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www.canadianlawyermag.com 39 the team." Durand carefully points out that she couldn't have effected the transformation alone. Collective input was required, together with a corporate culture that believed in bringing people out of their comfort zones. "I had to stretch individuals' comfort zones much as I had done during my career, and I had to do it without making people so uncomfortable that they weren't productive anymore." Durand says achieving that balance requires an understanding of what drives individuals. "It's important to give the people hungry for growth what they need to grow, but you can't do that without dedicating more time to listening carefully to them than just five minutes at the end of a meeting." Flexibility also plays a significant part. "If you want people to give you their best and stay with you, you can achieve that by FAST FACTS ABOUT IA $207.8 billion in assets $817 million in profits Return on equity: 12.3 percent more than four million clients more than 9,000 employees more than 50,000 representatives giving them flexibility," Durand says. "For example, iA's approach to remote work is to let people work where they are most productive with no obligation to be anywhere except at key moments." Durand also took it upon herself to formalize the government-relations function, hiring a non-lawyer to fill that role. "It's one thing to see the laws come down and another to have meaningful input and get your views to the right people," she says. "It's important to give the people hungry for growth what they need to grow, but you can't do that without dedicating more time to listening carefully to them" Isabelle Durand, iA