Redesigning a legal team’s structure
Supporting a global insurance company with a phased restructure of a regional legal team’s organisation and governance.
The challenge
The regional GC of a global insurance company based in Hong Kong was expecting a period of increased growth, with a resulting increase in legal support anticipated. In addition, demands on the GC’s time from senior management, and a large number of direct reports, were preventing them from focusing on strategic priorities. As such, the GC was looking to assess and redesign the Legal's team structure and governance model, to better place it to meet the anticipated future demands of the business.
The solution
To assess where improvements could be made, our Legal Operations Consulting team completed a review of the client’s strategy documentation, to inform the future needs from the organisation, and legal team current organisational structures. They also held workshops and feedback sessions to understand team requirements and lines of reporting, both on paper as well as in practice.
It was recommended that the team should be restructured to reduce the number of GC’s direct reports, freeing up their time to more effectively manage those direct reports that were retained, whilst maintaining an adequate information flow upwards and downwards, and accommodating the need for wider regional oversight.
A three-phase approach was created, covering the short, medium, and long-term, enabling changes to be staggered. Supporting governance frameworks to guide the flow of information were also developed to ensure the day-to-day operation of the org structure was clear and transparent.
Results and benefits
- The client was provided with a clear, tangible structure to work towards, which they could be confident would help them with their anticipated challenges.
- The project offered a more manageable organisational structure, which enabled the GC to balance competing priorities.
- The distinction between direct reports and informal touchpoints offered clear parameters ensuring the effective flow of information, whilst being more time efficient.
- Due to the phased approach, the client also had a time-framed plan to guide them towards their target structure and manage the transition effectively.
