Mid-market companies share pain points around talent
Many of the more than 100 business owners and operators who participated in the Make More Series: Middle Market Business Growth Initiative on May 23 give themselves high marks for community-oriented activities. They admit, however, that they are falling short when it comes to delegation and empowering employees.
The Middle Market Business Growth Summit opened with entrepreneur Kevin Nolan sharing lessons from 40 years of building Nolan Painting into a thriving $15 million powerhouse – many of which are included in his new book, Organizational Muscle. His keynote provided his unique perspective on mission/vision and values, business planning, goal setting, structure, cascading leadership strategies, customer service, succession planning and decision making.
“You cannot tell an entrepreneur what to do,” Nolan said. “You can only tell them what you’ve done and what has worked.”
“This is only the beginning of this new body of work for us as the region’s big suburban chamber of commerce,” said Main Line Chamber President and CEO Bernard Dagenais. “Rarely, have I been in a room with this many small-to-medium-sized business owners, presidents and CEOs together. Their impact on our regional economy is huge and will only grow as they address the types of challenges that hold businesses back.”
The following is an artificial intelligence-produced summary of notes taken from facilitators who led table discussions at the event:
Strengths:
• Community-oriented activities: Companies are actively engaged in community-oriented initiatives, indicating a strong sense of social responsibility.
• Customer service and professionalism: A focus on delivering excellent customer service and maintaining professionalism has led to a high rate of repeat customers.
• Operating through values: Services are guided by company values, reviewed annually to ensure alignment, fostering long-term customer relationships.
Areas for improvement:
• Cascading leadership: There's a struggle in developing cascading leadership within companies. This suggests a need for clearer leadership pathways and delegation strategies.
• Hourglass approach: Difficulty in letting go of responsibilities (the "hourglass approach") is a common challenge, indicating a need for improved delegation and empowerment strategies.
• Organizational structure: Clarity and transparency in organizational structure and performance expectations need improvement to facilitate growth.
• Talent acquisition and retention: While retention seems strong, challenges exist in attracting new customers and talent acquisition, indicating a need for refined recruitment strategies.
• Goal-setting and business planning: Emphasis on writing down goals and business plans is essential for clarity and accountability, suggesting a need for structured planning processes.
These priorities reflect a mix of operational and strategic challenges that need to be addressed for sustained growth and success.
Additional elements in the Make More Series: Middle Market Business Growth Initiative are as follows:
• By-invitation-only participation in the Middle Market Business Growth Workshop at Brandywine Launchbox at Penn State Brandywine on June 20.
• Awarding of a Middle-Market Business of the Year on June 27 at the Celebration of Business Leadership.
• Discounted seats in the Leadership Principles & Profiles training program to be held one day per month in October through January.
• A year-end Middle Market Business Growth Initiative Takeaways Session in early December to share progress reports and announce a speaker to kick off the 2025 Business Growth Initiative.
The Chamber board of directors and staff appreciate the sponsors – all represented by business leaders who contributed valuable content and funding:
