“Is it a Good Idea to Hire a Friend in My Medical Spa or Spa Business?”
Hi there, Dori Soukup, founder of InSPAration Management, here to share with you another Question of the Week. This week’s question comes to us from Jackie from California. Jackie asks, “I have a friend who was very close, who just graduated from aesthetic school. Is it a good idea to hire friends in my business?”
Don’t do it, Jackie! Don’t do it! I’m just joking!
Oh, that’s a really interesting question. Because sometimes it’s really not a good idea to mix friendships and work. It’s better to keep them apart. I can understand the resistance. I know you want to be nice to a friend and all that that goes along with it. But seriously, it’s probably best that you don’t join forces.
It’s going to be very difficult for you to manage the friend because of that relationship. That is, unless you can totally keep this separate, where when she comes to work she’s no longer your friend but she’s your employee. If you could truly separate that, where you treat her as an employee and she understands that you’re not her friend at work, then maybe you could make this work.
But it really needs to be discussed and detailed. Outline clearly with a position description, commitment and agreement — all the things that we teach in the Employee & Orientation Manual. Everything must be super clear — how she’s going to get paid, how she’s going to be evaluated, how you’re going to feel when you sit down across from her. If you’re trying to do an evaluation of her work, you want to be able to correct her actions.
So, I want you to picture all these situations that will come up as an employee and entrepreneur – the relation between you and this friend. There’s a lot to take into consideration.
But ideally, especially since she just got out of school, you might want to have her go work somewhere else. If she does come back to you, then she will appreciate you that much more. That might be also another option for her — to go work somewhere else for a little bit and then come to you.
It’s always best to keep friendship and professionalism apart. That way you will always be friends. I have seen more friendships break up because of that change or shift in the relationship dynamics.
That’s how I feel about it. I hope I helped you out Jackie. Good luck! Let us know if we can help you further.
If you have a question, make sure you write to us at InSPArationManagement.com. Until next time, stay inspired!
