2024-08-29 13:26:36
According to a survey published in 2023 French National Petroleum CorporationOne in four family SME and ETI managers is over 60 years old. Furthermore, over the next decade, more than one in two SMEs and ETIs will find themselves in a relocation situation because their managers will have to retire. Yet 47% of family business leaders aged 60 to 69 have not yet developed a formal succession plan. This calls into question the readiness of successors and goes some way to explaining the high failure rate of family succession, with only 30% to 35% of companies succeeding. Transition from first to second generationIn the current context of an aging manager population, the continuity and longevity of family businesses is becoming a key issue. Big Questions of Public Policy.
This succession issue takes on a more strategic dimension because, contrary to many preconceived ideas, the preparation of a succession plan is not limited to determining the terms and timeline for the handover. This upstream work should also assess the qualities and skills required of the successor.
These play a vital role in the successful succession of family businesses. However, attention is often focused on the technical skills that are specific to the company’s business, such as the specificity of production processes, new technologies and products, and more generally on a deep understanding of the industry and its characteristics.
Managing the family atmosphere
However, with the development of artificial intelligence, certain technical professions are threatened with extinction, with many tasks now being automated. In contrast, social and relational skills, which remain difficult to replace with new technologies, are often neglected. In fact, current technology has a hard time understanding and reproducing human emotions and social interactions. One of the founders interviewed highlighted this observation: Our research.
“We can hire someone to take care of the technical aspects, but in a family business, we need a successor who can manage the business while also handling the relationships among family members and the family atmosphere.”
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Social skills are defined as the ability to interact effectively with others. The reference article defining social skills was published in 2003 EA Baron and GD Markman.
Interpersonal skills
Social skills include a unique and complementary set of interpersonal skills. Some skills are more oriented towards understanding others, such as the encoding of verbal and non-verbal information by the interlocutor. Others are more focused on action and self-control. In fact, social perception is the ability of the successor to perceive others. Better understanding of the profile of individuals and understanding their expectations and emotions makes it possible to obtain better cooperation with the actors in the ecosystem. This flexibility is particularly important in the family environment, as it allows the successor to identify and ensure the unexpressed needs of family members. Thus, the successor ensures commitment and family harmony. This was also confirmed by several respondents who participated in our study:
“Some family members are reluctant to discuss certain topics in order to maintain a good family atmosphere; successors must be able to identify and understand their dissatisfaction” (Founder 3).
Social adaptability is defined as the successor’s ability to adapt and adjust his or her behavior to various social situations faced by people from different backgrounds, generations and mindsets. The successor will be able to more easily adjust his or her behavior, attitude and language, networks with partners and managers of the previous generation, all of which may come from another culture, by integrating the family business, the already established structures and teams, all of which may come from another culture. This allows the successor to develop and expand his or her circle of relationships by winning the trust of employees. This was also confirmed by several interviewees.
“I adjust my speech according to the situation; sometimes I speak softly; I explain things to him, but sometimes I make decisions without discussion” (Heir 1).
Managing family and colleagues
Expressiveness is the ability to express one’s emotions and reactions in an appropriate way, in other words their mastery. This allows the successor to motivate his team and create an atmosphere conducive to development. The successor’s positive attitude influences the behavior of the team and employees.
In the family environment, the heir must be able to express his emotions in an appropriate way to his father and other family members. All family members do not express emotions in the same way. Certain emotions must be controlled and adjusted to avoid conflict situations. This was also confirmed by several interviewees:
“If you show him you’re unhappy, he’ll get even angrier! So you hide your feelings” (Inheritor 3).
The ability to cope depends on impression management. The latter is defined as the ability to make a good impression on others, in other words, the ability to seduce the interlocutor. Thus, the successor can attract more of the best employees and promote financing.
Trust atmosphere
This usually includes praise, thanks and encouragement. Recognition of each person’s work and contribution can motivate employees to achieve better performance and create an atmosphere of trust and recognition within the family business. This recognition not only enhances the commitment and sense of belonging among employees, but also among family members, thus creating a positive synergy within the company.
This was also confirmed by many interviewees.
“I often congratulate and thank my father for all he has done for us; for him, it is a recognition” (Subsequent Case 1).
It is important to emphasize that taking such action should not be exaggerated, otherwise it will backfire and people may misunderstand it.
Social skills, this set of interpersonal skills, refers to the skills also known as “soft skills” or “emotional intelligence”. This is also what distinguishes humans from machines, especially as artificial intelligence develops exponentially and occupies more and more space in daily life.
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