Category: Event Recap

Our team had the chance to attend and sponsor the Hunt Scanlon September 2022 PE Conference in San Francisco – Driving Growth & Value Through Effective Leadership. Along with listening to thought leaders share their insights on a variety of panels, our Founder & CEO, Sean Mooney, also had the chance to sit on a panel hosted by Jennifer Perry of FMG Leading. The panel covered the topic of identifying and developing non-c-suite roles that have an outsized impact on value creation and included fellow thought leaders Raj Karanam of Sun Capital Partners, Kate Berkeley of Gryphon Investors, Darcy Casarella of New Enterprise Associates, Kevin Kernan of JM Search, and Valerie Frederickson of Frederickson Partners.

It was great to gather with so many thought leaders in the private equity human capital space at the Hunt Scanlon event. Here are some of the key takeaways we gleaned from Sean’s panel & the others:

• Human capital continues to be a growing priority in private equity. A common theme from fellow attendees was recognition that talent-focused conversations weren’t prominent in PE as recent as 2 years ago, and many human capital leaders are either new to private equity, or to the human capital function. This was a topic we also discussed at our August 2022 PE Human Capital Forum (RSVP for our upcoming human capital event here).
• A strong human capital function has 3 key components: people, processes, & technology.
  • People: Firms are taking a more proactive approach in getting the right people in place internally to assess and facilitate talent decisions.
  • Processes: Human capital leaders are ensuring they have effective processes in place for building/managing networks, talent pipelines, and interview processes.
  • Technology: In order to support their people and their processes, firms are leveraging technology to help them.
• Talent to value is more important than ever. While getting the C-suite right remains the top & most critical priority, understanding what talent below the C-suite generates outsized value to their role, and then getting that talent right, is of growing importance in turbulent economic times. Identifying & assessing these roles is helpful immediately post-investment and if right sizing needs to occur.
• Talent is becoming increasingly integrated with value creation plans. Leading firms are incorporating talent strategy into value creation plans from the get-go to ensure there is alignment.

Human capital continues to be the largest functional area in the BluWave Activity Index. We support clients with their human capital needs through everything from connecting them with pre-close recruiters, interim CFOs, & more. Let us connect you to the exact-fit human capital resources you need – start your project.

Every quarter we bring together top PE HR and talent executives to discuss current industry topics and to offer talent leaders in private equity the chance to gather, share intel, and decompress with one another. In our most recent event, we discussed many topics and listed our top takeaways below. 

These forums follow Chatham House Rules, so listed below are high-level takeaways only. Are you in private equity and interested in joining fellow leading PE professionals during our next Human Capital Forum? RSVP for our next event on August 24th.

Resource scarcity:

• All firms are facing the impact of this in some way.  Here are a few ideas for addressing this challenge:
  • Lean into interim execs to professionalize certain business areas immediately post-acquisition, steady the ship while a more permanent search takes longer than it has historically, and/or serve as a “try before you buy” resource.
  • Get clarity on the “must-have” vs “nice to have” qualification of candidates from the hiring teams (portco execs or deal team).  Everyone wants LeBron, but would you settle for Kevin or Steph? Evaluate possibilities to reassign work elsewhere in the business or settle with a 9/10 fit candidate.
  • Line up third-party resources as early as possible to ensure they aren’t booked.
  • Streamline the recruiting process, especially when you know the candidate may receive multiple offers.

Developing current talent:

• Given how hard it is to get top talent in place, many firms and companies are trying to solve for it by developing more junior talent to step into exec roles.
• Human capital teams are creating development and training plans that are broadly applicable to all portcos and can be tailored based on the company, position, and makeup/structure of the exec team.
• Each business is unique, but there are common experiences in talent development that can cut across groups. Listen to employees to determine what type of development they want (coaching, training, continuing education, etc.).

Managing relationships with specialized recruiters:

• In BluWave’s recently published Q1 Insights report, specialized recruiters were a top use case on the BluWave Value Creation Index, emphasizing the importance of partnering with recruiters who already know the top players with the right skills for their specific needs.
• Sometimes it may be helpful to consider a recruiter directly adjacent to the industry/functional area you are seeking, as they may approach the search differently.
• Additionally, when presenting search firm options, it is helpful to share multiple options with the hiring manager, so they can find the best fit for them.

We thoroughly enjoyed the fruitful conversations that occurred during this recent gathering of PE human capital professionals. If we can be of assistance during this busy time, please let us know.

Additionally, you may be interested in checking out some of our human capital specific resources, which can be found here:

• Interim Executives Hub
• PE Human Capital Resources Hub

Every quarter we bring together top PE HR and talent executives to discuss current industry topics and to offer talent leaders in private equity the chance to gather, share intel, and decompress with one another. In our most recent event, we discussed many topics and listed our top takeaways below. 

These forums follow Chatham House Rules, so listed below are high-level takeaways only. Are you in private equity and interested in joining fellow leading PE professionals during our next Human Capital Forum? RSVP for our next event on May 4th.

Talent identification & recruitment:  

• As firms continue to struggle with portco executive talent identification & recruitment, firms are having particular success exploring non-traditional recruiting tactics in a supported way, i.e. hiring from non-PE backgrounds but providing support to skill-up the newcomers.
• Firms are using the assessment process to understand what drives and motivates candidates and then leaning into these aspects to not only identify candidates’ strong points but to also sell the job prospect without having to lean 100% on compensation. Another tip we heard on successfully closing the deal was to provide candidates with transparency for what happens post-exit, such as having successful case studies ready to show the candidates where past execs moved after a sale.
• Using data – firms are exploiting their CRM by skill-coding candidates and having them on-hand when perfect-fit roles open.
• Timing is key and shortening recruiting cycles seems to be the most assured way to increase the hiring success rate. PE firms are recommending that portfolio companies implement applicant tracking systems to help standardize and streamline recruiting processes.
• One human capital leader recommended reading “Who” by Geoff Smart.

Assessment, onboarding, & setting executives up for success: 

• Clarity and coaching are key. Set expectations from the beginning by showing the good, the bad, and the ugly with the portco. Then, share how the firm will support the exec and what the firm expects from them.
• Provide the exec with the tools needed to hit the ground running—internal resources, systems, supplements to their development points, etc. and then give them the space to do the job. If PE ownership requires another 40% of their time at the outset, consider external resources to do the upfront heavy lifting.
• One participant recommended providing new hires with an internal company culture “river guide” to help them understand and navigate the unique cultures of a given company.  This is particularly helpful for new CEOs who are tasked with being change agents.
• One human capital leader recommended reading “The First 90 Days” by Michael Watkins.

Development & retention:  

• Use transparency in showing portco executives their development path and opportunities.
• Firms vary on the resources they rely on for training on organizational health, leadership development, and other skills.  Many are (at least beginning) full talent reviews of exec teams of portcos and increasingly implementing this practice with internal PE fund talent.
• Employee engagement surveys are critical to understanding cultural and organizational health over time. How to get it started? Find a partner who buys in, start with baby steps, and show measurable success.

We thoroughly enjoyed the fruitful conversations that occurred during this recent gathering of PE human capital professionals. As noted in our 2021 Annual Insights Report, human capital remains one of the top initiatives in PE, with HR-related activities surging to 39% of all PE activity in 2021. If we can be of assistance during this busy time, please let us know.

Additionally, you may be interested in checking out some of our human capital specific resources, which can be found here:

• Interim Executives Hub
• PE Human Capital Resources Hub