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Employees in UK's family businesses most satisfied, report

By Rashmi Kumar

Family businesses are more likely to employ satisfied workers than non-family businesses and as a result their workers are likely to work longer hours, according to research by Birmingham University, carried out for the Unquoted Companies’ Group.

Stanley Sibert, professor of labour economics at Birmingham University and author of the report, said: “Family businesses tend to treat employees much more transparently and consistently than other employers. In particular, family businesses encourage (but do not guarantee) long-term employment, and the closer relationship between bosses and staff makes workers feel much more included.”

Following the analysis of data from 20,000 employees of 2,000 UK companies, the study found that over a fifth of all workers are employed by family businesses, with almost 20% operating in the manufacturing sector.

The report showed that workers in family-managed companies work longer hours than non-family businesses – 38.4 hours a week compared with 32.4 hours.

The Unquoted Companies’ Group promotes the family business model in the UK and represents the interests of 35 UK companies, which have collective sales of over £5 billion and employees totalling around 85,000.

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