The Contented Cow Blog

Building Workplaces That Work

Last night I spoke for the University of North Carolina Asheville’s Family Business Forum, a group of owners of family-owned businesses in the western North Carolina area. The event was arranged by one of our favorite speakers bureau partners, BigSpeak! , of Santa Barbara, California.

The topic was similar to one Bill and I usually deliver - leadership, and the bottom-line value of creating a great place to work. Like most of our speeches, this one was tailored for the group, and in this case, I emphasized the special challenges of creating a “Contented Cow” organization in family-owned businesses.

During my research for the talk, an interesting point revealed itself. Some organizations, whether they’re actually family-owned or not, seem to have what many would describe as a “family feeling” - a family orientation toward their employees, irrespective of actual family relationships. Perhaps because family business owners tend to look at business through the eyes of family, a “family” oriented culture is more common in, but certainly not exclusive to, family-owned businesses.

Having a family orientation toward employees, whether it’s an actual family-owned business or not, has a lot going for it. It also has a dark side.

Upsides: healthy families tend to be comforting, caring, and nurturing; workplaces that feel like a family usually are too. Mistakes are more readily tolerated, forgiveness is more common, and those who screw up - within limits - usually live to fight another day. Businesses that see their employees as part of a family can foster professional development pretty well.

There may be a greater sense of commitment and loyalty to a workplace with a family feel; employees may be less eager to leave an organization that feels like a family than they would be to leave “a job”. Family oriented workplaces may also do a better job of helping folks balance the demands of their work and their real-life at-home families.

Downsides: performance standards in a “family” workplace can be dangerously lax. Who’s going to throw Uncle Harry out of the family simply because he fails to contribute? Same thing at work, and “family culture” employers are often guilty of keeping people on the payroll because they lack the courage to help the employee and the business by cutting the non-performer loose.

In short, there’s nothing wrong with regarding your workforce like family. Where it hurts business is when, out of an abundance of paternal or maternal spirit, leaders fail to establish, and lead with, high standards. High standards applied to all.

What do you think? Let us know.

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