Mid-Market Companies Face Talent Shortage

It’s a great day when you find statistics to back up a thesis. I’ve long experienced that mid-market companies have a difficult time accelerating their growth because of a lack of the right talent. I think this is true in nearly every field, but especially evident, based on my observations, in Marketing and Engineering. Interim marketing managers, this is your cue. Mid-market companies, this is your chance to leave the old models behind and look at how interim management in the marketing department can give your organization an amazing level of energy and flexibility.

In July The Economist magazine published, in association with CIT, a report that looked at the economic outlook for U.S. middle-market companies (by their definition companies from $25M to $1Bn annual revenue). Perspectives from America’s Economic Engine: US Middle Market Outlook 2007 is available for free download.

An excerpt from the report:

“When it comes to obstacles to growth, a shortage of talented staff is cited most frequently (35%), followed by labour costs (25%) and market saturation (25%). The lack of high calibre staff is especially felt by the healthcare and IT industries.”

In other words, a shortage of talent and the cost of talent are obstacles #1 and #2 for mid-market companies. Shake off your TOBMs (tired old business models) and look at the wealth of super-skilled, super-experienced, super-motivated interim managers that are available to your organization right now.