When you first start hiring employees, you might do so following your personal standards. You might consider hiring your friends, relatives, former co-workers, people you think would appreciate what you are trying to do, who would support you, they might even agree to work for less than others to support your vision, and if you have to hire outside of who you know, you will hire as inexpensively as possible.
When you are just getting started, there is a huge advantage of hiring people who are willing to take a lower wage to help you out in your venture, but you will soon find out that if they are sacrificing for you, you will find yourself sacrificing for them. They will expect certain considerations in return.
Some expectations may include leniency in certain areas, forgiveness for tardiness, extra holiday time off, unexpected leave of absence, leaving work early, shrinkage (inventory or supplies taken home without notice or payment), and that is just the beginning.
As you start to hire on additional staff, these employees will expect special treatment, and will see themselves as having seniority over new staff, and will assume they are entitled to supervisory positions, even though it is not a part of their job specification or pay grade.
The line between management and camaraderie is blurred and difficult to maintain. Your people are more likely to feel like they can give you advice on how you are supposed to be running your business because of their pre-existing relationship. And when you lay down the law, they are less likely to take it seriously or will see themselves as exempt.
And that is assuming that the friend you hired is not a wolf in sheep’s clothing, looking for the right opportunity to take advantage, compromise, undermine, or embezzle.
Of course, this does not apply to everyone, but be aware nepotism is not viewed as integrous among other staff, weakens their confidence in the organization, and that these are things to be on the lookout for. If possible, you may be well advised to spend more on the staff that you hire if at all possible, and you will be miles ahead if you can pay someone more who is highly experienced and can take you to the next level.
As a general rule, the more expensive and qualified worker will save you money and bring so much more to the table in the long run.
One of my clients taught me an invaluable lesson in hiring and knowing when to let someone go. He says, “It is a balancing act.” You weigh their value by what they give against what they cost. “If their performance is more good than bad, you keep them. the moment it is more bad than good, you let them go.”
I have hired family and friends in the past. Not all of them turned out to be less than I expected. But if I had practiced the balancing act back then, things would have turned out far better for me. I have too much of a heart and am quick to cut some slack for employees that I am partial to. This cost both me and my business dearly, when I should have just put the wheels in motion to let them go as soon as they hit 49%. Lesson learned.
Do not take your hiring lightly and be sure to monitor your employee productivity so the earlier you can determine that they are more bad than good, then start looking for a more qualified replacement.