Cazoo's CPO on how legal can enable people & talent

In this series of interviews with legal's key internal clients, we learn all about what effective collaboration looks like, what 'excellent' looks like, and what ultimately they want from their legal colleagues. Read the whole collection here: Enabling The Business

Veronica Sharma is the Chief People Officer at Cazoo. Cazoo is the UK’s leading online car retailer. Before joining Cazoo, Veronica was the Group CPO at Photobox and Moonpig, as well as the Senior Talent Director at eBay.

Before you worked with lawyers, what was your perception of them?

Everyone assumes the involvement of lawyers means something has gone awry or broken down, but lawyers are an important support to any people function, keeping us compliant and informed.

You could have two functions who swim in their own swim lanes but the work we’ve done with lawyers involved partnering to deliver on strategic outcomes

Has your perception of lawyers changed?

No, but it became clearer through my career. The world of people and the world of legal can and do come together really collaboratively.

You could have two functions who swim in their own swim lanes but the work we’ve done with Michael Haynes, previously Cazoo’s Group Head of Legal, and indeed other lawyers, involved partnering with the business to deliver on strategic outcomes.

It’s those times when we achieve the best results.

How often do you work with legal at Cazoo? On what kind of projects?

It depends on the nature of the work. Cazoo has grown significantly in a short space of time and in that growth we have taken the business through several changes.

It’s during those periods of high growth and high change that we come together on true strategic work. But then of course, we also work together on a daily basis across employee and general company opportunities.

Cazoo wanted to make contracts structured, scalable and searchable as they continued to grow. Find out how they did this with Juro.

What kind of soft skills define a ‘great’ lawyer?

Lawyers who are active listeners; curious with their questioning; open-minded; and courageous. These traits define a great lawyer that can work with different teams.

Involve legal early and regularly with good, open communication. We have to come together and collaborate closely to enable the business.

What would poor collaboration with legal look like?

Legal can build the brilliant basics and deliver on the table stakes at any business. This work often revolves around compliance and setting up policies or procedures.

That’s the bare minimum of how legal can support a company, there is much more value created with business-focussed legal teams.

And turning the question around, what can the people team do to enable legal?

Involve legal early and regularly with good, open communication. We have to come together and collaborate closely to enable the business. Having that successful partnership involves having open, honest, and consistent communications.

At the end of the day, every function is an enabler to the business - whether it’s legal or people.

Enjoyed this interview? Want to hear from other C-suite leaders on how they interact with legal? Read the collection in full: 'What the business wants from legal in 2023'.