Building a culture of growth and inclusion: An L&D Perspective

How would you define a positive workplace culture, and why is it essential in today’s work environment?

I define a positive workplace culture as one where employees feel valued, supported and aligned with the business goals and values. I think transparency is an important trait here, as everyone can visualise their contributions to the firm’s success. A positive workplace culture is essential for creating strong, honest and open communication and mutual respect, and to feel as though you can bring your whole, best self to work.

How do Learning and Development initiatives contribute to building a positive workplace culture in Clyde & Co?

L&D initiatives are essential for a positive workplace culture. We are the key drivers for designing and facilitating management and leadership training, which targets the most influential group when creating a positive workplace culture.

L&D teams use evidence-based practices to design and implement training programmes that directly link to workplace culture, such as training for giving and receiving feedback, personal brand, building confidence, communication skills and many more.

Beyond skill development, our initiatives demonstrate the firm’s commitment to employee growth, making everyone feel valued and invested in. It’s especially rewarding when colleagues approach us for specific training; it shows we’ve built trust and are effectively supporting their development needs.

Can you share examples of L&D strategies that have successfully shifted or reinforced workplace culture?

At all firms that I’ve worked at, there’s always been a push for on-demand content. I’ve seen this as a key pillar within all L&D strategies. On-demand learning is much more than e-learning, it can be TED Talks, podcasts, interviews, gamification, recorded sessions, books and articles. I think a recent shift for L&D teams is sourcing the best on-demand content as a priority. We understand that classroom learning is great, but everyone has different learning styles and requirements, so the key is to offer various learning initiatives. This has created a positive culture of learning by having resources at the learners’ fingertips.

What are some common challenges you’ve encountered in trying to influence or improve workplace culture?

Naturally, there can be a fear of change in all businesses. I think employees who have excelled in their roles for many years, by doing things a certain way can be more reluctant to adopt new approaches. Over the past few years, lots of law firms have changed their appraisal process, which encourages multiple appraisal conversations throughout the year, rather than one end of year review. One of the reasons behind this change, is to create open and comfortable environments for frequent feedback. I’m sure that all firms have struggled to get every single person on board!

We recently ran some engagement sessions where we explained the benefits of the new process, how it creates a feedback culture and the reasoning behind it, we’ve found that take up for the new process has really improved since.

With the increasing focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, how does L&D in Clyde & Co help create an environment where all employees feel valued and included?

The L&D team ensure that DE&I weaves through everything we do, adhering to accessible learning requirements, such as visual guidelines. We also ensure we have a mixture of in-person, virtual, live and on-demand learning. This enables everyone to feel included and access learning to develop their skills in a range of topics. We also work closely with our DE&I team on training initiatives, such as our Career Milestone Inductions, where delegates can hear from the experts in the DE&I team themselves.

How do you see the role of L&D in shaping workplace culture evolving over the next few years, especially with changes in remote and hybrid working models?

I believe the move to remote and hybrid working models is a great step for creating a positive culture for global firms. It allows L&D teams to run live, virtual training for all regions, rather than just where there is critical mass. Having interactive learning with a mixture of offices attending is an invaluable learning opportunity. Features such as being put into breakout rooms to learn from those in other offices, who may have different experiences expands the potential of the content. This also provides opportunity to build global connections. With this in place, I believe the workplace culture that L&D is developing is one of true inclusivity.

What emerging trends in workplace culture are you most excited about?

When we look at the new generation entering the workforce, I think they will influence workplace culture with their strong values, with an emphasis on diversity, authenticity, and flexibility, encouraging firms to adopt more adaptable models that support work-life balance. Their preference for transparency and frequent feedback is also shaping a more open, communicative culture. Being highly digital, with a desire to be given access to the top digital tools, they will naturally be driving an innovative culture too, this is something that has been emerging for some time, but I think it will really start to take shape.

Environmental factors will also influence an important culture trend, as we move to paperless workspaces, less business travel, adapted office spaces and offsetting our carbon footprints, this creates opportunities for L&D teams to educate and upskill the workforce to foster a culture of environmental awareness.

Workplace culture plays a major role in retention, what are the key elements to embed a strong, sustainable and positive workplace culture in a firm?

For me, workplace culture is an important role in any company or firm. I would say that the key elements for embedding it, are:

• Open communication – having the psychological safety to give and receive feedback and the freedom to challenge
• Transparency from leadership – transparent goals are key for employees to feel like their work is meaningful and contributing to success
• Growth and development – this is a big contributory factor to retention as it’s an investment in employee skills and subsequently encouraging long term commitment
• Inclusive leadership – DE&I should filter through every project, goal and conversation, to make everyone feel valued and heard