Take the free assessment to determine your readiness to hire
When a family business needs to fill an open executive-level position – or appoint a successor – they often rush to identify who to fill the role before considering what the business needs from its executive team.
If your business doesn’t have a clear sense of the skills and values an executive hire needs to thrive – and empower your business to achieve it’s its long-term goals – you likely aren’t ready to find your who.
To help you assess your readiness to hire, we created a complementary, online succession planning assessment. Completing it will give you insight into whether you’re ready to hire new executive team members – and identify what aspects of succession planning may be needed prior to embarking on an executive search.
Why You Shouldn't Rush to the Who
Ideally, your successor or executive hire will serve as a steward for your business for years to come. Unfortunately, finding a long-term, best-fit placement is rarely straightforward – and unlikely to happen if the succession planning process is rushed or lacks due diligence. The wrong hire can cost your business financially and reputationally – and set you back for years.
These challenges exist regardless of whether the hire comes from within the family or outside of it. When a non-family executive is prematurely onboarded, misalignments – in vision, strategy and values – are common and quickly become apparent. Brief and disruptive tenures often result.
Unique challenges arise when a family member is appointed to a leadership position without adequate thought or vetting. A mismatch in abilities and the position's requirements may become obvious and unresolved family conflicts may flare. Even if the individual is qualified, they may find it challenging to receive buy-in from the board, employees, and other family members, if the process lacks objectivity.
Pre-Placement Considerations
While appointing a successor or other executive-level hire may feel urgent, rushing into a decision will almost inevitably lead to a negative outcome. It’s critically important to take a strategic approach to succession planning to ensure the right hire is onboarded the first time.
Before considering who will fill your open position, it’s important to first define your long-term vision and values clearly. Your family members and board of directors (or advisory group) must align with those definitions – and be willing to uphold them. Collectively, you should also agree on the terms of and timeline for a transition process and create documentation to support your plan.
Are You Ready to Hire?
If you’re unsure whether you’re ready to embark on an executive search process, take our succession planning assessment. The brief questionnaire will help you determine whether you should begin to look for your who – or whether more work is needed before you start your search.
Once you’re confident in your readiness, Stranberg can help you place the right individual. Our succession planning services are designed to set the stage for the executive search process and eventual leadership transition. Our team will assess what’s working in your business and determine what’s needed. We will assist you in clearly defining the role and responsibilities of the position (or positions) to be filled, identify the highest quality candidates, and streamline the inboarding/onboarding process.
To ensure you’re ready to hire a successor that will allow your business to thrive for generations to come, take the assessment or contact a Stranberg succession planning expert.
