Working with the Family

Working with family members can be tough when it comes to business, but when the partnership is right, the relationship can be extremely beneficial. After being interviewed by Business XL on Family Business, RPM’s CEO and Founding Partner Hugh Robertson sheds more light on his hints and tips on working with family members, leaning on his experience working with younger brother Dom, RPM’s Managing Director.

Over to Hugh...
I founded RPM in January 1993, and my youngest brother Dom joined the company in 2000, working his way up to become Managing Director in the summer of 2009. This year, we celebrated our 18th birthday as well as winning Agency of the Year, and we are working with some of the UK’s leading brands including Diageo, BSkyB, E.ON and Heineken.

Your No.1 tip for working with family?
I think the key to working with family members is to re-set the time you have together as family as opposed to business partners, and also ensure that nothing is ever left to fester or remain unresolved. When Dom and I are in the work environment, it is the same as it would be with any other colleague. We also spend a lot of time together outside of work, not talking about work, otherwise it can really dominate the relationship.

Another is meritocracy. Employing a member of the family within your business should be done on the basis of a meritocracy and their ability, not just because you’re related to them. Luckily with Dom, he has always been more than capable and is a very admirable Managing Director.

What are the advantages of working with family?
The advantage with RPM is that Dom and I share a sense of unity, and there’s an implicit trust in both of our abilities to manage our respective parts of the business. I recently had a back operation that put me out of work for over four months. Worrying to any CEO, yet despite being out of the office for a significant amount of time, I knew Dom would help run the business with vigour and great capability, and I didn’t have to worry as much as I potentially may have done had we not been related.

Obviously, if we were a whole family working in one business, and things weren’t going well financially, then family businesses can definitely have their disadvantages. My father runs his own business, so luckily no chance of that happening.

Working with the family ensures that trust is already within the business and there’s an established sense of loyalty. Dom and I share the same values, but we also have complementary skills. Again, when you work with your brother, you already know them well enough not to have to apply the controls required when employing strangers.

Do you think family businesses are important to the UK and business growth?
Entrepreneurial businesses are important to the UK economy, and if they are family, then this is great but not necessarily the most important element. Where there is a trade involved, then I think they are important for a continuance of tradition and expertise.