Jokes about family businesses and the problems associated with the obligations to hire, promote or otherwise put the bloodline before the bottom line are common. However, there are a few principles of successful family retail operations that nonfamily organizations can incorporate effectively.

Succession planning

When leadership is forced to create succession planning to preserve owner intent, a couple of things happen. First, the focus is shifted from, “Who can do the work we need?” to, “This is who we have, how do we support them to ensure their success and the success of the organization?”

The second thing that happens in a forced succession situation is that systems develop to support assessment and learning. In other words, the business must clearly understand what it needs and what it has and then create paths to ensure that employees’ strengths are optimized.

For example, if a family member is being groomed for leadership, then there must be an active effort to create a path to leadership for her as well as a talent development plan to ensure the team around her consists of professionals that compliment her skills.

Culture samples

Another benefit of removing some of the variables associated with staffing, particularly at the leadership levels, is the consistency of culture. While every family has its different personalities, it is often the case in the most successful family organizations that the personality of the organization reflects the personality of the family.

This personality can be reflected through the common values of the founder as they are echoed through the generations. Having the pillar of the family to keep the corporate values intact ensures that everyone who joins and works within the organization knows exactly what to expect as far as the priorities and intent of the leadership.

As both have a significant impact on the direction of the organization, employees can enjoy an understood stability in the purpose and focus of the company regardless of the situation.

Bringing it home

So how does this translate to nonfamily retail? The first step is to recognize the importance of succession planning. It not only positively impacts recruiting and makes employees feel valued, it helps the organization more efficiently and effectively fill leadership roles.

Second, we can adjust our infrastructure to support strengths-based evaluations and career paths. By creating environments that successfully identify and support individual employee strengths as they align with business needs, we can more quickly identify gaps for which we should recruit as well as opportunities to grow employees that show potential.

Finally, we can dust off (or create!) our values and mission statements to ensure they consistently echo the genuine purpose of the organization. Whether family or not, leaders working together as a team to consistently convey the intent and priorities of the organization can provide the continuity and stability of messaging employees enjoy.

The bottom line is that great organizations share a lot in common. Traditional retail organizations can benefit from looking at the traditional approaches within the family business space and incorporate some of those strategies for additional success.