MiddleGround Capital makes control equity investments in middle-market B2B industrial and specialty distribution businesses. Based in Lexington, Ky., the private equity firm has over $2.4 billion of assets under management.
Have you changed any policies toward in-person, virtual and hybrid work arrangements?
Something unique to our culture, especially in a post-pandemic world, is that we are in-office five days a week unless traveling to portfolio companies or other industry related events. Our partners want our office spaces to be the hub of our culture.
Every day we all eat lunch as a team from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. There are blocks on everyone’s calendars and everyone makes an honest effort to enjoy lunch and conversation together.
In both office locations, employees are rewarded for coming to work by receiving these benefits: fresh pressed juice delivery to office, a fully stocked kitchen and coffee bar, a fitness facility, daily lunches catered or created by our chef on staff, a massage from a certified therapist once a month, and a monthly car detail.
We want to accommodate and complement our employees’ busy lives by providing perks that make their time in-office valuable.
What is your approach to recruiting and training new employees?
Hiring the right people is crucial to the overall success of our firm. Since the pandemic in 2020, we have grown from 18 to 88 employees. Our partners have invested in the growth of the human capital team so that we can conduct a thorough yet efficient hiring and interviewing process internally.
The human capital team now has five employees focused on the full employee lifecycle – talent acquisition, onboarding, professional development, culture, benefits and compensation planning and management, and retirement.
Having a specialized force to solely focus on thorough hiring and screening, seamless candidate onboarding experience, and an individually tailored professional development plan has allowed us to maintain extremely low attrition (less than 1 percent in 2022).
How have you incorporated DEI into your firm’s culture going forward?
Having a diverse team helps the firm make better decisions and consider new perspectives. Today, we are comprised of 60 percent women or minority individuals, and all team members are afforded equal parental leave (four months).
We joined the Institutional Limited Partner Association (ILPA) as a Diversity in Action signatory in 2021, which has provided access and the opportunity to learn from and share DEI best practices with our industry peers.
We are all professional, but we all also like what we do and have fun. We all recognize that it’s important to the entire team that everyone put in the work and value what’s getting done. We leaned into this even more in a post-pandemic world.
For the full list of 2022 PE Workplace Pioneers, see here.
