08 Nov Hiring and Retention – Part 3
Larger law practices invest heavily in recruiting new solicitors and associates—only to find that they leave the firm within a few years, before they are truly productive. Corporations often have greater success in retaining the employees they hire. Their secret? What can your practice learn from corporations about how to select, integrate and develop good employees?
EXPAND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS BEYOND TECHNICAL SKILLS.
Firms frequently invest heavily in technical skills training, especially for new lawyers. Firms often do a decent job of skills-building in these areas but pay little attention to relationship management or other “soft” skills that can have an even more important effect on client retention and satisfaction, as well as on individual career success. It is not enough to hire for emotional intelligence; like any other kind of skill, firms need to nurture its continued development through courses to extend and refine these abilities.
PROVIDE ONE-ON-ONE COACHING TO ENHANCE INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT.
Group training programs that seek to build and enhance interpersonal skills are necessary, but are not sufficient to build skill and loyalty to the firm. Younger generations of lawyers place high value on the importance of skills development, mentoring and the like. The best and the brightest want—and in many cases, demand—this kind of attention to their careers.
The optimal setting for adult learning involves one-on-one focus over time, so group education programs should not be the primary vehicle for development. Giving individuals the opportunity to work with a career expert one-on-one provides the greatest return on the firm’s investment and gives individual lawyers the strongest experience of the firm’s investment in them—not just as a worker bee, but as a professional whose career success is important to the firm beyond how the firm can tangibly benefit.
In summary, law firms can learn a great deal from corporations on how to select, integrate, develop and retain the best employees. They can adapt successful practices from corporations to their unique challenges and structure to ensure that their investment in people and careers maximises tenure. Law firms don’t need to reinvent the wheel; they just need to modify it to make the most of their people.