How TP ICAP improved organizational culture

TP ICAP is the world’s largest inter-dealer broker. Headquartered in London, the company plays a pivotal role in the world’s financial, energy and commodities markets. The company’s 5,000 employees are distributed around 22 countries to meet the needs of its global customer base.

Tullett Prebon’s acquisition of ICAP and formation of TP ICAP in December 2016 means the organisation has seen significant change. Louise Dilworth, the Group Head of Performance & Engagement, joined the company in 2015 and has seen the company transform and adapt to the regulatory environment. The Global HR team has evolved to focus on broad strategic initiatives. “Our approach has expanded to include how we develop our talent and how we actively manage our culture to enable our organisation to meets its objectives,” explained Louise.

At the tail end of 2016, Louise selected Culture Amp as the company’s employee feedback platform. The first task was to use Culture Amp to assess the company’s readiness for the merger. “We were two separate companies at that time and we used Culture Amp to get a sense of how the two companies think, what makes their cultures different, and how employees wanted to see it evolve,” explained Louise. Within 24 hours of the survey closing, Louise was able to process all of their results and present a summary for the executive team.

By 2017, the organization had completed the merger and became TP ICAP. “Mergers are always a challenge but Culture Amp helped us measure the task at hand and prioritize our efforts,” said Louise. TP ICAP continually leverages the Culture Amp platform to drive cultural change. “Our culture has continued its evolution and it’s critical that employees feel like they have a say. This means we’re using Culture Amp to capture feedback across the employee experience from our joiners and leavers, in our annual engagement survey, and now the 360 reviews to develop individual talent,” explained Louise.

TP ICAP values excellence and Louise’s team uses Culture Amp’s 360 reviews to identify development opportunities for their talent. “We do care about development and Culture Amp makes it easy for us to give great developmental feedback. The 360 reviews let us quantify how our people align with our competencies and how they live our values,” explained Louise.

The company has recognized that in today’s fast-paced environment, only a diverse workforce can meet the demands of a global economy. “Culture Amp makes the experiences of different groups in our organization apparent. It has brought to light the opportunity we have to improve the diversity of our workforce so we can create real business value. Our workforce includes a truly global range of nationalities and backgrounds of skilled specialists. As the global marketplace has evolved, our clients look to us as a partner with a diverse range of people with many different experiences,” said Louise.

By strengthening the diversity of its workforce and inclusive culture, TP ICAP has been able to tap into new markets. “As part of our Early Careers program, we’ve been able to attract fresh talent and hire differently. Our selection methodology is blind to gender, ethnicity and academic background. It is based purely on the attributes of an individual and the needs of the business. Those subsequent hires are already having a positive impact on the business,” explained Louise.

“When someone joins from another financial institution, its clear to them we have the right processes in place, that our workplace is fair, and there is an opportunity for development,” explained Louise.

Compared to the days when the HR team ran focus groups to capture feedback, Louise can now get a sense of how the 5,000-strong team is doing in no time. “Culture Amp is light years ahead and I love the real-time feedback. I’m in control and it’s easy for me to measure the impact of our initiatives on the company,” concluded Louise.