Deal Breaker: Investment Giant Bans The Word 'Deal,' Imposes $1,000 'Fine' If Said Or Written

The private equity firm Partners Group Holding banned the word "deal" on company premises, even sanctioning some of its staff $1,000 for using it.

What Happened: Partners Group Holding CEO David Layton banned the word during an early June meeting, according to a Wall Street Journal report. 

The $119 billion Swiss private equity firm's closed $27 billion of what most would call "deals" over the last 12 months, but according to the executive this word has no place on the company's premises.

Layton explained that banning the word "deal" is part of an effort to shift from a transactional mindset to one he calls “industrial.” He feels that term reduces the ownership of a company to a one-time event, while he would like to see his employees act like they are owners of businesses instead of simply the conductors of transactions.

He suggested “stewardship, governance, strategy, culture, entrepreneurship, operational excellence and sustainability,” as more appropriate words and expressions.

While the ban — unsurprisingly — saw sighs and eye-rolls from employees, Layton was seemingly serious and already started enforcing it. Partners Group Holding plans to make a $10,000 donation to its charitable arm and deduct $100 from that donation for every time "deal" is written or said by a junior employee. When it comes to partners, every time they say "deal" they are expected to donate $1,000 to charity.

Partners Group Holding co-founder Marcel Erni said “deal” three times at the company's annual retreat. Layton fined him 3,000 Swiss francs — almost the equivalent to $3,000 — and posted a photo of him handing over the cash on the firm's board. Alongside the photo, Layton reminded the staff that "how we communicate is how we behave."

Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash