How RELX Unlocked Hidden Performance Capacity Across a Global Workforce

The Challenge

RELX's Global Head of Executive Development, responsible for the organisation's Top 140 senior leaders, faced a challenge that is easy to overlook.

Her leaders were not struggling. They were high performers and rising stars, delivering in demanding global roles across a world-leading data and analytics company.

And they were operating under significant pressure.

They already had the skills, the knowledge and the talent. The question was whether they had the capacity to bring all of it to work, consistently and sustainably.

Could RELX help its best people perform even better, without simply asking them to do more?

The concern was not capability. The concern was operating capacity.

Behind that sat a wider organisational problem. RELX knew how its people felt about work. What it lacked was an objective measure of how its people were performing compared to what they were capable of, and what was holding them back. Without that, investment in people could not be targeted where it would deliver the greatest return.

Could RELX help its best people perform even better, without simply asking them to do more?

The concern was not capability. The concern was operating capacity.

Behind that sat a wider organisational problem. RELX knew how its people felt about work. What it lacked was an objective measure of how its people were performing compared to what they were capable of, and what was holding them back. Without that, investment in people could not be targeted where it would deliver the greatest return.

Starting With The Leaders

In Q4 2023, eight high-performing leaders from the Top 140 took part in a pilot of OwnLife's Per4RM® programme.

The cohort was already well above benchmark, with average scores at the 66th percentile. Even so, there was significant headroom. By the end of the programme, scores had risen to the 76th percentile.

In real terms:

·         Time spent feeling tired fell by 50% (1.5 hours less per day)

·         Time spent distracted and unable to focus fell by 57% (1.2 hours less per day)

·         In-role productivity increased by 12.1%

·         Quality and timeliness of decision making improved by 11.1%

·         Time spent highly proactive and engaged increased by 10.1%

Every participant would recommend the programme, and seven of the eight said it had permanently changed their mindset towards managing their cognitive performance.

As one participant put it:

“This is unlike any exec development I have been on before... it makes you think deeply and enables real personal change.”

Proving The Results Were Repeatable

A second cohort of global leaders, drawn from across RELX's five main businesses, achieved very similar outcomes.

Notably for this group, strong external results were masking how much they were capable of. They were operating at below average capacity, at the 38th percentile. Average scores rose from the 38th to the 63rd percentile

·         Time spent feeling tired fell by 45% (2.3 hours less per day)

·         Time spent distracted fell by 40% (1.6 hours less per day)

·         Sleep scores rose from the 39th to the 56th percentile

·         In-role productivity increased by 11.6%

Once again, 100% would recommend the programme and seven of the eight reported a permanent shift in mindset.

From Individual Leaders To Whole Teams

Consistent results, universally positive feedback and measurable ROI resonated with a business built on data and analytics.

Leaders who had experienced the programme began sponsoring it for their own executive committees and leadership teams. One was deployed to support a region and business experiencing particularly high levels of stress. Another prepared a global team for its busiest time of year. Every programme was a success.

At the same time, RELX piloted OwnLife's In4RM programme across Elsevier, one of the world's largest academic and scientific publishers. More than 760 employees took part, and the results revealed a hidden need:

·         92% recognised that lifestyle factors affected their productivity, and that they would benefit from changes they had not been able to make

·         75% felt more supported by their organisation to improve their wellbeing and own their productivity

·         79% wanted the programme offered annually

As one senior leader observed:

“It was the first time in a long time I had looked objectively at me, and what is impacting my performance.”

Going To Scale

In Q3 2025, RELX launched a global, multi-year initiative offering In4RM to all employees, the first initiative of its kind across all RELX businesses. More than 3,700 employees took part.

For the first time, RELX could see, by business unit, region and function, how teams were performing compared to what they were capable of, and what was holding them back.

That data was then used to:

·         Show where issues raised in employee opinion survey data were actually affecting performance

·         Identify the individuals most likely to benefit from more in-depth support

·         Highlight teams with an opportunity to optimise their culture to boost performance

This allowed RELX to direct OwnLife's higher-touch, coaching-led Trans4RM programme precisely where it would have the most impact. The results:

·         12.5% increase in in-role productivity

·         91% described the programme as transformative

·         A world-class Net Promoter Score of 83

Long-Term Impact

In Q1 2026, OwnLife was recognised as a RELX performance partner in the company's 2025 Annual Report.

In4RM was offered globally again in 2026, and the data continues to show how RELX's people are performing compared to what they are capable of, guiding smart investment in its most important asset, when and where it is most needed.

What began as support for a small group of rising stars has become business as usual.

Because the greatest untapped resource in any organisation is the capacity of its people.

And capacity can be measured and improved.