It started with strategic planning. There was general belief that they had the right people to take the company into the next phase of growth; all they needed was good strategy and execution. So, the first step was to look at the historical data. For the ten years prior, the company had experienced stagnant revenue and profits while under the management of the current leadership team. The team lacked the necessary data to support their choices when making strategic decisions. In fact, most decisions were driven by emotions and based on opinions and gut feelings. Additionally, the organization had become risk-averse. That was probably natural knowing where the leaders were in their own phases of life; there was comfort in status quo. As we peeled away layer after layer, the dialogue changed from “we have the right people” to “do we have the right people for growth?”

It was further challenging to attract and retain talent because career growth opportunities were few and far between. Business continued to come in due to past relations, but the market was changing. Mergers and acquisitions in the marketplace were creating fewer, but larger customers. Some of these customers had their corporate offices in other parts of the country and in some cases in Europe. Past relations were no more decision makers. Somewhere along the line, the business development process became nonexistent. There was plenty of work to be done.

Building the executive leadership was the first step. Strategies were developed for growth, with focus on attracting and retaining talent. Workforce training became a priority as did focusing on mentoring and coaching next generation leaders. Additionally, a new technology platform was adopted so real time data could be collected and analyzed for making decisions. It was complete business model reinvention.