Winning Secrets: 'WTW Work Styles' has led to a shift in thinking about how everyone works

People managers have played a vital role in helping employees determine their work styles and understanding which work styles suit them best, affirms Carollyn Toh, Director of HR - International, WTW.

WTW is a consulting firm that provides solutions in the areas of people, risk, and capital. 

At the third annual edition of Employee Experience Awards - Singapore in 2023, WTW won the coveted bronze award for 'Best Hybrid Work Model'.

To celebrate this milestone, we catch up with Carollyn Toh, Director of Human Resources - International, WTW (pictured below), on helping people managers learn new ways in managing hybrid teams and ensuring that trust and regular communication takes place.

Q How do you ensure your employee experience initiatives are aligned with your business objectives?

Our vision is to be the best company we can be for our employees and employee experience is key as that is what makes WTW special. It is also critical as it drives a high performing culture within our company and that is important in helping us to attract, motivate, empower and retain the most accomplished and aspiring talent to work in WTW.

After the pandemic, the dynamics of work have changed and companies, including ourselves, have responded by transforming the way we work and our business strategy. This includes providing workplace flexibility to our colleagues. We made a bold move and introduced 'WTW Work Styles' globally which was rolled out in Singapore last year. This contributes to a big part in shaping our employee experience and how we reimagine work for the future to support our business objectives.

Q Can you provide examples of how the organisation has invested in the employee experience?

With our high performing culture, we trust our employees to work in a variety of settings. Therefore, we provided three distinct solutions for our colleagues when we rolled out WTW Work Styles. This is the approach to how we work – either in the office, hybrid or remotely.

To ensure that this is successfully embraced, we have invested in upgrading our technology and infrastructure to ensure that work can be done remotely and in the office effectively. This includes IT infrastructure, laptops, home office provisioning, virtual private networks (VPN), and cloud-based applications, strengthening cyber security, as well as redesigning our office workspace to better suit working needs and activities.

Finally, it is important for us to build a strong culture, purpose and community spirit among employees, despite some physical distance between them in the new ways of working. This required a focus on creating regular communication, employee events, team-building and collaborating activities to ensure that employees feel inspired, connected and engaged with their colleagues and teams. We want to build an experience where employees can stay authentic, be curious and bold to bring our vision to life.

Q What are some of the key challenges that you faced in implementing your EX initiatives, and how did you overcome them?

Implementing any new initiative is not without its challenges. Fully embracing WTW Work Styles will require a shift in thinking about how we work. One was to manage the resistance to change and ensure a smooth transition into an effective new work style.

People managers play a vital role in helping employees determine their work styles and understanding which work styles suit them best. Our managers have to learn new ways in managing hybrid teams and ensuring that trust and regular communication takes place. In building strong team dynamics, we have also adopted a transparent and inclusive approach by providing employees with a platform to voice concerns, provide feedback, and actively involve them in the decision-making process.

Q Do you have processes to measure the effectiveness of your EX initiatives, and what metrics do you use to evaluate success?

Measuring the effectiveness of our EX initiative is a crucial aspect of WTW’s approach. We use a combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics to evaluate the success of our initiatives.

Listening is also key for us and we utilise different tools and resources to ensure we have proper feedback from our employees through avenues such as employee engagement pulse surveys, townhalls and employee open forums. These surveys provide valuable insights into the impact of our initiatives and help identify areas for improvement. Additionally, we monitor metrics such as retention rates, employee productivity and performance indicators to gauge the overall effectiveness of our new Work Style. By consistently analysing these, we can make informed decisions and continuously enhance our employee experience at WTW.

Q Finally, what role do leaders and managers play in driving a beautiful employee experience, and how are they held accountable for the success of these initiatives?

Leaders and managers play a pivotal role in shaping the employee experience at WTW. They are not only responsible for cascading the organisation’s mission and values but also for creating an environment that nurtures and supports employees.

Teamwork and collaboration are critical to our shared success. Regardless of the role, interactions are an important part of our work, and some of those interactions will always be most effective in person. Employees and their managers are given autonomy to work together to determine which of the work styles best reflects where and how an individual works most effectively. When determining the work style, employees can discuss any issues, concerns or challenges including those related to general wellbeing, and health and safety with their managers.

Even in instances where performance is not an issue, work styles can also change over time. The nature of work can change quickly, moving from large independent to largely team-oriented and back again. Open and ongoing communication between leaders, managers and employees including their direct reports will keep expectations aligned and ensure continued business success and a highly engaging employee experience in our company.

Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets' section!

All photos / Provided by WTW