Can a “family” culture be effective in the workplace?

For a long time, it was a thing: “We treat our employees like family.”

It was something companies liked to say, particularly when hiring. But we have to be brutally honest with ourselves: No matter how much we like our co-workers, and no matter how much they like us when push comes to shove, they are not family.

Joshua Luna of Harvard Business Review goes on further to ask – could this create a power dynamic where employees get taken advantage of? If you’re promoting a family culture, does that make the employer the parent(s) and the employees the children? Not everyone had a healthy relationship with their parents and/or siblings so how is that going to play out?

“Tim, I thought they really cared about me. I thought we were family!” As Luna points out – in a “family” culture, letting a person (yourself) or a colleague go, or pointing out areas for improvement will feel personal. You can’t fire a family member nor can you put them on a performance improvement plan.

At the end of the day, as much as you love your co-workers, your job, your boss — and vice versa — business is always going to be business. Period.

That could be why we’re seeing a trend toward employees setting brighter boundaries and demanding a better work-life balance…. So they have time to build and nurture their families and friend groups outside of work.

#workplaceculture #worklifebalance #hiring #employeedevelopment