How is a family-run business made fit for the future?

6-minute read

An interview with Andrea Schell, Partner, SCHELL GmbH & Co. KG.

As a Partner, Andrea Schell is quite a rarity in the metal manufacturing industry in Germany. In fact, she embodies an important aspect of the topic we want to talk about today: family businesses balancing tradition and change.

What particular qualities make up a family business and, more specifically, what are these qualities at SCHELL?

Our family name is also our brand name, and it’s directly linked to the quality of the products and service we provide. To live up to this standard, we ensure a high level of vertical integration in our own production. This not only gives us our all-important edge, but also allows us to minimise risks while continuously improving our quality.

As a family business, we achieve a level of customer proximity and service that’s difficult for large corporations. From purchasing the materials to be used in production through to shipping, all of our workflows and processes are on-premise. Our flat hierarchy ensures quick decision-making, close cooperation between the individual departments and exceptional flexibility. When we need outside help, we can draw on a pool of trusted experts. Many of our external service providers – from suppliers and machinery manufacturers to our legal counsel, auditors and tax consultants – are already our long-standing partners and so understand our corporate DNA and our employees on a personal basis. This is also a major advantage in terms of fast, flexible and straightforward cooperation.

Also important is the fact that we’ve always been financially independent throughout our company’s history, thanks to the capital resources provided by the company’s two shareholders – namely my brother and I. This affords us enormous flexibility and decision-making speed in terms of investments as well as strategic decisions.

What does leadership mean to you?

At our company in particular, leadership doesn’t mean sitting back on your laurels in the executive suite. In fact, quite the opposite: it means taking an active part in company operations. Our directors Andrea Bußmann and Andreas Ueberschär take care of the various tasks within their managerial remits, and work with the individual departments to handle day-to-day business. This means they always know what’s going on and are involved in shaping the future of the company on a daily basis. Our directors are also easy to get in touch with, as they are always working on site here in Olpe. We organise regular management sessions on recurring topics and we’re also flexible enough to meet up without too much hassle to coordinate efforts at finding a quick and efficient solution to more urgent problems.

In a nutshell, I understand leadership and management to mean articulating clear goals, convincing others, initiating changes and innovating, reconciling different opinions among colleagues and ensuring rigorous project implementation. This is what really matters – and not all those management fads and buzzwords about ‘agility’, ‘disruption’, and so on.
Just a few key characteristics are important for good leadership – ambition and passion to achieve a goal, courage and optimism to win over employees, and willingness to communicate to create and maintain trust. Perseverance and tenacity – for me, these two are also important personal qualities. If you lead, you need to be able to handle adverse situations – which includes making unpopular decisions every now and then. You also have to accept the isolation that sometimes comes with leadership. Above all, anyone who wants to lead well needs to like people. Part of this is ensuring active participation by employees. We know that we rely on our team’s expertise, creativity and support to achieve success in business.

What does the word ‘family’ mean to you in a family-run business? What self-image does it convey?

In a word: responsibility. By working closely with the individual departments, we maintain personal contact with most of our employees. It’s important to us to create a working environment that can cope with the ups and downs of life. Nevertheless, our day-to-day business also has a serious side – and that calls for hard graft. Everyone settles into their work environment and performs their tasks with great reliability. The respect shown to each and every colleague is certainly a major source of motivation here. I’m deeply grateful for how reliable, loyal and flexible our employees are.