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As a family grows in its influence and affluence, it often seeks to build a staff that can assist in the management of family affairs. In simple cases, this may involve only a personal assistant responsible for managing appointments or running errands. In the extreme, however, it can involve a staff of dozens who provide the family with the type of turnkey lifestyle experienced in a luxury hotel.
Regardless of the extent of services to be provided, securing experienced, talented, and compatible staff will always be the goal. Just like in the business world, hiring a bad fit for family staff can cause big problems.
Understanding the ins and outs of family staffing is essential for finding and securing the staff that can provide the appropriate level of support.
Exploring the Services Family Staff Provide
Choosing to hire family staff is a leverage decision. It is a move that empowers the family to better leverage their time for more important matters.
A personal assistant is a common hire for a family staff. Sometimes known as an estate manager or personal chief of staff, this is the person who governs the complexities of the family’s personal life. The duties of this position can be far-reaching, such as managing a philanthropic endeavor and liaising with tax services and other offices that provide services to the family.
Families with large or multiple estates can have a family staff that includes dozens of positions. That type of staff is often structured like a business in the hospitality field, in which a vice president of operations or chief operations officer oversees a cascading staff that includes housekeeping and maintenance functions.
Hiring the Right Family Staff Members
A variety of factors make hiring family staff a complex endeavor. To ensure that these complexities are properly addressed, families typically rely on recruiting firms to handle the process for them. Firms with experience in family staffing understand the qualifications prospective staff members must have and know the pitfalls that should be avoided.
Recruiting firms can be especially valuable in identifying the type of candidate that would be a good fit for a particular family. Fit is paramount in family staffing. Because the relationships between families and their staff members are inherently intimate, the boundaries between personal and professional interaction can get blurry. If personalities clash, it can quickly lead to uncomfortable and unwelcome tension.
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Just like in the corporate world, a family staff has a culture that should be acknowledged and respected.
Everything from life experience to demographics to communication style should be considered when considering whether a person will fit with the existing staff. When a new hire does not work out, it is often because their compatibility with existing staff was not considered.
Experienced recruiting firms can help create healthy expectations and build a structure that allows families to benefit without staff experiencing burnout.
Identifying a Reliable Recruiting Firm
Family staffing is a niche market within the broader recruiting universe that requires special expertise. It is important to seek out recruiting firms with experience and a proven track record of successful placements.
When interviewing firms, you should explore the type of roles they have filled and how long it took them to fill those roles. A knowledgeable firm should also be able to advise you on the salary and other benefits appropriate to the role you are looking to fill.
Leveraging the Power of Family Staffing
Those who work in the family staffing space, especially in the role of a personal assistant, often have a strong desire to help those whom they serve experience a better life. They love helping families express their vision and want to see them excel.
For families to take full advantage of that type of passion, they must be aspirational. They must be able to articulate who they are as a family and the goals they are working to achieve. Once they have done that, they will be able to leverage the power of family staffing not only to envision a better life but achieve it.
— Jessica Vann is the Founder and CEO of Maven Recruiting Group, a renowned, nationally-recognized recruiting firm and brand.
