Employee Engagement

The focus of succession planning — as the name suggests — is planning the transfer of power and responsibility from the current leader (often the company's founder) to a new generation of leadership (often the children of the founder).

For family and closely held businesses, planning for a smooth transition involves much more than prepping a new leader, getting the financials aligned, and the legal documents signed. A company is much more than products, procedures, offices and warehouses. The lifeblood of every company is the employees — the people who execute the job, represent the company culture and work with customers day in and day out. When change comes for a company, it's not just leadership that's being upended.

Every employee's life is being upended as well. Every succession plan must take the employees into account if the company hopes to achieve a smooth transition — and continue its culture and traditions.