Career planning in family business is an indispensable process for family members. However, this usually takes a backseat even in the advanced stages of governance due to emotional issues. These may involve rivalries among members, issues with trust or objectivity with the professional managers, “hidden agendas” and the like… In summary it becomes a game of “survival of the fittest” or “grab what you can”. On the other hand, for a healthy balance between the deserving family members and able professionals is the foundation of the family business survival. For this, you must have well trained, objectively tested family members and individually prepared and applied career planning. This is especially so valuable in the majority of families who for various reasons do not follow the golden rule of sending their next generation to the outside “real” world for at least 5 years to work and prove themselves… and even then when/if they return!

Based on decades of experience with family business governance, and my previous work as a managing partner of one of the globally leading firms in strategic human resources assessment, I help families throughout this vital process of objective assessment, career planning and follow through with the young generation to achieve their personal and organizational goals. This I do in conjunction with their corporate governance and human leadership processes, supporting and improving them along the way. The rewards of this are enormous both to the family and to the business, if done seriously and objectively.