Performance Improvement in the Private Sector
Aegon asked us to help them implement an internal talent marketplace. We helped them achieve what they actually wanted – improved employee engagement scores and a shift towards a skills-based workforce model.
Rather than approaching this project as (yet another) technology implementation, we partnered with Aegon to also address the main cultural and change barriers that often erode the value of projects like this. Marketplaces thrive on the network effect. Driving adoption across all of Aegon’s business units and managing the stakeholder field would be critical to long-term success.
We provided Aegon with a small and dedicated core team of professionals that combined deep HR, talent and engagement experience with extensive change and technology capabilities to deliver a holistic programme across multiple markets. At the same time, we drew on the full multidisciplinary capabilities of the KPMG network to provide the client with insights and advice across a range of considerations.
That allowed us to help Aegon develop a holistic approach that placed the emphasis on culture and change versus technology and tools. We knew that – without engagement and adoption – their investment into the technology would be worthless. So we partnered with them on a strategy that majored in change management and performance improvement. Yes: we would help them identify the right technology solution and implement it. But that would be 20 percent of the job. The other 80 percent would come down to culture and change.
With that in mind, we designed a phased approach that allowed Aegon to roll out functionality in steps – thereby encouraging the organisation to gain familiarity with the system while building their internal capabilities. First, we would launch the ‘gigs’ functionality. Once that was up and running, we would unlock the tool’s mentoring capabilities which would automatically connect those seeking mentors to people with appropriate skills and capabilities within the organisation.
We sequenced the steps in the journey to ensure we were creating a robust platform and foundation upon which to drive the platform’s success and value (for example, by ensuring we had a critical mass of interesting ‘gig’ opportunities on the site before we went live).
We tailored the approach based on the dynamics and culture of each line of business in different markets to ensure we would get buy-in from employees and senior leaders. And then we helped them launch their new solution and measure their success.
Our work has already delivered impressive results. Employees using the system are showing stronger engagement. Gigs are being posted and filled at a fantastic rate – more than 13,600 hours of gig work was completed by Aegon employees in the first year alone – leading to estimated financial savings of more than £500,000.
Perhaps most importantly, the tool – and our approach to delivering it – provides Aegon with a strong foundation upon which to adopt a skills-based approach to talent and workforce management that will help the organisation maintain engagement and talent as they grow into the future.
View the KPMG profile in the MCA Members Directory.