A family business is understood as a business in which members of the same family hold most of the charter capital or management and executive positions. Employees in these companies often encounter many difficulties in reconciling the "outsider-family" relationship and "internal family conflicts".
Family business models are increasingly popular in big cities (Photo: Pexels).
Fired employee because... he looked unpleasant
After being laid off at her old company, Thu Phuong (24 years old, marketing staff in Hanoi) decided to work at a beauty company with only about 10 employees.
Phuong's department head is the CEO's son. In addition, most of the other key positions here are also relatives of this boss.
During her time at work, Phuong was often assigned tasks such as graphic design that were outside of the initial requirements of just writing content. However, because her colleagues around her accepted this, she had to go along with it.
"In weekly meetings, I put forward ideas but they were always dismissed or ignored. When I gave my opinion on problems in the work organization, if one boss was not satisfied, all departments would join in to criticize... That always made me feel out of place, feeling that I was not really needed here," Phuong said.
Being scrutinized by eyes everywhere makes many young employees exhausted (Photo: Pexels).
Similarly, when he had just graduated from university, Mr. Hoang Long (27 years old, a communications staff in Ho Chi Minh City) also had a terrifying experience working at a family company.
Here, all rewards are unclear, and the boss always discriminates between loved and hated employees. Many times Long witnessed the leader cursing and firing his colleagues in the middle of a general meeting just because he "didn't like them".
"They were only 5 minutes late for the meeting and all 3 people in the same group were fired by the boss in the middle of the meeting. This will not happen when you work in a well-organized business with a clear labor contract. From then on, I was always careful, trying to please the boss, but after just over a year, I could not stay," Long added.
Unclear regulations and unfair rewards and punishments are common problems in "family-run" companies (Photo: Pexels).
Reported for going to the toilet... 10 minutes
Thanh Ngan (25 years old, consultant in Ho Chi Minh City) said she works for a company where both her husband and wife are bosses. Here, employees are closely monitored because the leaders have "eyes and ears" everywhere. Even if she goes out to receive goods, order food, or relax for just 5-7 minutes... she is immediately reported and reminded.
"There was a day when my boss asked me why I took so long to go to the bathroom when I had only been away from my desk for 10 minutes. Generally speaking, in a company with both family and outsiders, employees will be discriminated against and calculated in detail," Thanh Ngan added.
In addition, the fact that the business leaders are husband and wife often puts Ngan in a "dilemma" situation when both of them call to assign work at the same time.
"While I was handling work for my wife, my husband was urging me to finish my work for the day. I felt suffocated because I worked for 8 hours straight, and had to bring work home at night. It's only been 2 months, but I probably won't last long with this family business," Thanh Ngan said.
Many employees at family businesses are frustrated when they are constantly reminded about unreasonable things (Photo: Hustle culture).
In addition, the internal culture at the family company also gave Ngan a headache. She was confused because every time an employee made a mistake, the company added a new rule.
Recently, because she had to rush to handle her boss's assignment past her lunch break, and finished eating and was 5 minutes late for her afternoon shift, she was reprimanded and given a new rule: being 1 minute late will result in a fine.
"Every day I go to work, I have to hold my breath because of the monitoring and prying eyes everywhere," Ngan complained.
In conclusion, Thu Phuong commented that family businesses give young employees the opportunity to express themselves and assert themselves because they are small in scale and do not follow a rigid framework. However, that is also a manifestation of unprofessionalism, making everything ambiguous.
According to HR Insider Vietnam, to survive in a "family-run company" environment like the one above, employees need to pay attention to:
First, always do exactly what your leader assigns, gaining trust will make it easier for you to advance in your career.
Second, don't compare the treatment between you and your boss's "family" because the nature of a family business is to prioritize family members.
Third, create opportunities to make friends with your boss's children. Having a good relationship with your family will be a stepping stone to help you "breathe easier" at work.
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