Client stories

In discussions with family business leaders, Next Gens and what is now Family Business UK, there was a call for a safe and challenging space over time, that provided opportunities for Next Gen to work with their own questions alongside their peers from other family businesses.

Oasis already had experience with family businesses and developing their Next Gen, and one of our directors had a great relationship with a family business leader also committed to this area. They formed a facilitation partnership, and approached the then IFB. Together we explored what is already available, where are the gaps, and what is really being called for.

It resulted in a ten-month inquiry process of eight days, bespoke for the individuals, with between ten and fourteen people in each cohort. Over a three-year period we ran two in the North of England and one in London.

The design focussed on seen key areas including:

. Understanding Context and the bigger picture

. Making Contact and establishing relationship

. How to undertake Contracting with oneself and others that builds commitment

. Understanding and Clarifying what is important

. Having difficult conversations and Challenging assumptions

. Choosing and working with personal and organisational Change

The feedback was very positive, and it created levels of energy, commitment and engagement that were exciting and tangible to others. It has been heart-warming to see so many build on the skills and approaches they gained and go on to lead their businesses, shape careers within their chosen sectors and create realistic possibilities and new pathways for outside their family enterprise.

Much of the learning from these inquiry type programmes has been translated into the new Compass programme.

When, due to unforeseen consequences, a rift occurs between the first and second generation, and support is needed to heal the hurt and find ways forward together for the benefit of the family and the business.

Families have good intentions, stories, characters and ways of behaving, and when the stories differ and behaviours wound, conflicts and misunderstandings can blossom. Despite the best intentions, the underlying tendencies and temperaments of those involved can build heat or result in coldness, when what is needed is more warmth.

Oasis was recommended by another family consultant, who felt the human issues needed addressing before anything else was possible. Working with each member of the family we shaped a way forward that they agreed met their very particularly context, their individual needs and spoke to what they each valued.

We began to build together what was to become a shared story, one that helped to rekindle relationships and deepen understanding, and not without its surprises and heartfelt recognition and valuing of one another.

Other ingredients:

. One-to-one support and development

. Developing shared values and their familial intentions for the long term

. Drafting materials that reflect a shared sense of the future direction for the family business

. Facilitated conversations to help work with conflicts and significant issues

. Small group sessions to sustain working relationships and progress

. Meetings across the family to allow other voices to be heard

To work in the heat of the present is often too much for those involved. Whilst every context is different, we discovered it helped to focus on shared hopes for a slightly more distant future. We know from research that working with different aspects of time has potent impacts on how we think and feel, and this work moved between past, present and future in ways that shifted the relationships and the possibilities for what next.

The family saw the benefits of not only working on their own dynamics, but also beginning to consider what was needed for the business and its own longer-term success. Once they felt real progress they were able to reach out to excellent contributors to support them in a number of aspects – which have all been important factors to influence how they are now flourishing both as a family and an international business.

When the Now Generation decide it is time for them to step down and recognise that neither the business nor the family are prepared – yet.

A third-generation family leader full of foresight invited us to work with them and their business to help prepare for the transition from being a successful family owned and run business, to one that was family influenced alongside non-family leaders. At the same time there was a wish to support and develop the rising generation to help equip them for the future and to deepen their relationships to the business over time. The timeframe was ten years.

The work has seen the imagined transitions embed across the organisation, with significant changes within Board, Executive and Family. The partnership has involved:

. Co-creating the vision, values and purpose for the Group.

. Designing and evolving communication and relationship approaches across the governance groups.

. Leadership development for Family through a cross cutting business programme for ‘leaning into the future’.

. Family and Business facilitated inquiries into key areas for partnership including globally responsible leadership, creativity and innovation.

. Sustaining and developing a team approach enhanced by coaching and collaboration cultures.

. Working with trust, letting go and holding difficult conversations.

. Rekindling confidence and helping to build the strength required to make tough decision, challenge key stakeholders, and sustain effective relationships.

. Building internal skills and understanding to nurture self-reliance and positive interdependencies.

. Creating bespoke Learning and Change and Organisational and Development functions within the business.

. Designing a leadership approach for the whole enterprise that meets the need for on-going strategic thinking and practice to be core to shaping and working with future challenges and opportunities.

The business has achieved so much of what it originally intended, whilst facing turbulent external disruptions, uncertainty in supply and markets, and making decisions to stretch even further some of the earlier ambitions. The business has grown threefold since the work began with a 50% increase in staff, enabled positive choices for shareholders, provided exciting opportunities for its people and picked up many accolades and awards along the way. It is a mark of the abilities of those within the company and those engaged with its governance, that it continues to thrive and change whilst never losing sight of its origins in quality and service, and the compassionate, innovative and creative spirit that is at its heart. It continues to be a thrill and an adventure to work with this partner.

When the next generation have fewer people available how does a public service family manage wider expectations and prepare for change without losing what they value?

This was the engaging question that was brought alive on many levels to a series of sessions with one of our bespoke consultants over a phase lasting a number of years. It resulted in innovative new approaches to how community and organisational leaders are supported and are still able to benefit over time in ways that don’t call for the same investment of time by individuals, but rather the support of societal themes which the family wanted to support and be patrons for and included:

. The creation of a larger kitchen cabinet of staff, that whilst managing complex interdependencies across professional roles, private lives and public service, managed to sustain a flat and collaborative structure despite serving a very hierarchical system.

. Consideration and approaches to relating more effectively across generations that otherwise would be differentiated.

. Support for those engaged in the work and helping explore career and life phase choices.