The lead author of this article was engaged on what became known as the Clarity Project. “We tried several approaches on our own. They haven’t been ill-received, but the buy-in wasn’t there. We were going high on the mountain and coming back with the stone tablets” (ABCPA, Managing Partner). Twelve months of work began by reframing the problem as a phenomenon (see Madsbjerg and Rasmussen, 2014), asking: “What does a sustainable, high performance working environment mean for the people in this firm?”
This led to 100% staff engagement via Change Cafes, design workshops and one-on-one interviews, through which several key themes emerged – points 2 through 4 were not surprising, given that participants were mainly Millennials:
1. All but a few described the firm as a ‘family,’ which they did not want to see changed. 2. Almost all staff requested greater transparency in decision-making, especially concerning goals, appraisal, reward, mentoring and career development. 3. Many mentioned ‘trust’ in the context of being more involved in decisions. 4. Staff generally recognised that, to remain relevant in the future, there was a need to innovate; collaborate (inside and outside the firm); and be more flexible in their thinking (working outside their technical specialisms), which would require a commitment to their own personal development