Why does nobody talk about how hard it is to fire family members in a small Detroit business?

I had coffee with a buddy who runs a bakery on Gratiot last Tuesday, and he told me he's kept his cousin on payroll for 18 months even though she shows up late and messes up orders. He said 'blood ties make it impossible to pull the trigger' and that hit me different because I've got my own sister working my books and she made a $1,200 error last month. On one hand, you want to keep the peace and honor family loyalty, especially in a tight Detroit community. On the other, that loyalty is bleeding you dry and hurting your reputation with customers who notice the mistakes. I'm leaning toward having a hard talk with my sister this week, but I'm scared of the fallout at Thanksgiving. Has anyone else here had to fire a relative from their business here in Detroit, and how did you handle the personal side of it?

3 comments

3 Comments

wyatt_mitchell2624d ago

Man, that's a tough spot and I feel for you. Having that family connection makes it ten times harder than letting go of a regular employee, especially when you know you'll see them at every holiday gathering. Sometimes the hardest conversations are the ones that need to happen the most, even if it means a tense Thanksgiving dinner.

seth_shah24d ago

Did the owner ever give you a straight answer on why they waited 18 months to pull the trigger? Seems like a lot of missed paychecks and wasted training time before they finally decided to cut ties.

murray.jana24d ago

Whoa, eighteen months? That's wild. I don't know how your buddy held on that long, especially with messed up orders in a place where reputation is everything.