People are not your most important asset, the RIGHT people are.
– Jim Collins

Family Business Advisory

A family business is a business that is predominantly controlled by a family with the intention of sustaining family control across generations. Family businesses play a major role in the overall economy as they contribute well over half of global job creation and Gross Domestic Product. Typically, family businesses are also more profitable and outperform non-family businesses.

However despite long-term orientation, relatively few family businesses successfully transition over many generations. Passing on the business to the Next Generation (NxG) is an emotional and challenging issue, and often includes an element of conflict that faces every family business at some stage. There are several reasons contributing to this – involving how best to address succession planning and profitable growth.

We support family-controlled businesses and family offices that are navigating complex challenges and succession issues through addressing both the structural and human components of leadership transition. Our solutions can involve internal as well as external candidates, adding and strengthening the leadership capabilities at the board or daily management level of a family-controlled business.

We genuinely recommend what we think is in the best interest of our family business client, and not just what is the easiest to say or what the family owners want to hear. To this end, we are comfortable addressing the balance between the needs of the company and the level of family involvement.

Regardless of whether solutions include internal or external talent, we know that the first critical step is to build an alignment between family members around the family’s approach to business and ownership. By drawing up Job Specifications and Candidate Profiles that include an outline of the company culture and personal leadership character traits, we can help your family company identify and evaluate relevant internal and external family and non-family candidates.

Furthermore, independently of the candidate being internal or external, we offer a structured follow-up service which helps candidates reach full productivity in their new position and limits the risk of ‘derailing’ later on as they move quickly up the learning curve, gaining the trust of the family and adapting to their working style.