DWF

International Legal Organisation

DWF is a global legal business with over 2,700 people working across 25 offices worldwide. They provide award-winning legal services and effective operational management services, with specialist teams also providing commercial advice and strategic guidance.

Leaders Lab worked with the Senior Partners of the London Office, leading between them over 300 people originating from a large number of smaller firms which had come together under the DWF banner. This presented the challenge of unifying the culture and creating a common set of interpersonal behaviours and ways of working together. We facilitated a series of workshops with Senior partners to take the DWF Values, and expand these into a set of agreed, measurable and manageable behaviours.

These were well-received by staff in the London Office and integrated into the existing DWF performance management process, providing:

• an objective methodology for measuring, managing and improving behaviour
• a basis for integrating the cultures of the many partnerships which went to make up DWF
• a platform for surfacing, highlighting and resolving unacceptable behaviour in the firm

The work done by Leaders Lab with the senior Partners has resulted in a set of clearly defined behaviours derived from our company values. These make it possible rigorously to manage and measure our progress in developing our company culture. Their guidance and skilled facilitation have been invaluable, as have their experience in organisational change and the external perspectives they are able to bring.

Hilary Ross, DWF, London Office