By Ed Avis
When Charles Hackworth was a teenager and started working for his parents’ reprographics firm in Chesapeake, Virginia, his last name didn’t make him any more important than the other workers.
“He was in the mix with the rest of them back in the production area,” remembered Charlie Hackworth, his father, during an APDSP webinar about integrating family members on May 17. “It wasn't, ‘Oh, we can't say this because it's the boss’s son.’ They did what they did, and he was part of the group back there, he was part of the gang.”
Starting out as “part of the gang” was one important lesson that panelists on the webinar provided. By working from the bottom up, family members earn the respect of fellow employees and prepare themselves for future leadership.
Other key lessons from the webinar (click hear to log into the Member Center to view the whole webinar) were that it’s important for all family members to have defined roles in the business and communicate regularly.
Starting From Zero
When Charles starting working at the family business, which at the time was Engineering Media, he ran equipment, made deliveries, and did pretty much everything else the other employees were doing.
“That made it much easier when he started assuming more authority, because he already had the camaraderie set up amongst the people that were working,” Charlie said. “And I guess that's one of the reasons we have a number of our employees that have been with us 20 and 30 years today still, and they still listen to him.”
Charles agrees, and emphasizes that any new family member should be given the chance to learn from the ground up: “Coming up through the ranks, learning all the ins and outs of the different departments, and what we do, how we do it, who our customers are, what they're looking for, what the market is, all those things…is just invaluable to being able to get to a point where you can manage and have influence and run the business. That’s my advice for starting your kid, your nephew, or whoever it is that's coming up: Start them at the bottom and let them work their way up, and earn that respect.”
Chuck Gremillion, another panelist, remembered that it wasn’t always easy blending in with the non-family workers when he started at his family’s company, A&E: The Graphics Complex in Houston. Like Charles Hackworth, Gremillion did a bit of everything around the company, but had to work hard to earn the respect of long-time employees.
“There was definitely a challenge of earning the respect of those employees who were loyal to our dad, who look at us, coming into the business, thinking ‘Who are these guys? They’re SOBs, Sons Of the Boss. So what makes them special?’” Gremillion recalled. “And so we had to earn their respect, and we just did that by just blending in. We didn't have special parking places or anything like that, we parked where everybody else parked. And I think people recognize that over time, so that helped.”
In a smaller reprographics firm, starting out as the boss’ son may be less of a challenge because there is simply no room for someone to get special treatment. Michael Shaw, another panelist, said he and his brother Peter were hands-on team members at their parents’ firm, Jamaica Blueprint on Long Island, from the day they started.
Shaw did offer one piece of advice to keep a bit of separation from family while at work: “Both of my parents were in the business at that time, and there was never calling them ‘Mom and Dad,’ it was always first name,” Shaw said. “In a very simplistic way, that sets the tone of how you relate and how you were seen relating. ‘Mom and Dad’ could be outside the office, but not inside the office. So that was something that was very deliberately done on our part.”
Finding a Spot
Another key point the panelists made was that it’s important for new family members – at least once they’ve learned all the basics – to find a niche within the business. That prevents them from stepping on the toes of other family members and maximizes their contributions.
Shaw said that when his brother Peter joined the company, he specialized in production. And when Shaw himself joined a few years later, he was tasked with modernizing the company’s accounting program, which was a major undertaking. Their father was still in charge at that time, and having clear lines of authority helped everything run smoothly.
“You need to have a clearly defined organizational structure where everybody knows what their role is and what they’re responsible for,” Shaw said.
Gremillion said the same thing. He has seven siblings, all of whom worked for the company at one point or another. Ultimately four of the brothers and one brother-in-law assumed leadership of the company, but everyone always knew his role.
“We all found our niche,” Gremillion said. “That was through the grace of God, I think, that we all found our niche. And that was very helpful because we all then contributed, all had something to say, none of us acted like we were the boss, so to speak.”
Charles Hackworth, the son, said that the transition to his leadership is still underway, but as with the other panelists, defined roles for each family member has been essential to the company’s success. Charlie and Dorothy, the parents, closed their original firm in 1991 and opened Hackworth Graphics later that year. Charles has slowly become the company’s leader since then.
“We kind of all three took our own roles,” Charles said. “[Charlie] did sales and marketing, if you will. He was the face of the company. [Dorothy] handled the books and did delivery driving because we only had one car. And I was in the shop answering phones, waiting on the counter, running prints and doing those things. Since then, we've expanded tremendously, it's a totally different ball game. But trying to keep those roles, she's still doing the books, he's still the face of the company and out shaking hands and talking to people, and I'm still running operations.”
And those roles need to be communicated to other employees. Charles Hackworth is technically in charge of the business in most respects these days, but he said sometimes employees approach one of his parents for a decision instead if they hope they’ll hear a preferable answer. And sometimes the role-communication goes the other way around – Charlie related a recent story in which he asked a production employee to work on something, and the employee told him he needed to speak with Charles about that.
“So I said, ‘Hold on a minute,’” Charlie recalled. “So I walked into his office and he's working away and he's got his cell phone going. I said, ‘Charles, I have a question.’ And he looks at me and says, ‘Alright dad, what do you got?’ ‘I have a job in the back that I want to have done, and they said they have to talk to you.’ And he says, ‘Dad, let me explain this to you. Some time ago, you came to me and said, "I can't do the day to day operations, you need to start doing it.” Do you remember that?’ I said, ‘I do.’ ‘Now, what do you want to have done?’ So that was the reality, I guess, that he's running it.”
Talk it Out
Naturally, when new family members enter the firm and grow into leadership roles, they need to communicate well. Every panelist stressed the importantance of being able to talk out issues when they arose.
Gremillion, whose family sold the company about 15 years ago, said that in addition to regular management meetings, the company held quarterly all-company meetings to discuss direction and finances. In addition, they held an annual or semi-annual meeting with just family to talk about the business as a whole.
At Hackworth, the family meetings happen much more frequently: “We still go to lunch every day, almost every day, and discuss certain problems or things that we need an agreement on,” Charlie said.
Ultimately, family businesses that succeed make a deliberate effort to integrate family members. But they never forget they are family.
“We had an unwritten rule that, love each other first, then run the business,” Gremillion said. “Because we've all seen so many family businesses that didn't make it because people forget that. And we got along well, it was fun, we had a great time.”
To watch the recording of this webinar, click here to log into the Member Center, then find the webinar recording in the Resources on the left.