Through service on boards of directors and interaction directly with C-level executives North Amana Workshops provides professional, confidential, and personalized counsel in the following areas:
Family Business Issues
Family businesses can be complicated, especially when it comes to generations following the founder. Working through issues involves understanding family relationships and personalities, business needs, family needs, individual competencies, interests of key employees, and ownership interests. Each case is different, and therefore, each approach to working through family business planning issues is different, but they all have in common having a keen sensitivity to the special nature of family companies.
Ownership Planning
Should ownership changes be made and why? If so, who should be the owners, and how can this be accomplished? The answers vary from business to business and depend on many factors including the interests of the current owner(s), financing, intentions for the future of the business, cash flow, key employee retention, succession, risk management, and employee communications. North Amana workshops can help solve these major and often sticky issues on a confidential basis.
Succession Planning
Who will succeed whom, when and how? What are the factors to consider? How will the interests of the affected parties be balanced and addressed? North Amana Workshops provides an objective, yet caring, third-party perspective in working through these important, and often critical, matters.
Financial Modeling
This involves identifying costs, revenues, and investments presented in “what-if” scenarios. It also can identify capital and/or financing requirements and financing alternatives.
Strategy
CEO’s are often overwhelmed by the urgent day-to-day issues and are left with too little time for the non-urgent, but important things such as strategy. With North Amana Workshops’ help, strategy is prioritized and addressed on a regular basis with insight and guidance from an experienced former CEO.
Incentive Compensation Plans
Employee retention, employee motivation, and desired outcomes are key driving forces behind designing incentive compensation plans both for short-term and long-term purposes. This process involves up-front preparation by understanding personalities involved and then designing plans to accomplish the needs of the company while securing the employee’s commitment to both the company and its goals.
Executive Advice, Counsel, and Coaching
Let’s face it, it can be lonely at the top. Having someone to work with free of internal constraints or biases and only on your side can be of real help.