques proliferate, information silos and divisions can form between friend groups.
The Verdict: Case-By-Case Basis
Ultimately, there is no universal answer on hiring friends. The outcome depends entirely on the individuals involved and the company culture. Rather than a blanket yes or no policy, consider hiring friends on a case-by-case basis.
Focus on hiring and managing based on merit, not relationships. Set clear expectations with friends to prevent role confusion and ethical issues. If you prioritize professionalism and have trust in the individuals involved, hiring a friend can potentially enrich your workplace. But proceed with caution, as failed experiments with friends can breed resentment. The ideal scenario is when exceptional candidates just happen to also already be friends.
Pro: Readily Available Help
If you are hiring friends and family, odds are good that the people in question can start work in the next couple of weeks or possibly even the very next day. In many cases, these folks are the ones approaching you and asking for help. For the most part, you are able to cut through the need for background checks, to verify information on resumes and to contact references.
If you have difficulty with boundaries, prepare for even more pain. The atmosphere when you bring friends and family on board can be casual, in a bad way. You may have great respect for your uncle, so how do you tell him that he really does need to be on time? How do you tell your cousin that, no, he can’t just take off three hours early every day? Start right from the beginning in explaining the boundaries involved and that a condition of the employment is that friends and family follow the same rules as everyone else.
Con: You’re More Likely to Find Someone Qualified Elsewhere
Chances are good that your open positions (or positions you could create) have a specific list of required skills. Not many people in the general population have these skills, so what are the odds that friends and family do? You may feel pressured to hire someone who meets only half of the qualifications. Is Grandma needling you to hire your cousin and saying, ïYou can teach her so and so!ï That kind of pressure is unfair but is a reality for some people. The good news is that many hard skills can indeed be taught. Soft skills such as work ethic, communication and empathy, not so much.
Pros and Cons of Hiring Family and Friends in Small Business #familybusiness #prosandcons
Should you hire friends and family?
Hiring friends and family may seem like a great idea, but it can easily backfire and cause major issues for both your work and personal life. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of hiring friends and family: There certainly is a lot to consider before you ask your best buddy or your little sister to join your company.
Should you work with family and friends?
There’s pros and cons to working with family and friends, here are a few to consider when hiring employees that you have a personal relationship with: A friend or family member is emotionally invested by default.
Why should you hire a friend?
You may be more inclined to rely on them, give them more responsibility than other new hires and feel certain that they can meet the expectations you set out for them. Friends can often recognize why you care about your work and may root for your success on the basis of your personal relationship.
Should you work with a friend?
Working alongside your friend might offer you a chance to deepen your bond. This is especially true if you rarely get an opportunity to see your friend due to your demanding work schedule.
