Professionalising the Family Business: From Owner-Led to Board-Governed – Paris, 10–14 May 2027

Programme overview

Technical depth: Conceptual · Practical mode: Case study

Introduction

Many family enterprises grow on the energy and judgement of a founder who makes most decisions personally. Beyond a certain size, that model becomes a constraint: decisions queue at the top, capable managers leave, lenders and partners ask for governance the company cannot show, and the next generation inherits a business that depends on one person. This Core Concept course equips owners and directors to move from owner-led control to board governance and professional management without losing the family's values or control. Participants leave with a Professionalisation Roadmap for their own enterprise.

Course Objectives

• Diagnose the growth-stage pressures and founder dependencies that signal the need to professionalise
• Separate ownership, governance and management through a decision-rights charter and delegation of authority
• Plan the transition from an advisory board to a fiduciary board with independent directors and committees
• Oversee the introduction of planning, performance, control and risk systems suited to a larger enterprise
• Address founder resistance, related-party dealings and the appointment of non-family executives
• Direct the preparation of a Professionalisation Roadmap for the owners and the board

Target Audience

• Founders and owner-managers moving from personal control to board governance
• Chairs and directors of family-controlled companies strengthening board practice
• Family shareholders overseeing the separation of ownership and management
• Senior family and non-family executives leading the introduction of management systems
• Senior governance, legal and finance advisers to family enterprises

Course Outline

Day 1: Growth, Founder Dependency and the Case for Change

• Greiner Growth Model: Crises of Leadership, Autonomy and Control
• Churchill and Lewis Five Stages of Business Growth
• Founder Dependency Diagnostic: Decisions, Relationships and Knowledge
• Family and Non-Family Roles Mapped on the Three-Circle Model
• IFC Corporate Governance Progression Matrix Self-Assessment

Day 2: Governance Frameworks for the Professional Family Firm

• G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance (2023) for Unlisted Family Companies
• ISO 37000:2021 Governance Principles: Accountability, Oversight and Stakeholder Engagement
• Board Evolution Path: Nominal Board, Advisory Board and Fiduciary Board
• Separating Ownership, Governance and Management Through a Decision-Rights Charter
• COSO Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) Components

Day 3: Building Governance and Management Systems

• Delegation of Authority Matrix Design
• Independent Director Search, Selection and Induction
• Board Committee Charters: Audit, Nomination and Remuneration
• Strategic Planning Cycle and Balanced Scorecard Cascade
• Professional HR Architecture: Job Grading, Performance Management and Merit-Based Pay

Day 4: Resistance, Conflicts and Difficult Cases

• Founder Resistance and Retained Informal Authority
• Non-Family Chief Executive Mandate, Incentives and Retention
• Related-Party Transactions and Conflict of Interest Policy
• COSO ERM (2017) and IIA Global Internal Audit Standards (2024) for Board Assurance
• Board Evaluation Methods and Governance Effectiveness Review

Day 5: Case Work and the Professionalisation Roadmap

• Founder-Led Distribution Group Case Study: Appointing the First Independent Directors
• Industrial Family Group Case Study: Handing Operations to a Non-Family Chief Executive
• Governance Maturity Gap Analysis for an Own Family Enterprise
• Professionalisation Roadmap Drafting
• Board Presentation and Peer Challenge

Skills You Will Gain

• Governance Maturity Assessment
• Board Composition Planning
• Delegation of Authority Design
• Management Systems Oversight
• Related-Party Governance
• Executive Search Oversight
• Founder Transition Management
• Organisational Scaling

Why Attend This Course

• Return with a Professionalisation Roadmap that sets out what changes, in what order and who owns each step
• Free the founder and senior family members from day-to-day decisions without weakening family control
• Present lenders, partners and future investors with governance they can recognise and trust
• Learn from owners and directors in other sectors and countries who have made the same transition

Conclusion

Professionalising a family business means replacing reliance on one person with institutions, systems and people who can carry the enterprise forward. This course moves from diagnosing growth-stage pressures and founder dependency, through the international governance and control frameworks, to decision rights, board composition, committees and management systems, and then to the founder resistance and related-party issues that stall many transitions. The final day turns that material into a Professionalisation Roadmap that participants take back to their owners and board for approval.