Eversheds IT Outsourcing

The Challenge

In 2006, Eversheds made the bold decision to be the first top-league legal firm to outsource the majority of its IT operation to a new IT partner. Their chosen partner, Computacenter, would assume responsibility for most of the day-to-day service aspects of IT, leaving the directly employed Eversheds IT team free to focus on value-added strategic and development issues. In total 80 staff would transfer across to Computacenter, leaving 112 staff directly employed by Eversheds.

From the start, Eversheds was passionate about doing right by its people - those transferring to Computacenter and those remaining directly employed. It was also vital that the firm was able to retain the talent and experience of all the teams involved and that the transition was achieved with no compromise to the exceptionally high service standards demanded by the client. Highly effective communication with all stakeholders was understood to be of critical importance to the successful outcome of the project. As previous advisors to the firm and with proven expertise in managing ‘high concern’ communication, North Star was the automatic first choice as communication experts for the programme.

The Solution

Using the principles for effective communication during high concern situations, North Star devised a communication strategy to maximise performance throughout the transfer period and to address the needs of those transferring to Computacenter and those remaining with Eversheds.

The initial announcement process was critical in establishing trust and credibility for the senior team, demonstrating the firm’s values in action and establishing the tone for forthcoming communication. The plan we devised and implemented addressed the particular demands of communicating high-concern messages, influencing the format, content and support materials for the announcement meeting and for all subsequent two-way communication. In addition, all the senior team were thoroughly coached in specific techniques to manage their performance in this critical – and potentially stressful – announcement meeting.

This stage was the first part of a three-month communication strategy that used effective two-way processes to engage and involve each internal audience by aligning the key messages to the issues that were of most concern to them. Key information – both face-to-face and written - was carefully crafted to ensure that issues were tackled honestly and openly, whilst helping people understand and gradually accept the changes.

The real value of this communication strategy was emphasised by its ability to retain motivation and support even when the project encountered obstacles in the run up to transfer, demonstrating the robustness of the strategy and the skills displayed by everyone involved in delivering the communication.

The Results

Eversheds achieved its most critical success factor by successfully retaining its people throughout and beyond the transfer. Over 97% of its people chose to either remain with Eversheds or take the transfer to Computacenter. As a result of this, Eversheds’ senior partners and executives regard the communication aspects of the IT outsourcing programme as amongst the best change communication the firm has yet provided. The tools and techniques used by North Star have now been adopted as best practice for all future outsourcing projects undertaken by the team that delivered for Eversheds.