Why You Shouldn’t Try To Brand Your Workplace As A “Family”

What if branding your workplace as a “family” ended up creating more harm than good? We often hear that the best work cultures are the ones that foster more human and authentic connections between people. I have frequently written about that myself. This article from HBR gave me a reason to question that assumption. As the writer notes:

“Numerous examples and research show that overly loyal people are more likely to participate in unethical acts to keep their jobs and are also more likely to be exploited by their employer. These could manifest as being asked to work unreasonable hours or on projects or assignments unrelated to your role, or keeping things under wraps because it is in the company’s (read: family) best interest.”

So family is good when it allows a team to bond and collaborate, but taken too far, it may result in compliance and blind allegiance that compromises ethics or leads to exploitation. That’s not a perspective that we often hear when it comes to management advice.