Liberty Insurance: Holding the Line Under Pressure
The Situation
At Liberty Insurance Ireland, I was brought in as Strategy & Transformation Director during a high-pressure turnaround. The business needed to deliver a 30% cost reduction—fast—and the plan on the table was to offshore the contact centre: 250+ FTEs, nine-month timeline, £6m in annual savings.
The strategy was commercially sound—but the execution approach was deeply transactional. The prevailing mindset was: ‘Just get it done.’ No real thought to people impact, culture, or how this would echo long after the savings landed.
The Task
My mandate was to deliver the cost reduction and land the transformation cleanly. But I knew if we delivered this in a way that fractured trust, it would do lasting damage.
The challenge was clear: deliver a hard-edged outcome—but do it in a way that preserved humanity, protected morale, and upheld the brand’s integrity.
The Action / Approach
I reframed the entire approach—from a cost-cutting exercise to a values-driven reset.
We compressed the delivery timeline from nine months to three—but with structure: early engagement with impacted teams, honest communication from leaders (no corporate spin), and psychological safety for those staying. I secured enhanced outplacement support and optional coaching for affected employees—and ensured it was delivered with care, not compliance.
Where I really had to lean in was with the exec team. I challenged the tone and timing of key announcements—pushed for language that reflected empathy, not just efficiency. At one point, I paused a comms release 24 hours before launch because it lacked any emotional intelligence. That wasn’t easy—but it was necessary.
The Result
We delivered the full £6m annual savings—six months ahead of schedule. But more importantly, attrition stayed flat, engagement scores held steady, and the brand’s employer reputation remained intact.
What stuck with me most? A senior leader pulled me aside and said: ‘We’d have hit the numbers either way—but you helped us do it in a way we could be proud of.’ That moment mattered more than any metric.
SO WHAT?
That experience reinforced something I hold tight: real transformation isn’t just about what you cut—it’s about what you choose to protect.
In high-pressure environments, it’s easy to default to speed over substance. But I’ve learned that how we lead through cost, crisis, or change is what defines the organisation long after the spreadsheet’s balanced. That’s the kind of leadership I bring—and the kind that builds transformation that sticks.
