Matthew Pohl, founder and CEO of the ReWild Group LLC, is embarking on a journey to multiply the number of exceptional businesses making lasting, positive impacts on a global scale. He recognizes that companies and corporations play a pivotal role in establishing workplaces with benefits for all.
For many people, their job is not only a means for economic independence but also a part of their identity and a source of social contact. On average, an individual will spend approximately 90,000 hours, or roughly one-third of their life, at work. Therefore, one’s work has an immense impact on one’s quality of life.
Economists evaluate the quality of work through pay levels. In other words, high salaries indicate good work and low wages indicate the opposite. Meanwhile, psychologists assess work quality based on three primary factors: autonomy, competence and belonging. Securing all these in the workplace leads to better work quality and productivity and, in turn, better health and well-being.
Since work is a fundamental part of human existence, Pohl believes that it, as shaped by our professional environments, not only has an astonishing impact on employees and owners but also creates a ripple effect, impacting families, communities and even nations. “Given this, we made it our mission to cultivate exceptional workplaces where individuals can develop new skills and positively contribute to the broader society—where they become the better version of themselves,” the CEO says.
The ReWild Group defines an exceptional business as one that is both highly productive and profitable. The business consulting firm’s forward-looking approach to helping companies grow is a reflection of Pohl’s vision and experiences. After two decades of a successful career in data analytics, Pohl decided to become a small business owner. His venture into entrepreneurship was his way of following his father’s footsteps.
“I remember my dad losing his 25-year-old business when I was in the ninth grade. It was in the late ’70s when the economy declined, forcing him to just close doors and walk away,” Pohl says. “He never recovered from the blow because owning his own business was what gave him income, purpose and standing within the community. Three decades later, I find myself running my own business, just like my father.”
However, Pohl’s entrepreneurial journey has not been smooth sailing. After 12 years of pouring blood, sweat and tears into his business, his company ended up being worth far less than he expected. Adamant to eventually exit his business successfully, he sought solutions, which led him to the Stages of Growth methodology. Pohl says that upon applying these principles and concepts, he was able to sell his company for 10 times its value three years later. Empowered by this methodology, he saw it as his responsibility to help others benefit from it as he did, marking the birth of the ReWild Group.
The ReWild Group’s foundations are the fruit of more than 30 years of research on small and midsize businesses. The primary goal of this research was to determine the factors that contribute to a company’s growth and decline. Pohl and his team’s quest for knowledge led them to obtain information on the collective experience of more than 1,500 business leaders across various industries. The results of the studies led to the creation of the Seven Stages of Growth—seven distinct stages of growth for companies based on their complexity.
The ReWild Group team later revamped this methodology and dubbed it “Organizational ReWilding.” It expands on the classic Seven Stages of Growth, allowing for the diagnosis, prescription and prediction of the critical elements missing in a business’s ecosystem. The ReWild Group has registered a service mark for it with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, highlighting its distinct use case.
According to Pohl, Organizational ReWilding stands out because it’s based on a unique model of a healthy ecological system where a business is viewed as a dynamic system composed of interrelated elements instead of a complex machine with separate parts. The CEO believes that through this methodology, the ReWild Group is equipped to transform small and midsize businesses around the world.
