Jeff Chernosky
Partner and Executive Sponsor
Private equity services
Mercer works with private equity partners and their portfolio companies throughout the transaction journey. We promote scalability, eliminate barriers to growth, and accelerate value creation through talent optimisation.
Challenges
- Unrealised value potential due to limitations in human capital strategy.
- Lack of information on HR readiness going into the close.
- Not enough attention paid to skill sets and redundancies.
- No framework for identifying and delivering high-impact quick wins early in the hold.
- Waiting too long to upgrade HR leadership and develop a roadmap.
- Not linking HR to the deal journey.
- Ignoring the people risks and factors that derail deals and interfere with value creation.
We view private equity deals with a different lens
Research and experience show that to maximise a deal’s potential, human resources (HR) must be in a position to unlock and amplify value. Wherever possible, it is in the best interests of a private equity investor to enable HR as a strategic partner.
Mercer’s approach to private equity consulting differs from that of other firms. We focus on exit value and help buyers optimise the value of their deals by advising them which human capital levers to focus on post-close. These levers include: workforce management, culture and governance, attrition and retention, diversity, equity and inclusion, skills matching, operations and systems architecture. All have the ability to significantly swing the pendulum from failure to success.
By intentionally and thoughtfully aligning our clients’ people strategies to their business objectives, we help them improve productivity, reduce disruptive forces, enhance data integrity and accelerate efficiencies. This allows us to unlock the greatest value creation potential. Our approach brings many benefits:
Evolved private-equity HR support goes beyond due diligence to maximise deal value
Our private-equity advisory services go beyond core diligence to inform, operationalise and continuously refine short- and long-term strategies. We do this by delivering high-impact quick wins designed to unlock value creation potential through the use of human capital.
The POE deal lifecycle as explained through the evolved support model to show flow of the deal value. Think of a pyramid- at the top we have the deal close Phase 1 pre-close diligence, followed by the acceleration of the phase 2 post-close management readout, lastly comes the optimisation Phase 3 ongoing support enabled for growth and optimising value creation. This is where we get to the foundation of the pyramid to see the exit value.
Outside of raw materials, people are our largest investment … and probably where we have our biggest black holes.
Delivering the deal by mitigating risks and removing factors that can derail a project
With Mercer’s private equity advisory expertise, you can mitigate risk and deliver on the deal proposition.
47%
of deals fail primarily due to people risks.
44%
of executives report that workforce risks were not quantified or built into the financial model.
21%
report the leadership team as the primary cause the financial targets outlined in the deal model are not met.
20%
increase in sales
21%
greater profitability
Source: Gallup Workplace Study
Mercer’s value proposition
No other adviser (or broker) can match Mercer’s global reach — our ability to execute, or the depth and breadth of our transactional human capital services. We have a unique perspective because our global human capital platform supports our analysis throughout the investment hold period. With 25,000+ subject matter experts in more than 140 countries, we can address any people, HR compliance or technical need.
To have a successful exit, we need to demonstrate that we are more than just a sum of our parts.
What makes Mercer different?
Our experience is deep and wide:
70+
years of deal experience
1400+
transactions annually
140+
country operations
60%
cross-border transactions
20+
languages
