Family
Businesses
And
Succession and Transition Planning
Change Management Implementation, Inc. specializes in, and more importantly, thoroughly enjoys
working with family owned and family worked businesses, and all
of the unique situations and the variety of special challenges that
go with it.
The principal,
Dennis Hoppe, at age 54, is positioned to deal with both age extremes,
relate to each generation, those moving out, and those moving in,
and those hanging on, and be able to establish rapid credibility,
and pull members together, working for the good of the company.
Family business
situations require very unique physiological skills from the Business
Advisor, recognizing the valuable contribution that all parties
can make to the business's success.
Fortunately
Mr. Hoppe minored in Psychology in college, but more importantly,
he has been the facilitator for a variety of family businesses over
the last 11 years. He relates as well to the earlier generations
and their philosophies, as he does to the new, incoming members
being transitioned in.
Mr. Hoppe will
often work with "family council" groups, but in a manner
structured to manage the company from a business point of view,
and quickly separates family and business issues in a method that
allows focus on moving the business forward.
This is often
accomplished by evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of ALL management
members (family or not), and building a cohesive functioning unit
which is fully capable of moving the company forward.
A good advisor
will get all family members (inside and outside the business) to
recognize each others strengths and weaknesses, and recognize the
very valuable contribution that the earlier generation made to get
the business to the present position.
It is critical
that every family member recognize the value of the others, and
not try to run the business like a household. It is essential that
all members understand that during working hours, the only option
is to run the business as a business.
Often members
who have no desire to, get placed in a family business, and resent
it, yet, say nothing for fear of hurt feelings and feuds. A good
Business Advisor will ferret these people out, and set them on a
new path. Often family businesses are dragged down by both people
working in the business who really do not want to, or people placed
in the wrong position within the family owned business. All family
members should work in the "real-world" for 3-5 years
before they come into the family business. It's like marrying the
first person you meet; you never know what the rest of the world
holds, and you eventually always wonder. It makes the entering person
appreciate the challenges of the family business in a much different
way.
There also exists
what I refer to as "entitlement" when the younger members
come into the business, they feel that because their last name is
what it is, they can treat their entry as one that bypasses most
steps that an outside person would be forced to go through.
Organizational
charts within family businesses are by far, the hardest to configure,
and when put to paper, rarely make sense, never playing properly
to each individual's strengths and weaknesses.
In the end,
the object is to create a larger pot for all to share in, enhance
peace and harmony, and improve quality of life (if only within the
business), and in order to do this, all must participate to their
maximum ability. This becomes the psychology of recognition of value
of each family member, regardless of non-business issues.
Often, resolving
the business organization and structure, which may seem somewhat
reversed, will play a large part in resolving the independent family
issues, and improving the quality of life for all family members.
Timing, respect,
and approach in dealing with more senior family members involved
in the business is critical, as well as the ability to coach and
mentor the more junior members, and integrate them into the business
(if that is where they belong) in an orderly and structured fashion.
The effect of
the "perceived normal" family squabbles on the rest of
the employee base can never be overestimated. In-fighting only separates
the non-family members even more than in a "normal" business,
pushes often key employees away from the company, and puts pressure
on employees to take sides or show favoritism, only hurting the
business even more.
Both management
and ownership meetings that take place in all companies become much
more complicated as family members jockey for position, and often
only compound the confusion on the employee base.
I actually had
a husband pull a gun on his wife at our 1st management meeting.
Needless to say, it was the last for a while. I take no pride in
telling this story, but it does show and validate the uniqueness
of family businesses.
Being able to
address all of the physiological issues is well more than 50% of
a Change Agent's work in a family business engagement.
Having worked
with over 30 different family businesses in my consulting career,
I have learned a great deal about what works, and more importantly,
what does not work. The multitude of egos (above and beyond a normal
functioning business) need careful massaging to bring the team together
in the business environment.
Honestly, it
is similar to the dynamics of most of our families at home, only
compounded by the additional forced intra-relationships on the business-front.
The biggest
mistake I see in family businesses is the inability by all members
to recognize that it IS possible (and in fact, essential) to separate
family and business issues. I am often not successful in bringing
families together outside of the workplace, but almost always effective
in creating a functioning (day to day) unit to effectively manage
the business for success and profit.
Examples
of CMI's and Family Business
- Ross
Furniture Enters Third Generation Of Family Business
- Consultant's
Suggestions Rearrange, Revitalize Furniture Firm
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