Background 

After an employee engagement survey found a clear disconnect between what HSBC’s global Legal leadership team desired for its people and the reality for the 1,200 legal colleagues it realised it needed to reshape the employee experience. With only 58% responding to the survey the team ran a virtual Discovery workshop to gain more insight and ensure legal colleagues felt their voices were being heard. Collated feedback found three core areas of improvement: 1. skills development and opportunities to create a world-class legal function, 2. better connections and understanding of the role each individual played in delivering the legal strategy and 3. the need to build a healthy and inclusive culture. The two-strong Legal people team together with a consultant and communications support were tasked to ‘make Legal an even better place to work’.

Approach 

With traditional top-down approaches previously showing limited success the team embarked on a multi-year, global people programme delivered ‘by the people, for the people’. The Legal People Programme was announced at a global town hall where the feedback from the Discovery workshop was shared. Colleagues were asked to volunteer to join one of three working groups and 89 stepped forward.

To push change forward in such a large organisation a light-touch, agile and transparent governance approach was introduced. The volunteers committed to activity that would shift the dial and 24 initiatives were identified, featuring structured interventions across various areas, each addressing unique aspects of the employee experience.

In career development, programmes like global shadowing, short term assignment opportunities and HSBC coaching circles were introduced. For skills development, monthly ‘Skills Insights’ and an effective communication toolkit were developed. A 360 feedback survey pilot for people managers provided insights for a global rollout, while a people manager skills programme was launched. programme was launched. A director-level DE&I head of legal was hired internally and a DE&I survey served as an instrument to identify areas of improvement to support under-represented population needs. The programme also employed measures to address wellbeing and future of work, while other interventions were made in recognition, legal strategy engagement and career development opportunities.

Outcome

The programme has delivered significant outcomes. Participation in the annual engagement jumped to 78% in 2022. The Employee Engagement Index scores also saw an uptick of 4%, reaching 67%. As a testament to the programme’s efficacy, 21 out of the identified 24 interventions produced tangible results by April 2023. Encouraging feedback from participating colleagues attests to the programme’s transformative impact.

Encouraged by the success of the programme, a second round was initiated in May 2023. Volunteer numbers increased by 62% from the initial count and 13 new initiatives have been identified. Feedback from volunteers reveal that they continue to gain benefit from their participation in the programme.