People and Leadership
Legal & General (L&G) had adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic’s restrictions by adopting remote working, despite having little precedent. The subsequent return to offices was slower than expected, and their workforce was reluctant to resume office-based practices without a clear purpose, while their leaders grappled with a perceived loss of authority.
L&G recognised that many activities could be carried out remotely, but were concerned about eroding collaborative and purposeful working, and losing the spontaneity and creativity of informal interactions. Furthermore, the blurred work–life boundaries of working from home meant wellbeing scores were declining. L&G therefore wanted to introduce a hybrid working model that balanced all their concerns.
This was more than a problem of presenteeism and wellbeing, though. Strategically, inaction would impair L&G’s ability to attract and retain talent, and make best use of their real estate. Property plans were already in train, but more could be done to elevate L&G’s ‘people experience’.
PwC was called in to help L&G understand the optimal working experience for their employees. They needed to make their workplaces modern, flexible and fit for purpose, while upgrading their technology to enhance hybrid working. The new model needed to be one that the company’s people would embrace, and feel they owned.
PwC’s solution would bring personal and productivity benefits for L&G’s people and future talent; enhancing their experience through empowerment and digital ways of working, while optimising the use of real estate. It would also deliver environmental and social sustainability, while making the business more resilient.
L&G had three specific objectives. For their people, they sought to balance business needs and employee choice through hybrid working. They needed workplaces to be more modern and vibrant environments that enabled employees to use spaces more effectively. And technology to equip their people with the tools and capabilities to be more productive and collaborative. Bringing these people, workplace and technology elements together was at the heart of PwC’s approach: human-led; tech-powered.
PwC and L&G together brought to life this ‘Future of Work’ vision, with PwC helping to engage and enable stakeholders business-wide, avoiding siloed mindsets, drawing on external insights and programme management experience.
Knowing that people tend to adopt the change that they have helped to create, PwC brought a holistic approach that involved the whole organisation, recognising that divisional priorities and ways of working varied. Through a range of practical, people-centred change initiatives – including behaviour and culture workshops and enabling the adoption of new technology and workplaces – PwC worked with L&G to develop their optimal ways of working, and suitable work spaces and technology to support all divisions. L&G’s leadership development programme was also reinvigorated, gaining fresh investment through FoW.
As a result, L&G’s people now work more purposefully and productively, and have the right tools and workspaces to enable them to be at their best. They no longer talk about “hybrid working” or “going back to the office.” It’s all simply what they consider purposeful “work.”
View the PwC profile in the MCA Members Directory.