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The Challenge
For years, this global private equity firm had invested in making culture a competitive advantage within its own organization. Senior leadership established global and regional committees, implemented training programs, strengthened inclusive hiring practices, and launched affinity groups to foster belonging.
As the firm made progress internally, leaders saw an opportunity—and a responsibility—to extend that impact across their portfolio.
The challenge was scale: how to consistently assess people processes, measure progress, prioritize action, and equip dozens of portfolio companies with practical guidance—while enabling meaningful reporting to boards and executive teams.
The Approach
To build a scalable, data-driven culture strategy across its portfolio, the firm partnered with Paradigm for a multi-year engagement using the Culture for Everyone Platform, which combines AI with human expertise.
Through the platform, portfolio companies gained access to:
- An organizational maturity assessment across key culture domains
- Analytics dashboards and peer benchmarking
- Downloadable reports for leadership and boards
- Prioritized, actionable recommendations vetted for efficacy, ease, and visibility
- Strategic guidance from Paradigm consultants
Each year, portfolio companies completed the assessment and met with Paradigm’s strategy team to review results and plan next steps. Paradigm also led an annual summit, bringing together leaders from across the portfolio to review progress, share insights, and align on priorities for the year ahead.
“We chose Paradigm because it offers our portfolio companies the ability to self-assess their infrastructure and workforce practices that directly tie to progress. The process is thorough, yet easy, and produces useful insights supported by specific recommendations.”
— Head of Portfolio Support, North America
The Impact
Between 2020 and 2023, 24 portfolio companies completed the assessment at least once, with 10 participating across all three years.
The data showed clear, measurable progress:
- 14 of 15 companies using the platform for multiple years improved their maturity scores
- Companies participating all three years scored 15 percentage points higher across all domains compared to one-year participants
- The largest gains were seen in building a more inclusive and equitable employee experience, with some companies improving by 20+ percentage points in this domain
Portfolio companies translated insights into action, including:
- Introducing more inclusive benefits that meet the needs of broader employee populations
- Strengthening performance and promotion processes through clearer criteria and manager accountability
- Analyzing employee experience data across demographic groups to identify gaps and opportunities
- Building foundational infrastructure, such as demographic data collection, manager training, leadership diversity tracking, and dedicated culture leadership roles
“It’s such a pragmatic list of action items. There are a lot of statistics and insights that were compelling and helpful to present to the board and to our CEO.”
— Chief People Officer, Portfolio Company
Building Accountability Through Measurement
To ensure sustained momentum, the firm embedded culture accountability into its governance model. Portfolio companies in North America are now expected to report annually to their Boards of Directors using the Culture for Everyone framework and metrics.
Paradigm supported this process by:
- Meeting with each company to review results and reporting
- Providing a suggested activation roadmap to guide implementation
- Offering a consistent framework for tracking and communicating progress over time
What Comes Next
The partnership continues to evolve as the firm deepens its commitment to long-term impact:
- Portfolio companies will continue re-assessing maturity and tracking progress year over year
- Newly acquired companies will be encouraged to use the Culture for Everyone Platform to inform their people and culture strategies
- The firm will sponsor its second annual Leadership Academy at Harvard Business School, alongside a dedicated program for European leaders
This sustained collaboration demonstrates the power of pairing data with action—prioritizing the right initiatives, measuring progress, and holding leaders accountable for building cultures where everyone can thrive.
“I liked the prioritization aspect with clear, attainable recommendations that have the potential for the highest impact. I feel compelled to take action as a result of the information received.”
— Chief Human Resources Officer, Portfolio Company
