Successful business handovers – Guiding a management transfer professionally

In the future, the transfer of management responsibility will be an important issue for many companies. Annually 27.000 enterprises are looking for successors. I have already guided and implemented this process within my own family business. Meanwhile, finding suitable candidates increasingly becomes difficult regarding the ongoing demographic change and lack of specialists. For this reasons it is highly necessary to sensitize companies, on an executive level, in terms of succession arrangements. From my point of view, handing over a business means simply more than an advanced heritage.

Based on my own experience, I really like to take the task of guiding and leading business handovers successfully. As I took over my parents’ business and was working for a leading German car manufacturer myself, the challenges people and organizations face are quite familiar to me. Today, I guide people following the same path by supporting them as a passionate consultant.

The “company succession programme” I currently conceptualized is based on various modules which involve and challenge the senior heads of business as much as their successors. The programme starts with a day of coaching at the company facilities. During this outset all concerned parties are encouraged to discuss the particular situation of succession and to reconcile the process of the business transfer. At this stage we also assess the successor’s potential and elaborate his or her customized development plan. The programme then includes skill-based training modules, practical experience and exercise, as well as individual coaching sessions over a period of 24 months. This tailor made approach ensures that all competencies necessary for successful entrepreneurship are developed. Moreover, the holistic concept guarantees a sustainable business strategy that is supported by all concerned parties and stakeholders. The “company succession programme” is concluded with the certification of the company successor.

Thinking about a successor, becoming aware of his own responsibilities, creative possibilities and the courage to face all future business challenges, makes me proud to be a part of this programme.

 

A contribution by:
Rainer Schulz
Consultant at TCJG

Consultant Profile as PDF

,

Coaching – a powerful tool for individual change

While sometimes the solution to a specific work-related problem is obvious for external observers, the directly affected person might stand in his own way. He might not gain access to the right solution. Good advice or technical instructions are not of any help. Often facts are known, but cannot be utilized.

A clear case for coaching. Working on a solution starts with the analysis and clarification of the coachee’s concerns. Customized and focused. The key competency of the coach is to listen closely, to read nuances between the lines and to ask the right questions in order to disclose the key issue.

Then the coachee’s goal is identified. What would it look like if the situation or problem would have been solved already? Usually the coachee is capable of describing the goal and to capture it in an image. The coachee draws strength from this image, it gives him wings. Then, the path towards the goal has to be sketched, building the framework which leads towards departure . On the way it might be helpful to hand refreshments, to install safety nets, to reduce the risk of falling or relapse. And to make sure the coachee does not lose his courage. As soon as first milestones have been achieved and the remaining path towards reaching the final goal looks clear, it is the coach’s time to leave.

That is it for the process. Essentially coaching enables new links inside the client’s mind to gain access to solutions already known. After all, the coachee is the only one who knows best what fits him right. Although he might not immediatly know that he is already knowing it.

The movie below brings some inspiration on the topic coaching:

Coaching Explain Movie