CASE STUDY
Building Foundations for Sustainable Growth: How Culturehood Transformed Claret Capital Partners' People Strategy and Company Culture
Claret Capital Partners has been providing growth financing to innovative businesses for more than 20 years and has backed more than 200 companies. They focus on working with European-based businesses in the technology and life science sectors. Their funding varies in size from £1m - £50m and can be used on a wide variety of projects including acquisitions, research and development, geographical expansion and marketing projects.
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​Over the last two years, Culturehood has worked with Paul Bramley from Claret Captial Partners and the team on several strategies that have supported significant growth and resulted in the stabilisation of the HR function within the business.
Project Summary (What We Did)
Over the last two years, Culturehood has worked with Paul Bramley from Claret Captial Partners and the team on several projects that have supported significant growth and resulted in the stabilisation of the HR function within the business. Paul initially reached out because the business had just gone through a management buyout, and they were keen to find their independence. With a workforce that doubled in one year and a fast-growing business, they needed a clear HR foundation and a people and culture strategy to continue to grow sustainably.
Paul kindly took some time to talk us through his experience with Culturehood, here is what he had to say:
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From the beginning, we felt Gemma was someone we could work with: collaborative, knowledgeable and very professional. We started the HR project by completing a deep dive into our existing HR policies and practices across the business. We looked at how we hired new recruits, our interview process, onboarding process, development opportunities, performance management, and recognition through to offboarding. From this review, Gemma then built us a people strategy that defined our vision and created a road map for how we move forward as an organisation.
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As part of this review process, Gemma helped us to hire an Office Manager and implement HiBob our HR system. It is an invaluable tool that helps support the management of our people, this was a major breakthrough. Gemma has worked closely with our Office Manager, supporting her in the day-to-day running of the team, whilst providing a strategic watchful eye over everything. In the time we have worked together, she has proven her worth many times over.
Once the initial review had been completed, the first stage was for us to look at job descriptions and progression frameworks. Before this part of the project was completed, Claret Capital Partners lost several team members, in part because they could not see a clear progression path.
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Industry: Finantial Services
Team size: 24 plus
Website: www.claret-capital.com
Work (so far!): PeopleEngage+ Program and 24 month Retainer
The second stage was then for Gemma to help define a recruitment strategy, defining the assessment and hiring process at the same time. We needed to get the right people involved in the interview processes, sourcing references and running technical tests.​
The third stage was to implement a robust performance enablement strategy. The HR system HiBob has helped us tremendously to formalise our appraisal process, removing any subjectivity and bias in feedback. We used this new performance management process for the first time at the end of 2023 and it was very successful. We now have a clear plan as to who is reviewing whom with supporting documentation and processes in place. It has opened the dialogue with our employees so that they now feel they have a voice. We can also track an individual’s career ambitions and progress.​​
In conclusion, Gemma has just reviewed our employer value proposition which also involved benchmarking our salaries to help us continue to ensure we were paying g fairly and competitely. The final step will be to transition our Office Manager back from maternity leave in the new year. We have made great strides this year and whilst we are not quite there yet, implementing a forward-thinking HR strategy has significantly improved the running of the company.
The Outcomes
The feedback from the business on the new HR approach has been incredibly positive with our recent engagement surveys and eNPS survey results showing greater engagement with our teams, although there is still work to be done. Gemma has brought a level of professionalism and knowledge to the business in setting up the HR processes and policies. By creating a thoughtful, contemporary approach to our HR function she has also given us the bandwidth to take the business from a start-up mentality to a growing business mentality.
What Happens Next
The business continues to grow. The work that Gemma has supported us with to date has given us a robust HR foundation and structure to work with, enabling us to align the team and hire the right talent to build resilience across the business. Gemma has completed some great work for us so far and is now working on the final piece of the jigsaw which is to define the Claret Company Partners' company culture through values and behaviours.
Gemma has done a great job developing and delivering against our aims, engaging with everyone for their input across the business and gaining their trust.
“Gemma is a pleasure to work with: professional, positive, proactive, curious, enthusiastic and highly independent. She has taken a real interest in our business and has very quickly become one of the team. She has shared a wealth of knowledge with us but has effectively tailored the HR solutions to suit our organisation. We have learnt a lot from Gemma not only regarding best HR practices but also how to manage people better. It is a delight working with Gemma, highly recommended.”
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- Paul Bramley, CFO and Operating Partner, Claret Capital Partners