Leader / Follower Relationships
As I briefly stated in my Week 1 blog post, Graham Partners follows a relatively standard structure in their work environment. The hierarchy follows that of a typical finance firm ranking from analysts, associates, senior associates, then managing directors and principals. But what I learned more about this week is how the people at each level are grouped.
Success at a private equity firm requires specific industry knowledge. Graham’s investment philosophy focuses on 7 sectors: advanced building materials, aerospace, industrial technology, healthcare, packaging, consumer/food tech, and transportation. I am working for an analyst in industrial technology, which is a sector I was previously unfamiliar with until last week.
Despite the fragmented ranks of employees at Graham, there is a high level of trust in all employees. This includes interns, as we were given meaningful tasks and projects immediately. I believe much of this trust comes from the size. Graham only has 33 full time employees on the deals team. This creates transparency and trust through years of working with their peers. They also hire 1-2 new analysts per year from the intern pool, so the majority of employees believe in Graham’s mission before they even officially start.
Work has a very direct flow at Graham. The interns help prepare projects that are edited and vetted by the analysts, passed up to the associates, and eventually the final product is given to the managers. The work is structured which helps make expectations clear. Decisions are ultimately made by the 14 managers. All work below that level is to help educate and inform their decisions.
Overall, the culture at Graham is very welcoming and the size creates a tight-knit group of people who tend to stay at the company for years. I am excited to meet more of the experienced employees and become a part of the Graham team.
This is a very thoughtful response, thanks. Given the small size and the practice of hiring from within the intern pool, your insight about how trust has developed seems reasonable. It will be interesting to learn, as you continue, if there are other behaviors, practices, etc. that are employed to cultivate and maintain trust. As you are there longer, I encourage you to think about the various styles of those with which you work. Though the 14 managers may be making the ultimate decisions, I am certain decisions are made among the ranks before the managers and I am certain that there are many different ways in which folks approach the work; but I could be wrong – we’ll see.