International law firm Taylor Wessing has implemented BigHand Resource Management to enable effective hybrid working with equitable and inclusive work allocation that also supports lawyer career development

Wendy Tomlinson, Director of Talent at Taylor Wessing said, “When managing the transition to our hybrid working model, we wanted to ensure our work allocation was efficient and everyone had access to career enhancing tasks at the firm, regardless of their physical location. We also wanted to reduce the time taken by our partners to allocate work so they could focus on client service delivery.”

Following a successful pilot with BigHand, an internal survey with the firm's corporate partners revealed that 100% agreed that work is now allocated more consistently, and 70% agreed they've worked with a wider variety of people and teams.

Wendy explained the firm's approach to the project, “We've been working with BigHand for some time, and we wanted this project’s focus to be on our people. It’s about change management firstly, and we have been delighted with the consultancy from BigHand with their team feeling like a true part of the firm, and really supporting us to create the role for, and onboard our newly appointed Resource Manager. The technology supports the process improvements in place by increasing visibility of lawyer workloads, skillsets and career ambitions.”

Penny Lloyd, Business Transformation and Operations Director at Taylor Wessing added, “The beauty of the tool is in the way it brings together the people elements of skillsets and career ambitions with the ability to match those with upcoming matters, and then provide reporting that is easy to navigate. As hybrid working becomes more consistent for everyone, we are now able to ensure that we are enabling our lawyers with better tools to equip them in delivery of complex, interesting work, and driving more service delivery efficiency.”

Wendy concludes “Taylor Wessing is a high-performance organisation with ambitious goals including supporting lawyer career development in an innovative environment, and for me our BigHand Resource Management project sits at the core of that strategic ambition. We are proud to promote inclusion and learning to enhance staff engagement and in turn ensure we are maintaining excellent client service levels in a hybrid-working environment.”