How large families turn meritocracy from a slogan into a system: the induction program

"We choose on merit, not blood" is a common claim in family businesses. Very few families have the mechanism to make it true. One European family runs its next generation through an induction programme that does.

Most family businesses say they choose on merit rather than on name. Very few have a structured process that actually produces the outcome. One famous European family has built a good exemple: an induction programme, run by a dedicated HR branch that deals only with family members.

When a cousin — among more than three hundred — wants to join the group's leadership, they apply to the programme. They are then given a graduated path of responsibilities:

• First, shadowing a senior executive.
• Then, a small operational remit.
• Then, a first team to lead.
• Then progressively heavier assignments — for example, heading the marketing function of a small-country subsidiary.

At each step, the assessment is real. The cousin is either invited to continue or told, without ambiguity, that the family does not see a role for them in the operations.

A no at a given step is not a no for life. The family office has other paths — asset management, philanthropy, committees, boards — where a family member may contribute meaningfully without running operational businesses. What the programme closes down is the possibility of someone rising through the group on the strength of their name alone.

Induction programmes convert meritocracy from a slogan into a system and reduce a counter-productive heiritocracy. Every family member working in the business is assessed professionally, transparently, and without privilege. For a family of three hundred cousins, that system is one of the things that separates a durable family enterprise from a slowly diluting one.

Link to original post