IHL Resource Cultivation is about proactively developing and leveraging the resources your legal team needs to succeed. It recognises that resource management falls into three distinct camps:

1. The resources you already have: Your current team, tools, and processes-often underutilised or misaligned.

2. The resources you don’t have (but which are not money or headcount): These include better workflows, smarter prioritisation, and technology adoption.

3. Additional resources and money: These should only ever be requested if the legal team can present a legitimate business case with a substantial and attractive ROI-whether through time saved, cost reduction, or increased business agility.

This station is about strategic cultivation, not blind acquisition. Legal teams often default to asking for more people or budget when workloads spike. But without demonstrating efficiency gains from existing resources, such requests lack credibility. Cultivation means optimising what you have, innovating with what you can access, and only seeking additional investment when you can prove it will pay for itself many times over.

In today’s environment of rising demand and static budgets, resource cultivation is not optional-it is a survival strategy. It enables legal teams to achieve more with what they already have, maintain morale, and demonstrate measurable value to the business.

IHL Resource Cultivation typically includes:

◼️Existing Resource Audit: Assessing current team capabilities, tools, and processes for optimisation.

◼️Skills Development: Upskilling team members to handle higher-value work and reduce reliance on external counsel.

◼️Workflow Innovation: Redesigning processes to eliminate bottlenecks and improve efficiency.

◼️Technology Enablement: Leveraging tools that automate routine tasks and free up capacity.

◼️Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partnering with other departments to share resources and knowledge.

◼️ROI-Based Resource Requests: Building business cases for additional investment based on measurable returns.

◼️Performance Tracking: Monitoring resource utilisation and productivity improvements.

◼️Continuous Improvement: Regular reviews to refine resource strategies.

In GLS legal ops speak – the IHL Resource Cultivation is considered a “Foundational” resource within the process ecosystem of an in-house legal team.

The Foundational Resource: Is responsible for determining the overall performance capabilities of a “critical” legal function. If it is not optimised, the function can never be optimised. 

The best practice features of IHL Resource Cultivation are as follows:

1. Strategic Focus: Prioritises optimisation before requesting additional resources.

2. Data-Driven Decisions: Uses workload and performance data to guide resource strategies.

3. Skills Mapping: Identifies gaps and invests in targeted training.

4. Technology Integration: Deploys tools that deliver measurable efficiency gains.

5. ROI Validation: Requires robust business cases for any new investment.

6. Governance Alignment: Ensures resource strategies align with organisational priorities.

7. Transparent Reporting: Tracks and communicates resource impact to stakeholders.

8. Continuous Adaptation: Reviews and updates strategies regularly to stay relevant.

The IHL Resource Cultivation station delivers the following value to the Business:

◼️Cost Efficiency: Reduces reliance on external counsel and unnecessary headcount.

◼️Agility: Improves responsiveness to business needs without increasing overhead.

◼️Predictability: Provides clarity on resource capacity and performance.

◼️ROI Assurance: Ensures any investment delivers measurable returns.

◼️Sustainability: Builds a resilient legal function capable of scaling without constant budget increases.

For the legal team, resource cultivation provides:

◼️Empowerment: Demonstrates capability for self-help and proactive improvement.

◼️Skill Growth: Creates opportunities for professional development and career progression.

◼️Innovation Culture: Encourages creative solutions to resource challenges.

◼️Morale Boost: Taking action fuels confidence and engagement.

◼️Credibility: Enhances reputation through measurable performance gains.

The IHL Resource Cultivation station is essential for:

◼️Legal Department Leadership

◼️Legal Operations Managers

◼️Executive Management

◼️Risk and Compliance Teams

A legal team operating without IHL Resource Cultivation will face a wide range of inefficiencies including:

◼️Stagnation: Continued reliance on outdated processes and manual work.

◼️Talent Drain: Increased churn rates of high-performing team members.

◼️Escalating Costs: Overuse of external counsel due to lack of internal capability.

◼️Reactive Culture: Constant firefighting instead of proactive improvement.

◼️Credibility Loss: Inability to justify resource requests to the business.

Resource cultivation heavily leverages technology. Tools for workflow automation, knowledge management, and analytics are critical for optimising existing resources and demonstrating ROI for new investments.

1. What is IHL Resource Cultivation?

A: It’s the process of optimising existing resources, innovating with non-financial solutions, and requesting additional investment only when backed by strong ROI.

2. Why is resource cultivation critical for legal teams?

A: Because budgets are static while workloads grow-cultivation enables efficiency and sustainability.

3. How do you start resource cultivation?

A: Begin with an audit of existing resources and identify opportunities for optimisation.

4. Does resource cultivation reduce legal costs?

A: Yes, by improving internal capability and reducing reliance on external counsel.

5. What role does technology play in resource cultivation?

A: Technology automates routine tasks and frees up capacity for higher-value work.

6. Can small legal teams benefit from resource cultivation?
A: Absolutely-resource constraints make optimisation even more critical.

7. How do you justify new resource requests?

A: By presenting a business case with measurable ROI in time, cost, or agility.

8. What happens if legal teams skip resource cultivation?

A: They face inefficiency, rising costs, and declining morale.

9. Who should lead resource cultivation?

A: Typically, the Head of Legal supported by Legal Operations.

10. Is resource cultivation a one-time exercise?

A: No-it’s an ongoing process that evolves with business needs.