Give Future Leaders Exposure to Critical Roles

A job rotation program gives next-gens both hands-on experience and a working knowledge of different departments and important outside relationships.

A family business’s future leaders may have grown up inside the business, but that doesn't mean that they are ready for leadership -- especially if they lack a deep understanding of how different departments work.  At Vitamix Corp., where the fifth generation of leaders now awaits their turn, a rotation program is giving them exposure to the company’s important jobs and their challenges, as well as important outside relationships.  The program provides both hands-on experience and shadowing.

In this interview, Dr. Aimee Wrubel, Vitamix’s Leadership Development Associate and Chair of the company’s family council, explains how her company’s program works. In experiencing it herself, she has handled phone calls from Vitamix customers, learned more about how products are engineered, and met with outside suppliers who make the company’s blades and boxes. 

Programs like this, she says, result in “an in-depth appreciation of different jobs, and helps you make key decisions in the future.”