Strategy in transformation
Succession planning for family businesses: connect the leadership handover with the future of the company, from shared vision and roles to a prepared transition.
Business succession in a family business changes expectations within the family, among the owners and across the company. Our support connects strategic direction with clarifying roles and preparing the people involved.
Map family, ownership and management, each with its own decisions.
Work through expectations, roles and strategic direction together.
Embed steps, responsibilities and reflection in the company.
Transfer of ownership and change of leadership do not have to happen at the same time. Together we clarify which changes are actually coming, what expectations exist and where differing interests call for a decision.
Future leaders need a clear view of the strategic challenges and of what their role demands. Options for developing the company are considered together with the suitability and development of potential successors.
A generational change alters roles in the family and decisions in the company at the same time.
Responsibilities and collaboration during the transition are agreed, including the future role of the outgoing generation. Communication and shared reflection help the new roles take effect in the organisation.
Book an initial callSuccession is a multi-layered task. Alongside the person who is to take on a leadership role, there are the family’s expectations, the position of the previous generation, ownership questions and the future competitiveness of the company.
We therefore begin by clarifying the assignment across these levels. Who decides what? What expectations do those involved have of future leadership? What capabilities and relationships does it need for the task? What should the previous generation continue to contribute and where must it hand over responsibility? The answers may diverge. They are discussed in a suitable circle before a timetable is set as an apparent solution. The existing routines in the company are then examined to see whether they support the new distribution of roles.
A succession process becomes concrete when the future business direction, leadership tasks and cooperation are considered together. To this end, we combine family strategy, strategy development and organisational development. Together with the family and the responsible managers, we can work on a vision of the future, clarify decision-making scope and design a sequence of handover and reflection steps.
The new generation needs the opportunity to develop its own positions; the organisation needs clarity about which decisions apply today and which will be made later. A published case study describes a specific generational change. Its results remain tied to that case. For each new family, the process is derived from its ownership, leadership and business situation, not from a transferred standard plan.
Nachfolgerolle und Rückzug gemeinsam vorbereiten: Die fachliche Auswahl und Qualifizierung der Nachfolge werden mit dem künftigen Führungsteam und dem Rückzug der übergebenden Generation verbunden. Verantwortlichkeiten, Entscheidungsspielräume und Formen der weiteren Mitwirkung benötigen klare Vereinbarungen. Geeignete Gespräche und Entwicklungssettings unterstützen die Bearbeitung dieser unterschiedlichen Rollen.
Arbeitsergebnisse: Geklärte Ebenen und Rollen des Übergangs; Gemeinsames Zukunftsbild und Anforderungen an die Nachfolge; Abgestimmte Schritte für Übergabe und Entwicklung.
Legal and tax structuring requires the relevant specialists. Our consulting brief covers strategy, roles, development and collaboration.
A generational change often raises simultaneous questions: what should be retained from the existing business model? Which decisions may the new leadership make independently? How does the role of the previous generation change? What expectations do employees, customers and family members have? We treat these questions as an interconnected process.
We first disclose who is responsible for which decision and separate the family discussion from the organisational implementation. Then the future direction of the company is linked to the capabilities and relationships of the new leadership. A handover can have stages in which responsibility grows and experiences are evaluated together. The specific phases are derived from the mandate, ownership structure and business.
Understandable communication within the company is important: employees need to know which decisions already apply and where the future leadership is only just developing a position. The published case study on generational change shows a specific case. However, its processes and results remain specific to that company. For a new mandate, they are a source of ideas, not a schedule to be copied.
The preparation also involves key people outside the family if their work is important for continuity. Their knowledge of customers, processes and informal decision paths can help to understand the consequences of a new leadership role. The circle is agreed with the family so that confidential ownership questions remain protected. During the handover, it is checked whether new responsibilities are actually being used or whether decisions continue to return automatically to the previous generation. Such observations indicate a role clarification that is still open, not merely communication errors.
Regular reflection makes visible whether the agreed responsibility actually reaches the successor leadership.
Handing over and taking over must be shaped at the same time. The previous generation needs a clarified future role; the successor needs a mandate that can actually be lived in everyday work. Together with those involved, we make visible which decisions are already made jointly, which will be made alone in future and which within the circle of owners. This makes contradictory expectations workable before they recur in daily individual decisions. A possible development phase of the succession is linked to concrete tasks and feedback.
At the same time, the company needs to know how leadership and responsibility are organised during the transition. The result is an agreed sequence of decisions, roles and observation points. Tax and legal questions are handled by the relevant specialists and coordinated with the process. Open points remain documented with responsibility and the next conversation, instead of continuing to have a hidden effect in everyday work.
No. Ownership, family expectations, the position of the outgoing generation, strategic direction and collaboration within the company are all affected. Transfer of ownership and change of leadership do not have to coincide. So we start by clarifying the brief across these levels: who decides what, what those involved expect of future leadership and what capabilities it needs.
As soon as future roles and expectations need to be discussed; the exact starting point depends on the family’s situation. The answers of those involved may differ and are discussed in a suitable setting before a timetable is set as an apparent solution. In the documented case study, management was handed over two years after the work began, though every case is different.
Their future contribution and the limits of their responsibility are clarified explicitly. Selecting and developing the successor is linked to the future leadership team and to the outgoing generation stepping back. Responsibilities, scope for decisions and ways of staying involved need clear agreements; suitable conversations and development settings help people work through these roles.
No. The steps are developed from the family, the company and the mandate, and reviewed regularly. We combine family strategy, strategy development and organisational development, work on a picture of the future, clarify decision-making scope and design a sequence of handover and reflection steps. The new generation needs room to develop its own positions; legal and tax structuring is handled by the relevant specialists.
Case study
How a business family brought together succession, strategic options and new roles.
What decision are you facing? Together, we clarify your situation, the people involved and the right next step.
Director | Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Head of corporate strategy competence team
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