20 Apr Avoid Losing Your Top Talent…
Have you ever spoken to one of your top-performing legal colleagues and got that sinking feeling they may be planning to hand in their resignation? When a top performer leaves it can provide wake-up call about the importance of keeping staff members motivated and satisfied with their work. The loss of one of your top performing employees can leave a large hole in your firms experience and knowledge. An employee with deep skill sets and organizational/client knowledge can be difficult to replace.
In a busy practice, staff retention isn’t always top-of-mind. But it should be. The improved economy over recent years has many law firms and corporate legal departments actively recruiting legal professionals, especially those experienced in property law, commercial litigation and the legal needs of an aging population. A recent American survey of practicing lawyers identified the top factors that would entice them to take a position in another firm, they are:
- 25% Leadership and advancement opportunities
- 14% More interesting work
- 12% More flexibility in working hours
- 9% Higher compensation
- 7% Professional development opportunities
It also identified the top factors that would lead them to remain at their current employer, these were:
- 69% Flexible working hours
- 50% Free or subsidised education or professional development opportunities
- 33% On-site perks – free or subsidised parking, gym membership, meals etc
- 14% Higher compensation
Here are some tips on retaining and re-energizing your top employees in and environment where they may be tempted by other opportunities:
Improve Work/Life Balance
A key cause of dissatisfaction with legal jobs is the reality of the daily grind. Long hours and high stress have spurred some legal professionals to leave their jobs and even change careers:
Minimise burnout. You can’t eliminate workplace stress, but you can help your staff better manage it. In between major caseloads, encourage team members to take time off. But don’t just talk the talk. Take vacation time yourself, it demonstrates that it’s appropriate for staff members to do likewise. And when workloads are high, consider temporary legal support staff to help reduce pressure on the team. A recruitment company can help identify suitable people.
Offer flexible working options. In a recent survey of American legal practices, close to 70 percent of the lawyers interviewed said that being able to take advantage of flexible work hours or telecommuting is the most important incentive to remaining with their current company or joining a new organization.
Take on some gratis work. Offering free legal service to non-profit organisations may seem counterproductive to a legal practice already stretched. However, gratis work is not only an excellent way to give back to your community, but it also adds meaning to people’s work making them feel good about their careers.
Recognise Performance
Feedback. Staff who receive regular feedback and recognition are motivated to stay with the practice. Review your non-monetary recognition strategies and step-up your acknowledgement of your top performers.
Re-evaluate compensation. Money isn’t the only factor in job satisfaction, but keeping your legal salary package competitive helps retain valuable staff. Regularly benchmark compensation levels against current industry trends to ensure you’re keeping pace with or, ideally, offering a little more than the competition. If your firm fails to offer competitive salaries and benefits, not only may you face retention challenges, you’ll be less appealing to new job applicants.
Value more than the job they do. Get to know your staff’s strengths and interests and work with them to align work with those attributes. This is a great way to increase both morale and productivity.
Engage with staff more
Workers who feel that the partners and practice managers are responsive are more likely to remain with the firm.
Be transparent. Communicate honestly and don’t leave employees in the dark when change occurs. Give them a voice in decisions that affect them.
Strengthen development opportunities. Legal professionals rank leadership and advancement opportunities near the top of the list of retention factors. Provide growth opportunities and motivate staff to pursue the work that will interest them.
If your practice has recently had a resignation, or you have outstanding positions to fill, a specialist recruitment agency can assist in obtaining staff that meet your qualification and experience criteria and work well within your existing team.
Leo Recruitment is a specialist legal recruiter. As specialists we are able to offer our candidates and clients a bespoke and proactive service during a recruitment campaign. We are committed to offering our clients more by way of service, as we have excellent market knowledge and access to the highest caliber of candidates in the local area.