4 November 2025, London – Today, we released our inaugural research into the leadership practices that enable high-performing cultures in private equity (PE) backed businesses.

Key findings:

Inclusive cultures are 3.78x more likely to have a strong exit values and swift sale.

• High-performing companies are over 14x more likely to have inclusive leadership and reap commercial rewards.
• 49% of employees would consider leaving their job for a more inclusive culture.
• 77% of employees say company culture plays a critical role in achieving ESG goals.
• 83% of respondents believe inclusion and wellbeing are essential to attracting and retaining talent.
• The most inclusive cultures are 3.78x more likely to have a strong exit value and swift sale.
• 85% of respondents have experienced misalignment between investor expectations and company priorities.

 

Our report, The Leadership Blueprint, reveals that high-performing companies are over 14x more likely than low-performing companies to have a mature level of inclusive leadership and through this they are reaping the commercial rewards. In fact, 83% of respondents believe inclusion and wellbeing are essential to attracting and retaining talent.

Loss of key talent is a real and present risk, with almost half of employees (49%) considering leaving for a more inclusive culture that prioritised psychological safety. The report states that leaders are more than twice as likely as employees to feel supported to perform at their best (57% vs 28%), and four times more likely to believe people are empowered to contribute fully (56% vs 12%).

Our research indicates that as competition intensifies and growth slows, inclusive leadership is a vital differentiator that unlocks performance, innovation and team commitment. Compared to companies with low levels of inclusive leadership, businesses with the most inclusive cultures are 3.78x more likely to execute in the areas and ways of working that deliver the elements needed for a strong exit value and swift sale.

Over three quarters (77%) of employees say company culture plays a critical role in meeting Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals, yet many report leadership gaps that make those goals harder to achieve.

More than four in five (85%) respondents have experienced misalignment between investor expectations and company priorities. This often results in missed growth goals, slowing execution and increasing talent attrition: ultimately inhibiting value creation.

The most common challenges linked to misalignment include:

• Increased burnout/stress (27%)
• Increased financial pressure (22%)
• Increased employee turnover (22%)
• Missed growth goals (20%)
• Taking bigger risks to achieve faster growth (20%)

 

“We see the same story repeated: investors pushing for pace, leaders firefighting and teams quietly disengaging. Everyone wants high performance, but misalignment stalls progress. This research shows that when people feel trusted, listened to and safe to contribute, commercial results follow.”
— Esther Crew, Founder and CEO at Inclusion Live^®.

The Leadership Blueprint

As a direct response to these findings our experts have created the The Leadership Blueprint. A data-rich resource that unlocks the hidden value-creation levers within PE-backed companies offering a practical guide for operating partners, executive teams and HR leaders.

The research data and actionable framework in The Leadership Blueprint report is available here.

The blueprint translates this leading research into insights that can be actioned. Providing a clear roadmap of execution to connect the key leadership skills and behaviours to optimised performance outcomes, helping firms benchmark against high-performing peers and accelerate returns where they matter most.

It equips you to:

• Align leaders and teams to maximise growth
• Reduce people risk and strengthen exit readiness
• Build clarity, trust and accountability into every decision and action
• Transform culture into a commercial asset that drives value creation

About the research

This research was carried out by Censuswide, an independent market research company. They engaged with employees aged 18+ from 593 UK mid-market, PE-backed businesses with revenues from £10m to £100m and 50 or more employees. The respondents were from the following sectors: Technology and software as a service (SaaS); Financial services and fintech; Healthcare and healthtech; Renewable energy and cleantech; Infrastructure, engineering and real estate; Professional services; Consumer goods, retail and Ecommerce; Manufacturing and utilities; Hospitality and leisure; Sales, media, PR and marketing; Transportation and automotive.

About us

At Inclusion Live^®, we help PE and PE-backed firms enable performance through people – aligning leadership, culture and growth.

Our expertise includes:

• Leadership development and executive programmes
• Inclusion and culture strategies
• Team training and communication

If you’d like to explore how these findings could elevate your organisation, contact us at hello@inclusionlive.com or visit www.inclusionlive.com to see how we partner with Private Equity and Private Equity-backed businesses.