The best investment you can make in a portfolio company isn’t always capital.

Many PortCos are still under-invested in HR. Not because people do not matter, but because the value-creation implications are underestimated.

- Under-resourced HR: Lean teams are expected to deliver transformation, hiring, retention, capability building and compliance - often at the same time.

- No strategic seat: HR is brought in to execute decisions, rather than shape the operating model and the change agenda behind them.

- No people thesis in the deal model: Commercial and financial assumptions are scrutinised; the leadership, talent and organisational capabilities required to deliver them are often not. But leadership quality, critical talent and organisational capability frequently determine whether an investment thesis becomes reality. What is the one thing you, as a PortCo CHRO, would do to change this?