If you’ve always been one to shy away from working for a family business, it may be time to reconsider. Often, working for a family business can lead to a very rewarding career. With owners who are often more invested, more flexible and treat their employees like family as well, the benefits of working for a family-run business are plenty. 

What family-owned businesses do to make their employees feel valued

As family-owned businesses are often a tight-knit group, owners in these types of companies tend to treat their staff like extensions of their own family. This results in a corporate culture based on trust, respect and open communication. This type of work environment makes employees feel safe to voice their opinions and concerns as they know that their input and feedback is valued. With an emphasis on employee welfare, employees become more invested in the company and are able to have a greater sense of job security and enjoy working in a more stable, team-based environment.  

Why family businesses are able to offer more flexibility 

Without layers of bureaucracy to wade through, the management team at family-run businesses can often make big decisions in a shorter timeframe and get approvals faster when out of the box decisions need to be made. It’s also common for employees to have the opportunity to work in a greater variety of roles in a family-run company without having to go through a formal and lengthy review process each time they step into a new position. As family-owned companies tend to extend a great deal of trust to their employees, owners are not as hung up on formal qualifications when it comes to promotions or moving employees between departments. This is a big plus when it comes to career advancement.  

How family-run businesses are able to succeed when the going gets tough

When owners are as invested in a company as most are in family-owned businesses, long term stability is a key goal when they want to keep the company financially stable for future generations. This is good news for employees in terms of job security. In times of economic hardship, owners of family-run businesses are likely to make personal sacrifices for the benefit of the company as a whole and to engage input from all of their team members when looking for ways to weather the storm. Even in exceptionally hard times, family-run businesses will often look for ways to shuffle staff around and collaborate on solutions to cut costs rather than be quick to let go of employees. This type of “we’re all in this together” philosophy makes employees feel valued and creates employee loyalty making it a win-win all around.  

 Successful family-run businesses can be a fabulous place to work and offer long and rewarding careers - what are you waiting for?