Substance misuse can unravel a family business and who better to explain how and why than Don Schwerzler, internationally recognized expert in family business dynamics and founder of the Family Business Institute.

How Substance Misuse Can Unravel a Family Business by Don Schwerzler

A drug addict or an alcoholic or someone who abuses alcohol or drugs can wreck mayhem in a family business. And, so can the family member who is trying to cope with it. For not only does the drinking or drug abuse affect how they deal with one another inside their family unit at home, it overflows to the workplace getting in the way of the smooth running of the family business.

Take the business relationship with vendors, for example. If an employee is hung over or a family member is exhausted from a night of fighting about the drug use, they don’t perform very well at work, thereby slowing production, which in turn impacts vendors and their ability to service their customers. This holds true in dealings with advisory professionals, such as the company’s attorney or CPA, for example. Not only do these family members cause communication/follow-up delays, but they send mixed messages, as well. One day it may to do “X,” and two weeks later, it may be to do “Y” – all due to conflicts surrounding the substance misuse that are occurring amongst family members involved in the family business. Then, one moves onto the impacts on customers — poor and/or rude customer service from an employee who’s been up most of the night angry about the fight they had over the drinking or an employee whose head hurts so much, he/she is sure it will explode. And lastly, in this string of examples, are the co-workers. A boss who is a variable performer as a result of their good and bad days with substance abuse and/or trying to control a family member’s substance abuse, can be an utter nightmare. Like all of the above, co-workers are similarly affected and thus so is their work performance and enjoyment of their job. Family businesses can start loosing key employees as a result.

To put some figures to these claims, consider the following from the FAQ at Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems, The George Washington University Medical Center’s website, http://www.ensuringsolutions.org/:

– Non-alcoholic members of alcoholics’ families use 10 times as much sick leave as members of families where alcoholism is not a factor.
– Eighty percent of heavy drinkers in the U.S. are employed.
-The health care costs for employees with alcohol problems are about twice those of other employees.
– Light and moderate drinkers cause 60 percent of alcohol-related incidents of absenteeism, tardiness and poor quality of work, while dependent drinkers cause 40 percent.
– The primary business costs of problem drinking are from the treatment of alcohol-related injuries and health conditions, lost time from work and reduced productivity. For example, employees are nearly two times more likely to call in sick the day after drinking heavily than on other days.

So what can/should you do if you’re a family business owner about a family members substance misuse?

– Learn more about substance abuse and substance dependence (addiction) – yes, there is a difference.

– Include informational policies about substance abuse, substance dependence and secondhand drinking/drugging (SHDD) – in other words, the impact on the family members, friends and co-workers – as part of your HR policies.  One informational piece, for example, would be to explain what “normal” drinking and “normal” drug use is and is not.

– Bring in an expert to talk and/or do training with your employees and management team from time-to-time. [Our online resources site, Family Business Experts, has a complete section, Dealing with Alcoholism in the Family Business (FBARR), where you will find a number of resources to help you address these first three items.]

– Above all, don’t ignore it. It does not go away and the success and competitive edge of your family business in the marketplace depends on it.

Don Schwerzler, internationally recognized expert in family business dynamics and founder of the Family Business Institute, a multi-disciplined, full service resource for family-owned businesses formed in the early 1980s. In 2001, the Family Business Institute launched the website, Family Business Experts (FBE), which is where this interview appears.

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