The private equity sector can expect to see an expanding bidding war for top talent, according forthcoming research from Hunt Scanlon Media. Persistent global talent shortages across the C-suite are driving the trend, with nearly every industry and function is affected, including finance, healthcare and biotech, digital and technology, among others.

“Leadership is the new bottom line for private equity operating executives seeking top talent for their portfolio businesses,” said Scott A. Scanlon, the firm’s founding chairman and CEO. “The PE sector is in the crosshairs of a widening war for leadership.” 

Building Value with Talent

“Private equity firms are becoming much more attuned to the role that exceptional talent plays in value creation,” said Alan Guarino, vice chairman of Korn Ferry.

Increasingly, he said, private equity firms are seeking out Korn Ferry for a myriad of talent solutions capabilities “in an effort to raise the bar on talent strategy,” from the use of psychometrics to other solutions across the talent supply chain.

“Value creation for private equity firms is no longer beholden to financial engineering,” added Scanlon. “Instead, what TMX illustrates is that returns are best maximized by building top flight management teams to accelerate revenue growth, find operating efficiencies and transform culture. This is one of the best examples I have seen of how it gets done.”

Building World Class Teams

For most private equity leaders and their chief talent partners, “talent itself is now seen as the ultimate value generation lever,” said Glenn Stevens, a talent expert with Apollo Global Management. “Designing, building and enabling management teams capable of achieving their value-generation initiatives are critical to a successful outcome,” he noted.