Human Resources Executive Succession for Family Businesses
As your family business grows from dozens to hundreds or thousands of employees, the personal touch that once defined your employee relationships becomes difficult to maintain. What worked when ownership knew every employee by name must evolve into scalable systems that preserve your core values.
Many family businesses struggle with HR leadership because they view human resources primarily through the lens of risk management and cost control. While compliance and financial oversight remain essential, strategic HR leadership encompasses much more: talent development aligned with family values, succession planning across all levels, cultural preservation at scale, and employer branding that attracts people who share your principles.
At Stranberg, we help family businesses identify HR executives who can manage both the operational necessities and the cultural stewardship required to honor your legacy while preparing for growth
Family Business HR Hiring Considerations
HR executives directly impact employee satisfaction, cultural continuity, and operational effectiveness. In family businesses, where relationships and values drive decision-making, the wrong HR leader can disrupt decades of carefully cultivated workplace culture.
HR is Not Purely Transactional Risk Management
Many family businesses focus HR exclusively on legal compliance, payroll, and benefits—essentially viewing employees as costs to manage and risks to mitigate. This narrow perspective misses HR's strategic potential: talent development and retention, succession planning across all organizational levels, recruitment aligned with company values, employer branding, and cultural preservation as the business scales.
Family businesses compete for talent in a market where prospective employees research companies on platforms like Glassdoor and LinkedIn, evaluating whether your organization aligns with their values. Strategic HR leadership connects your family's values with market expectations to attract and retain exceptional people.
Ownership Values Must Be Connected with HR Practices
Many family businesses display value statements on office walls and websites—words like stewardship, accountability, loyalty, community—but there's often a disconnect between stated values and actual practices in hiring, communication, performance management, and daily operations. It's one thing to say you value accountability; it's different when employees are truly held accountable in ways that align with ownership expectations.
Exceptional HR leaders in family enterprises serve as cultural translators, understanding what ownership values and institutionalizing those principles in hiring practices, performance systems, and daily operations.
Compensation and Position Practices Must Be Current
Many family businesses operate with compensation philosophies developed decades ago. Modern HR practice provides clear line of sight between performance and rewards. Sales roles demonstrate this effectively—salespeople know exactly what they earn with each sale. That same principle should extend across the organization, with objectives and performance metrics clearly defined for every position.
Your HR executive must understand how to translate business objectives into measurable performance standards that incentivize behavior aligned with your strategic goals and family values.
Stranberg’s Approach
Successful HR executive placement requires understanding both technical competencies and cultural alignment. We work with family businesses to clarify their people philosophy and values before identifying candidates who can implement them effectively.
Getting HR placement right requires careful planning and clarity on both operational capabilities and cultural stewardship requirements. If your people philosophy and values aren't clearly defined, no number of qualified resumes will produce the desired outcome.
Stranberg helps family businesses find HR executives by focusing on the 'whats' before searching for the 'whos.' Here's how we work:
01
Define what your organization needs from HR leadership, including cultural stewardship requirements alongside operational capabilities. We help you articulate your people philosophy and identify the systems needed to preserve your values at scale.
02
Identify candidates who can fulfill both technical requirements and cultural stewardship responsibilities. We evaluate executives on their ability to build systems that honor your legacy while preparing for growth.
03
Ensure alignment between your new HR executive, ownership values, and existing organizational culture through structured onboarding that establishes clear expectations and builds relationships with key stakeholders.
OUR TRACK RECORD OF SUCCESS
Case Studies
The Client: A second-generation family business with a significant share of the North American commercial baking equipment market and global operations across multiple continents.
The Problem: A long-serving HR leader passed away unexpectedly, leaving a critical gap as the company's global expansion required sophisticated people systems beyond their family-run approach. The four brothers who led the company needed someone who could build modern HR infrastructure while preserving the caring, people-first culture their father instilled.
The Solution: Stranberg worked with the brothers to understand their culture and values, then identified a local candidate with the expertise to build needed people systems while honoring the company's values. The firm provided transparency about expectations and developed a structured 30-60-90 day plan aligned with the brothers' priorities, successfully completing the search and enabling the new HR Executive to formalize people development processes while maintaining the company's culture.
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Testimonials
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Stranberg took time to understand how the company operates and got a feel for the family environment and culture, so they knew what types of candidates to look for. Throughout the search process, they provided me 100% transparency about what to expect—not in terms of influencing me one way or another, just the facts about working for this company. Once I was hired, being able to sit down with them and pulse check—"is this what you have in mind?"—and get that reassurance was the biggest thing for building credibility with the family. I credit Stranberg's thorough process and ongoing support for my successful transition into this critical role.
Josh Orlandi
Head of Human Resources, Bundy Baking Solutions
How to Get Started
HR leadership transitions affect every employee in your organization and directly impact your ability to maintain the culture and relationships that differentiate your family business. Our approach helps you find HR executives who can manage operational requirements while serving as effective stewards of your organizational culture.
Resource: Read "The Three Biggest HR Hiring Mistakes Family Businesses Make (And How to Avoid Them)"
