Solutions We Provide
We provide a wide range of Human Capital services in the private investor space. We are experts and speak the language of both the investor and the portfolio management team. Below is an overview of the most frequent services our clients ask us to perform. If you have a people related topic in the firm or your portfolio company, give us a call. Chances are we have worked on the same or similar issue and can thoughtfully apply that knowledge to your situation. We only take on engagements where we know we can deliver excellent outcomes.
Identify and Assess Leaders
The difference between a great leader and a good leader has a massive impact on performance. Decades of assessments across thousands of executives have created a clear understanding of what is necessary to succeed when time horizons are compressed, and the impact of a single executive can be significant. We identify those leaders who have what it takes to deliver results and as importantly can de-risk the investment by spotting those who are likely to fail.
Making changes can be difficult. However, we believe the worst decision is the failure to act in a timely fashion. We guide firms and CEOs to craft accelerated action plans permitting change to take place in a rapid and thoughtful way.
Optimizing Team Dynamics
Not every team is full of "star" executives. However, a high-performing team is a key to achieving the underwriting case and investment thesis. We get the most out of the team by enhancing the ways teams are structured, communicate, operate day to day and ultimately make decisions to optimize their performance.
Coach and Develop
When the pluses outweigh the minuses in senior leadership performance, we believe short periods of intense coaching lead to permanent changes in actions, behavior, and performance. In collaboration with PE firm leadership, we develop and implement that focused coaching. In parallel, we serve as coaches, counselors or consiglieres to CEOs and many other senior executives to help them navigate their challenges.
C-Suite and Partner Performance
Formal evaluations of very senior leaders of any organization can be sensitive. Gathering candid feedback from boards, peers, and subordinates in a non-threatening yet data-rich manner is needed for a meaningful evaluation. We work with firms and boards to determine the best review process and then execute the process of gathering input, and crafting a clear representation of the executive and/or their teams.
Organizational Design
Our approach is to first design the optimal organization to achieve the investment objectives. We then assess the incumbents against the objectives underwritten by the investors and determine if there is a strong fit in the new organization. Only then do we populate the organizational chart, prioritize changes, and take actions needed to complete the team with the best leaders for the challenge ahead.
Operational Excellence
We can quickly evaluate all the human capital and governance items and their linkage to other business functions. We identify high-functioning areas and those that need improvement. Performance management, Talent acquisition, Benefit programs, Compensation competitiveness, HRIS platforms, and Transaction readiness are some of the many areas we can assess. We then prioritize the order of corrective actions to best support the business objectives. While we know what “great” looks like, we always apply the appropriate level of upgrade to the company’s specific needs.
Governance
Board governance is critical to strong outcomes for investors. A high-functioning board will have meaningful input into leadership, its teams and succession matters. We implement best-in-class talent review processes that enable boards to oversee human capital as effectively as they do financial capital. We also optimize the effectiveness of the HR/Compensation committees of the board.
Private Equity Human Capital Roles
If a firm is considering adding or adjusting a Human Capital/Talent leader role we would be happy to discuss our experiences and assist in framing the role and explore what challenges you may face internally and in the marketplace. Many years working both inside and outside many firms, gives us deep knowledge of the work, the different ways the role is utilized, and how to define success. We provide this service free upon request.
Special Situations
While not part of our standard offering, we do have deep expertise and are extremely comfortable offering a shortlist of incremental services to clients:
CHRO Solutions: Numerous times we have directly served as or placed fractional and/or interim CHROs into portfolio companies. This allows a deep assessment of company needs and enables us to work with the CEO to find the right permanent CHRO.
Senior Level Placements: We are not a search firm. However, upon request, we will use our network to find CHROs and other C-suite leaders. In addition, we will make introductions between our clients and other top-level executives typically with prior PE company experience.
Collective Bargaining & Union Matters: We have negotiated dozens of collective bargaining agreements and participated in thousands of union and employee relations situations. We are experts in this area, however, because of the time commitment and uncertainty of these situations, we only take on this work selectively.