1. The Code of Conduct in a Family Business
Many small to medium sized businesses today are family businesses. Some have been in
operation for many years while others are what are known as ‘start-ups’. Some family
businesses have been passed down from Father to Son or other family members and have
been in the family for decades if not near a hundred years or more.
Family Businesses that last
Although any family run business today that is celebrating a century or more deserves a huge
celebration because they are becoming rarer today than any time previously recorded. Long
gone are the days when you would proudly see the date of commencement proudly etched in
stone on the façade below the family business name.
The question often asked is “How do you make a family business that lasts?”
The code of conduct of each person working in that family
business will determine its longevity and profitability.
The first response about code of conduct is respect. Respect for each other and respect for
your customers. Respect, courtesy, ability to share, and no greed would be the cornerstone
foundation of a long-term family business. Unfortunately today, too many of the essential pillars
of this code of conduct are absent.
Respect:
Respect is an unquantifiable and indefinable commodity that is hard to describe but very
obvious when it is absent. Respect is when you give someone or each other the right to voice
their opinion because you show them that it is worth listening too. It is a communication
mechanism between humans that comes from much more than the words we speak although
the words are terribly important too.
Respect comes from eye contact and other facial expressions, the body language displayed
between people and the way a person is treated in front of another person.
Words:
Words have the ability to hurt as badly as a knife cut and will last a lifetime. Words once spoken
can never be ‘unsaid’ – they last forever. The written word can hurt but can be ‘rubbed out’
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2. while the spoken word can never be withdrawn. The message here is be careful of what you
say and the way you say it.
Courtesy:
Working with someone that you are very familiar with can sometimes lead to shortcuts in
communication that can be hurtful. Always use good manners between family members and a
happy work environment is generated and maintained. Good manners are a good foundation
for a code of conduct between people that is acceptable to all.
The Code of Conduct in a Family Business
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