Within the Right Organization, with Clear Goals and Priorities
One Team Capgemini's legal department members work together globally as “One Team” solely reporting to five regional General Counsels and ultimately to the Group General Counsel, without any hierarchical link to operational management.
In 2009, this organization replaced the dual reporting lines to Group General Counsel and to the local management. It was done to preserve the independence of the legal function while maintaining the proximity of the local legal team to their local internal clients. It has allowed the entire legal team to be driven by common guidelines and a unique impulse. The “One Team” concept recognizes a person's sense of belonging to one team and one's greater commitment if his or her realm moves from local to global. The objective is to give each team member the opportunity to be visible at a global level as no local budget boundaries prevent involvement in global projects. Within Capgemini, General Counsels are requested to invest 70 % of their time on local and 30 % on global matters.Legal Priorities Each year, the Group General Counsel sets the “Legal Priorities” which are distributed to all members of the legal department. It reflects the main directions given by the Group Chairman and CEO and his team, and sets the main strategic goals and realizations expected from all legal team members. It allows the General Counsels to define the KPIs of their team members. In the 2012 Legal Priorities for example, each team member was directed to discuss suggestions for innovation or improvement of the legal department with their General Counsel, who was requested to elevate them to the Group General Counsel.
Leader Profiles Since 2011, all lawyers are assessed along common “Leader Profile” criteria defined at the Group level: “Business Pioneer”, focusing on proactively facilitating business initiatives in new markets and geographies, “Profit Shaper”, focusing on risk awareness, and operational excellence turning business into margin, and “People Leader” focusing on leadership characteristics.
When these Leader Profiles were introduced, they did not necessarily appear well suited to the legal function, so the General Counsels worked on making these Leader Profiles a driver for the legal community.
Today these Leader Profiles shape the entire legal team's attitude and focus.Global Legal Awards The legal department must be driven by motivated members, and all in the team are encouraged to make themselves, their teammates, and their contributions visible. “Legal Awards,” following the Leader Profile categories, were created to reward individuals or teams worldwide for their achievements. The “People Leader” Legal Award for example rewards federating and inspiring members of the legal department who deliver excellence on a global scale.
Candidates for Legal Awards are usually nominated by the General Counsels but may also be referred by colleagues or even other departments. Legal Awards are a chance for small countries or for young lawyers to make themselves visible as they reward initiatives, subject matter expertise, or processes in all domains. In 2014, a local team won a Legal Award in the Business Pioneer category for their program called “Data Protection for Delivery,” which helped delivery teams identify and deal with data protection issues. This program has had an exceptional impact on team spirit with effective and proactive collaboration between several areas of the company not previously in contact in that specific country. The program increased delivery, risk, and commercial teams' awareness with regard to personal data and helped them to respond effectively to client requirements. It was based on an industrialized process, and now all projects in that country use the same template and follow the same procedures to identify the requirements for the management of personal data, and it will be deployed globally. The creation of the global Legal Awards has accelerated the emergence of a company spirit and generates a healthy emulation within the entire legal community.
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