Look to the future
About a year after Donnelly assumed control of the company,
PMA Capital recovered its A-minus rating, which did a great
deal to help ease the sense of uncertainty surrounding the business.
With the company’s present stable, he was able to focus more
of his time on the future. PMA Capital developed a fee-based
insurance business and performed several acquisitions that
helped bolster the company.
“After we got our rating back, we took the opportunity to
evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the company and
set the strategy going forward,” he says. “We certainly built
our strategy based on the company’s strengths. We’ve been in
business for 93 years, and despite the challenges we faced, our
workers’ comp business has been there a long time. So there is
a lot of strength in our franchise.”
The acquisitions the company made were the first two in its
history, and Donnelly points to them as a sign of the evolution of
PMA Capital, which earned $456 million in total consolidated
revenue in 2007.
“Successful companies are constantly challenging themselves,” Donnelly says. “We charted a course to expand into
the fee-based business. But I think that whether you make a
new hire, open a new facility or enter a new territory, you
have to ask how this fits in to what you do. Does it make you
better or is it just something to do? Some companies change
for change’s sake. We don’t do that.”
Even after you’ve successfully piloted your company out of
a period of turmoil or change, the planning doesn’t stop. If
you want to keep your companies growing, then learn how to
analyze and adjust.
“We’re constantly making plans, readjusting the plans as to
what we think is happening,” Donnelly says. “So we’re constantly looking out a number of years. In successful companies, you don’t just want to be viable for everybody, for
shareholders, customers and employees, you want to build
something that is sustainable and expandable. So we challenge ourselves to think about that. You’re constantly looking ahead and re-evaluating where you are going because
there are going to be bends in the road. You have to adjust.”
Donnelly says a good leader controls what can be controlled
and manages what can’t be controlled. You won’t be able to
control every obstacle your company encounters, but you can
control the collective attitude with which your company meets
those obstacles.
“Back when I first became CEO, I remember saying to my
employees that it’s critical to keep our customers while we
manage through this, and customers are going to have confidence or not have confidence in our company based on the
attitude of our employees and the level of our service,”
Donnelly says. “If you let the service go, the business will go,
and it becomes a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy.
“The employees did a great job, and I let them know they
did. Our head of human resources has been on board with us
for a couple of years now. One of the reasons this person
came to work for us was how we had a ratings challenge, but
the employees kept the service level high. It became apparent to someone we hired from the outside that we have a
great culture and that people believed in the company.
“I’ve shared that with my employees, how proud I am of
their performance. I get goose bumps when I think about it.”
HOW TO REACH: PMA Capital Corp., (800) 222-2749 or www.pmagroup.com
