Ray Turek
Chief Human Resources Officer
Spartan Light Metal Products
Episode 336
Beyond Strategy: Relationships are HR's Core Currency in Family Business Succession.
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleJanuary 23, 2025 · 14:13
Thesis
“Effective HR leadership demands a deep understanding of human dynamics, intentional relationship building, and continuous adaptation to diverse generational expectations to successfully navigate transitions and drive sustainable organizational growth, especially in family-owned businesses.”
Show notes
Succession planning in a family-owned business isn't just a talent strategy — it's an organizational therapy exercise. Ray Turek, CHRO at Spartan Light Metal Products with over 30 years in HR, has spent much of his career in that specific crucible: managing transitions where emotion, legacy, and institutional knowledge are inextricably tangled. His observation is blunt — the visibility of family succession is unlike anything in corporate HR, and the failure modes are entirely different.
Ray's first-90-days philosophy for incoming leaders in long-tenured cultures is unambiguous: relationships before results. Leaders who arrive with mandates and immediately start optimizing are often the ones who fail — not because their ideas are wrong, but because they haven't built the trust that makes implementation possible. The organization won't run through a wall for someone it doesn't know yet.
On board effectiveness, Ray challenges a comfortable assumption: experienced executives don't automatically function as high-performing teams. Boards need the same relationship infrastructure and honest feedback mechanisms as any other leadership team — including, he argues, anonymous 360-style self-assessments that most boards have never considered. And as workplaces navigate five generations simultaneously, the HR leaders who thrive will be those who understand each one deeply enough to lead all of them.
- Succession in family businesses — the unique visibility, emotional stakes, and stakeholder management required to get it right
- Relationships before results in the first 90 days — why new leaders who prioritize trust over momentum are the ones who actually drive change
- Board effectiveness as a people problem — how to apply HR disciplines to the room that thinks it's above them
- Managing five generations — why the frameworks that worked for previous generations often fail the workforce you have today
- Agility and ambiguity as core HR competencies — staying current on societal trends that will shape the next human capital challenge
What you'll take away
- 1Succession in family businesses requires extensive communication, stakeholder management, and intentional coaching due to high visibility and emotional attachment.
- 2When integrating new leaders or driving change in long-tenured workforces, prioritize relationship building in the first 90 days over immediate results to foster acceptance and collaboration.
- 3Board and senior management effectiveness hinges on fostering relationships outside of formal meetings and engaging in self-reflection, such as anonymous 360-style surveys for board members.
- 4Leaders must deeply understand and adapt their management styles to the diverse motivators and expectations of a multi-generational workforce, moving beyond traditional career paradigms.
- 5HR leaders need to be agile, thrive in ambiguity, and stay fresh on broader societal trends beyond HR to anticipate future human capital needs and manage the 'human capital engine'.
What most organizations get wrong
- •New leaders in established cultures should prioritize relationship building in their first 90 days over demonstrating immediate, radical changes, contrary to the typical 'prove yourself quickly' mentality.
In Ray's words
“You cannot underestimate the amount of visibility and attention that those roles get. Both for the family member as far as where they're moving in the organization, as well as the person that follows behind them.”
Highlights the unique social and emotional complexities of succession in family businesses due to inherent visibility and attachment.
“for the first 90 days, you really need to work on building relationships in the organization. And you need to work at making sure the organization knows you.”
Provides actionable advice for new leaders joining an established, long-tenured team, emphasizing cultural integration over immediate results.
“that board is— I think sometimes we think, well, gee, there are all these executives, A-players, you know, great resumes, they're going to function as a high-performing team. That's not necessarily the case.”
Challenges the common assumption that highly credentialed individuals automatically form an effective team, underscoring the need for intentional board development.
“you're managing 5 generations. Do you understand all 5? The training you received before you became plant VP to run the plant might not really work with a good portion of your workforce.”
Underscores a critical gap in current leadership training and understanding regarding the diverse dynamics of a multi-generational workforce.
“be an advocate and a guardian for the people, and you'll be an advocate and a guardian for the business, right? You take care of one, it takes care of the other.”
A concise statement of the symbiotic relationship between a people-focused HR strategy and overall business success.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Difficulty for family members in leadership to 'let go' of control during succession, coupled with high visibility and scrutiny on both family and non-family successors.
- •Resistance from long-tenured employees to new leadership or organizational changes, stemming from deeply ingrained practices and a 'this is how we've always done it' mindset.
- •Boards often fail to operate as high-performing teams despite the individual caliber of their members, leading to suboptimal decision-making and missed opportunities for strategic collaboration.
- •Current leaders lack adequate understanding and training to effectively manage and motivate a multi-generational workforce, potentially leading to disengagement and a disconnect with employee expectations.
- •The inherent ambiguity and rapid pace of change in today's business environment demand HR leaders to be exceptionally agile and continuously informed, a challenge for many traditional HR functions.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
You have a little over 30 years experience in HR roles
Exploring Your Career Journey
Ray Sutter has helped manage succession planning at a family-owned business
Family-Owned Businesses' Succession Planning
Brad, can you share your experience in developing next generation of family leadership
Bradley On Developing the Next Generation of Family Leaders
Ray Miller: Having a good relationship between board and senior management team essential
What Makes a Board-Senior Management Team Relationship Effective?
Ray Miller sees gaps in how companies approach succession planning and board effectiveness
Ray, on Succession Planning and Board effectiveness
Ray, any parting advice you'd like to share with our community
Ray McGuirk on His Final Words
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
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