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husband/wife employees a good idea? thoughts please.


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My lead tech has been with me 5 years, he is a valuable employee. I'm looking to hire a full time service advisor, and he suggested his wife. She is super nice and has retail customer service experience so she can definitely be taught the job. She makes little at her job which is why she's looking for a better job. I worry about the dynamics of it all. I'm afraid if either one needs to go I'll lose both my employees. On the other hand, they can probably work together better than 2 strangers could. I'm not overly concerned with theft issues, they are both trustworthy. What do you think? Good idea or fuggetaboutit?

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It would be a quick and painless way to hire someone for the position but you're hesitant for all the right reasons. For me it would be too risky. The only way it would be worth a try is if this couple were someone you were looking to sell your business to in the near future.

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i have a brother team going here, one is my service manager and the other is a tech. Dont really have too many problems but the tech gets ballsy sometimes. I even wrote him up recently for some things, but, the SM has been here 13 years and the tech 8 years, so i guess this scenario is working.

 

Basically it depends on the two you consider, if they have a good marriage then they probably will work out great. If you have other techs it maybe awkward when it comes to dispatching, the whole favoritism thing will be brought up. So you will have to do a little extra work in figuring out that side of it if she will be dispatching work or even if she is in charge when others are out for personal stuff.

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Family is one thing but this situation is another. Don't do it. Kids are sick at home, one or both may not come in. They have a fight

at home then the business will suffer for it. The worst scenario is the conspire to steal from you.

 

Please don't do it.

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When the marriage is going good, it will work. When the marriage is not going good, it won't work. My husband is the owner of our shop, and I am the office manager. It takes a very "special" marriage to be able to work together. It is especially difficult for most people to leave personal issues to home. Personally, I wouldn't have a married couple work for us. The other problem I see is, if they go on vacation, kids activities, serious illness, etc, you are out 2 people at the same time.

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Thomas Jefferson advised us to "avoid entangling alliances." When the time comes to let somebody go, I don't want to worry about whether it's going to destroy my working relationship with their spouse or their brother or their Dad. Keep it simple and professional.

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Thomas Jefferson advised us to "avoid entangling alliances." When the time comes to let somebody go, I don't want to worry about whether it's going to destroy my working relationship with their spouse or their brother or their Dad. Keep it simple and professional.

Absolutely. Thanks for the history lesson.

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

         2 comments
      I recently spoke with a friend of mine who owns a large general repair shop in the Midwest. His father founded the business in 1975. He was telling me that although he’s busy, he’s also very frustrated. When I probed him more about his frustrations, he said that it’s hard to find qualified technicians. My friend employs four technicians and is looking to hire two more. I then asked him, “How long does a technician last working for you.” He looked puzzled and replied, “I never really thought about that, but I can tell that except for one tech, most technicians don’t last working for me longer than a few years.”
      Judging from personal experience as a shop owner and from what I know about the auto repair industry, I can tell you that other than a few exceptions, the turnover rate for technicians in our industry is too high. This makes me think, do we have a technician shortage or a retention problem? Have we done the best we can over the decades to provide great pay plans, benefits packages, great work environments, and the right culture to ensure that the techs we have stay with us?
      Finding and hiring qualified automotive technicians is not a new phenomenon. This problem has been around for as long as I can remember. While we do need to attract people to our industry and provide the necessary training and mentorship, we also need to focus on retention. Having a revolving door and needing to hire techs every few years or so costs your company money. Big money! And that revolving door may be a sign of an even bigger issue: poor leadership, and poor employee management skills.
      Here’s one more thing to consider, for the most part, technicians don’t leave one job to start a new career, they leave one shop as a technician to become a technician at another shop. The reasons why they leave can be debated, but there is one fact that we cannot deny, people don’t quit the company they work for, they usually leave because of the boss or manager they work for.
      Put yourselves in the shoes of your employees. Do you have a workplace that communicates, “We appreciate you and want you to stay!”
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