The only way to deal with it is to be transparent, acknowledge that it will create difficult issues and propose to the firm how you intend to safeguard it. Ask yourself:
• Is this an individual who is qualified for the job he or she was hired to do? How would the firm know?
• Is this person going to advance in his or her career regardless of achievement or primarily because Mom or Dad run the place?
• Will this person take away opportunities that should have gone to others?
• Can you trust yourself to be objective in managing your child?
• Will the child employee be a spoiled brat (like King Joffrey from Game of Thrones) who will disrupt the chemistry and culture of the team?
• How do we treat people as colleagues when we know they call the CEO “Mom?”
• Will a child employee inherit the equity and perhaps leadership of the firm someday, even though he or she may be neither ready nor talented enough for the job?
• What if the other partners did the same thing?
The owner/parent must lead here and propose the solutions—and first off, really listen to the team members. Their concerns may hold a lot of validity and perhaps speak to issues that have no resolution. There may be problems that simply cannot be solved.