Laya Healthcare (Now Part of Axa): Consolidating a Culture of Empowerment and Accountability
The Challenge
As part of their journey to becoming a leading health insurer and after a successful buyout and rebrand, Laya Healthcare (now part of Axa) set their sights on consolidating a culture of empowerment and accountability. With strong employee engagement scores and recognition as an employer of choice, the leadership wanted to build on this foundation while aligning their behaviours and ways of working with future growth ambitions.
Our Approach
At Culture Impact, we started by evaluating the current culture through in-depth discussions with the Director of HR and the executive team. This provided clarity on the behaviours they wanted to embed and the challenges they needed to overcome to strengthen empowerment and accountability across the business.
⦁ Executive Effectiveness
We conducted a benchmarked 360-degree assessment for each executive, followed by tailored coaching sessions to highlight individual strengths and areas for growth.
During a two-day executive retreat, leaders reflected on their roles, shared assessment feedback, and explored their collective behaviours. Together, they identified immediate actions to address unintended cultural consequences and align their leadership approach with the desired culture.
Simple yet impactful practices, such as regular ‘check-points’ during meetings to maintain alignment, were introduced to promote accountability and collaboration. Each executive continued with one-to-one coaching, focusing on constructive behaviours that balanced accountability, customer focus, and respect for colleagues.
⦁ Strategic Management Development
The next level of leaders underwent a positive psychology-based self-assessment with tailored coaching and debriefs. Workshops followed, designed to strengthen constructive communication and foster conscious, future-focused business behaviours.
We brought both leadership levels together in joint workshops to solidify their shared vision, articulate their culture, and establish behaviours that supported ‘working as one’ while embedding empowerment and accountability.
The Outcomes
⦁ Behavioural Change at the Top: Executives shifted from reactive to constructive behaviours, asking more open questions, listening actively, and fostering collaboration.
⦁ Stronger Alignment: Formal quarterly meet-ups improved alignment across the executive team, reducing miscommunication and driving more efficient decision-making.
⦁ Cultural Awareness: Leaders gained a deeper understanding of how their behaviours shaped unspoken cultural norms, enabling them to prompt and support one another effectively.
⦁ Empowered Next-Level Leaders: Mid-level leaders gained the confidence to challenge upward and influence processes, driving efficiency and better alignment across teams.
⦁ Business Impact: Improved alignment and empowerment led to more efficient operations, timelier decisions, and reduced preparation time for meetings and reports.
⦁ Improved Engagement: Key engagement and empowerment behaviours were tied to performance metrics and reward structures, resulting in even higher employee engagement scores.
Through a bold focus on behaviours, systems, and alignment, Culture Impact helped Laya Healthcare strengthen their culture, creating a foundation for sustainable success under their new ownership with Axa.
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