Starter for Ten - Lessons from leaders
Mercia's 4th Annual Chair Summit hosted by our own Chair, Ian Metcalfe OBE, was held this month in Manchester, bringing together Chairs and NEDs from across our portfolio network for in-depth discussion about the challenges their portfolio businesses are facing. There was immense knowledge share, and as much as this cohort could provide insight and possible solutions to the macroeconomic and talent issues that influence today's business environment, there were no one-size-fits-all solutions to the issues presented. One area, however, where there was consensus was the need to strengthen a company's culture and solidify a real sense of belonging for all employees.?
We share some of these topics with further reading to get you into the right frame of mind to start the week.
Belonging, loyalty and culture
At this year’s annual Chair Summit, belonging, loyalty and culture were key themes, with the need for better language around remote and hybrid working a requirement as well as the barriers provoked through flexible work.?
?It was agreed, that while working from home can be productive, there was a cautionary note about work-life balance.?The need to lead by example and stepping away from work was deemed important to ensuring that management and their teams have the opportunity to recharge and reflect away from the office. Indeed, it was seen as a positive requirement that enabled everyone in the business to return with fresh perspectives.?
?Without doubt every business had its own needs and employee requirements when it comes to the new way we work, but maintaining a strong culture and sense of belonging was identified as?the one constant for all. Owen Eastwood’s book,?Belonging ,?
was recommended as an interesting read on creating a strong culture. It contains numerous insights into successful - and less successful - teams.
Navigating financial uncertainty
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) caught many by surprise and for those that banked with the UK entity, widespread stress, panic and fear amongst those that did.?
Why? Was it because we had all forgotten (or were too young) to remember what happened to Northern Rock in 2008, when borrowing short and lending long spectacularly backfired?
Almost none of us in the venture community are treasury management experts and understandably, we are focused on how best to use the cash that we have raised to grow our businesses. Where it sits and how quickly we can move it has fallen down a company’s risk register (if you have one of those too), because we have learnt to trust that all banks are ‘safe’ once again.
The shifts in B2B selling
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The revenue funnel has shifted, again
B2B buyers are typically 57% of the way to a buying decision before actively engaging with sales. This underscores the importance for marketing to pave the path at every step of the journey for consumers to learn about and engage with your brand.
Hiring in sales is not a growth plan
The art of sales is still there, but while historically it may have been 90% art, now it’s more like 10%, specifically in SaaS, the science and the metrics are taking over. Creating the end-to-end revenue process is critical to growth (Marketing + Sales + Customer Success)?
Poor revenue alignment kills growth
Sales and marketing leaders need to set a multichannel strategy for customer learning paths, including account-based campaigns and digital sales playbooks. You need to rethink the role of digital engagement by building digital sales tools for real-time collaboration with customers.
External forces have changed the game
The disruption caused from COVID-19 has accelerated the move and importance of marketing’s role in building digital engagement into the sales process — brand building is now more important than ever.
The ten most significant shifts facing organisations today
Business leaders around the world?are currently addressing not only economic volatility, geopolitical instability, and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic but also a range of organisational shifts that have significant implications for structures, processes, and people.?
The shifts include complex questions about how to organise for speed to shore up resilience, find the right balance between in-person and remote work models, address employees’ declining mental health, and build new institutional capabilities at a time of rapid technological change, among others.
To help CEOs and their leadership teams consider such questions, the McKinsey’s?The State of Organizations 2023?report is an interesting read.?
Supporting communities
Last week, members of our Sheffield and Nottingham teams proudly donated their time to help out at the?S6 Foodbank ?in Sheffield - a truly great regional cause.
?Sheffield S6 Foodbank, which is part of?The Trussell Trust , runs 11 foodbank sites across Sheffield. Last year, it supported over 50,000 people for the first time in its history, of which 19,837 were children. The figures represent a 28% increase in the number of people accessing support compared to the previous 12-month figure.