Nepotism in business - for or against?

Question

Nepotism is the idea of a family business, that is giving jobs to family members and/or passing down the business generation to generation. 
It seems like everyone likes a family business because I hear that as a selling point in a lot of ads, however, shouldnt you get a job based on what you know not who you know?

Accepted Answer

I feel like when people say family business it’s more along the lines of you start your kids at the bottom and let them work their way up so that when you retire you give that business to them. While nepotism, to me at least, is more along the lines of I work for such and such company which I did not build and now I give my son a job which he has no qualifications for and I give him raises when he has not earned them. 
To me there’s a difference between those two things.

Answer

Nepotism is favoring someone because they are family. It would be hiring someone less qualified just because they are family. Not working for the family, and continuing on a business. 
I’m for family owned businesses and other small businesses.

Answer

Against it. I lost one of my best job opportunities to nepotism. I had already been given the job. In the two weeks leading up, it was given to someone’s niece. It wasn’t her primary interest. I was more qualified.

Answer

I had a job where my boss's unqualified sister was the HR manager and told her everything that we said about her. It was terrible and limited their growth as a company because no one ever challenged their ideas. All of the upper management were related so no one ever came in and shook things up.

Answer

I don’t see a problem with it. How a person runs a family business is their business, literally.

Answer

I think it's fine if it's privately owned. I own my own practice, I would hire one of my kids in the future if they qualified for a certain position that was open. I'm hoping one of them goes into orthodontics/dentistry so they can take over one day 😂

Answer

My parents own a business that was started from the ground up. The business is fairly large and my parents should be considered quite successful by any standard (providing good jobs and benefits employees, giving back to the community, and earnings that put them (and us as their children vested in the company) into the 1% income category)... I am very proud of them and remember as a child how hard they worked and struggled for what is now theirs. My husband works for the company as a warehouse and inventory manager (he started working there several years into our marriage (it’s not how we met) because my Dad was looking for someone with a skill set similar to my husbands and he needed someone he could immediately trust because the warehouse was new and is a separate location from the corporate office and factory. My husband is a hard worker by nature, but we all would agree that he works even harder because of his personal connection to our family.. if the business does well, we do well, so he manages the warehouse employees with high expectations but also keeps them happy to be productive. He likes his job, but would agree that when you work for family you need to be even more invested then you would at other places where it is simply an employee/employer relationship.
Anyway, because of my family, I believe privately owned businesses can hire whoever they want. Private businesses can hire whoever they want.. if you want your business to be successful you will only bring in family out of trust and expectation that they will deliver on the job.. there are absolutely people in my family that my Dad would never hire based on their lack of skill set for a position or their personal maturity and mindset ... he is a smart businessman and wouldn’t get family drama to mix with work.

Answer

My family have a four generation international family owned and operated mechanical engineering and manufacturing business (earthmoving equipment), I worked there for 10 years. At the end of the day THE BEST PERSON for the job GETS THE JOB on any given day... regardless of your name, you have to be the BEST person for the job... family members at our family business are paid less than the same level colleagues, family members are expected to arrived early (first) and be the last to leave. If the company is slightly short for payroll each month then family members do not get paid (or back pay), all non family members always get paid. This may seem harsh and unfair but by favouring non family employees it pushes and encourages family members to work  even harder and better to prove their "worth", the knock on effect is a lot of respect ✊ from non family employees towards family members. Respect must be earnt.

Answer

Family owned business right here. 🙋🏽‍♀️ We only employ family mainly. If we have friends, or family members who need extra cash, or a job during a time they’re waiting for another, we employ them. We don’t own our business to be rich. We do it for our family. It’s allowed me to be home with my kids, make every activity they do, and make our own hours. We are successful, yes, but that’s not why we decided to do it. I have worked for big corporations owned by families and lost a few opportunities from family members. It is frustrating, yes, but now owning our own business I can see why it happens.

Answer

I love purchasing from a family owned business. Often times a family owned business will give you better service because it’s more than a job to them. I’ve been working for my family’s business since I was 12 so I know tons of things that a new hire wouldn’t. My family gets together often and every get together is like a mini business meeting! My Dad, husband and brothers discuss the manufacturing and my mom, me and my SIL’s discuss our part, accounting.

Nepotism in business - for or against?

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