Workplace stress is damaging to both the health of the individual and their everyday effectiveness in your law firm.

The Law Gazette recently published research indicating that lawyers are the second most stressed professionals in the UK: a whopping 93.5 per cent experience workplace stress and reporting feeling regularly overworked, exhausted and anxious.

93.5%. Just take a moment to let that figure sink in.

Feeling overworked and stressed tires your brain, preventing you from applying 100 per cent to the job in hand – and can eventually damage the success of your law firm.

So, what are the signs to look for, to prevent overwork and stress in your legal team?

In this article, we’ll examine four of the main stressors that can result in poor performance, burn out and damage to the firm’s position and revenue – and how you can combat them.

Stress Factor 1: Too Much Work

Problem: Even if you enjoy your legal job, you’re more likely to make mistakes when you’re overly busy or tired. The stress of having more work than you can cope with leads to performance drop-off. We all love to think we can multitask effectively, but research shows conclusively that we are terrible at it.

Low morale is often a tell-tale sign that all is not well with your legal team – overworked employees feeling less engaged and may become withdrawn from their colleagues.

Additionally, having too many cases on your desk makes it easier to lose sight of the bigger picture. Stress can accelerate at an alarming rate into burn out, as colleagues tear through their to-do lists to accomplish all the tasks that face them.

Solution: Avoiding burn out is paramount for the success of your legal team. Understanding individuals work patterns – such as when their productivity levels are highest, will help you focus on who works best and when.

Additionally, taking regular breaks can help with goal reactivation. So, encourage your team to regularly step away for ten or fifteen minutes and refocus, re-energise and say mindful of their objectives.

Make sure your team are fully trained to cope with the work they are being asked to do – it’s sometimes easy to overlook the fact that team members may be struggling with new duties and procedures.

Finally, I would recommend operating an open-door policy, or at least time when you are available for your team to talk to you about any concerns they have. Support (more on this coming up) is critical in enabling you to keep an overall picture of the mental wellbeing of your legal team, and for them to feel they have the understanding and support of their manager.

Stress Factor 2: Long Hours

Problem: In the legal world, professionals often put in long hours: from working late to finish case notes, responding to emails at all hours, and willingly working additional hours over weekends when the need arises – legal professionals are committed to their job.

But are you guilty of developing a culture where this has become the norm in your firm? When Senior Solicitors and Managing Partners put in the hours, additional work often cascades down to junior staff, creating a culture of overwork for everyone.

It’s not uncommon for senior professionals to be driven by ambition, pride, a desire to prove they’re important, or an overdeveloped sense of duty. And while some drivers can be positive, others are not.

Research suggests that more input does not necessarily mean more output.

Studies have found that overwork and the resulting stress can lead to all sorts of health problems including impaired sleep, excessive drinking, depression, heart disease and impaired memory – and while these are disastrous for the individual, they are also terrible for your firm in terms of absenteeism, higher turnover and lower productivity rates.

Solution: Take a step back for a moment and think about your drivers for working longer hours. Are they psychological? Or are they a necessity?

If you can, try to reduce the hours your legal teamwork, so that they can at least go home early on some nights of the week.

Perhaps you need to think about hiring additional employees to ease the strain on your team?

Stress Factor 3: Lack of Support

Problem: If your legal team don’t feel supported by Senior Solicitors and Managing Partners, there will be a dive in productivity: fact.

It could be that your team are not enjoying a good office culture with regular and transparent communication on issues.

Lack of support often manifests in a dearth of communication. I often hear candidates complain that the hard work they do disappears into a void with senior colleagues and is never seen again, without explanation.

Holding up the system can cause a real headache for those in your legal team who are eager to progress a case – they want things to move quickly and are motivated to do an excellent job for the client. So, when files become bottlenecked, it can cause stress to those waiting for an answer before they can advance further.

Solution: Check your processes, reflect and evaluate the effectiveness of individual stages – is everyone contributing in a timely fashion or is there a bottleneck? Can processes be made smoother and therefore, quicker to implement? Can you give autonomy in some sectors?

Of course, If everyone involved is critical to the process and working hard, it could be that some things take time and can’t be rushed. In which case, communicate this to your team, so they understand.

Stress Factor 4: Employee Turnover

Problem: Does your legal team have a high turnover rate?

A stressful working environment can result in your law firm having a more difficult time attracting and keeping high-quality talent.

And staff retention problems can quickly impact even the most hard-working legal team. Not only in an increase in workload for individuals who have to cover missing team members, but on the firm itself.

A constant need to hire and train new employees can see your law firm veer away from its mission and vision. This can negatively impact your employer brand in the marketplace if productivity and standards begin to drop, and clients may start to look to other law firms.

Additionally, employee turnover has a direct impact on company revenue and profitability. The time and associated costs of having to seek new employees, interview, review applications, hire and onboard can see your law firms’ turnover rates plummet.

Solution: By retaining employees, law firms can provide a higher calibre team that positively affect the bottom line. Lower turnover rates can be achieved by improving your firm’s company culture; providing training and upskilling opportunities, rewarding employees for good work, offering a clear career pathway and creating a culture of trust.

Conclusion

Stress management is necessary to ensure you keep your legal team focused, driven and happy – and your firm profitable.

If you see signs that your team is faltering under heavy caseloads or other factors that can lead to problems, it’s wise to tackle the situation immediately. By looking at the source of the stress objectively, you can work towards identifying solutions.

Next Steps

If you’re reading this article because you are looking to develop your legal team, call one of the Clayton Legal team on 01772 259 121 and let’s have a conversation to explore your options.

About Clayton Legal

Clayton Legal has been partnering with law firms across the country since 1999 and during that time has built up an enviable reputation for trust and reliability. We have made over 5,000 placements from Partners to Legal Executives, Solicitors to Paralegals and Legal IT Personnel to Practice Managers.

If you are building your legal team or looking for your next career move, we can help. Call us on 01772 259 121 or email us here.

If you would like to know more about recruiting trends in the legal sector this year, download our latest guide here.

As a legal professional, do you often find yourself derailed at work – from the frequent requests for client meetings to email messages, or seemingly endless caseloads and calls on your time?

It can sometimes feel like you’re being pulled in all directions the second you step into the office. So, focusing on using your time and energy effectively should be paramount to ensuring the success of your law firm, as well as your sanity.

In this article, I will share the secret productivity hacks top legal professionals use to make the most of their working day – they’ll work for you too!

1. Eat the Frog

Firstly, let’s start with one of the main time-consuming issues – that vast amount of paperwork you need to plough through. It may be a report you need to complete or a case you have to prepare; whatever it is, it looks daunting, and you, therefore, spend time ignoring it rather than tackling it head-on.

It was Mark Twain who coined the phrase ‘Eat the Frog’. The basic premise is that if you have a significant but slightly overwhelming task to complete, (i.e. your ‘frog’) – do it first thing in the morning.

Not only is it more likely your productivity levels will be higher earlier in the day, but it will mean you can get it off your desk and concentrate on other work without it looming at the back of your mind.

If you find it challenging to tackle substantial tasks in one sitting, try breaking them down into smaller chunks. Then eliminate all other distractions and make a stat. Sometimes once you’ve started, the rest comes easy. This is because of the dopamine rush we get when we feel productive, and you can harness this to get the job done.

2. Control Your Calendar

Online calendars are a useful tool when planning your time allocation – but be sure use them consistently. Leaving spaces where you have plans will indicate to others that you are available.

So, block out the time you need to tackle critical tasks – and (top tip) if you feel you need thinking time block that out as well. That way, you won’t be thwarted by an unexpected meeting request from a colleague.

3. Plan in Advance

As well as ensuring you have all your needed time blocked off on your calendar, planning is key to managing your productivity. Creating a smart to-do list will help you focus, and save time trying to juggle multiple tasks at the same time (spoiler: this never turns out well).

Getting into a habit is crucial – so, every evening, list five essential tasks you want to accomplish the next day. Doing this means you will already have your agenda when you arrive at the office in the morning.

Rank the tasks in order of importance (remember – Eat the Frog), so you are in control of what is essential, rather than what is pressing (or what sounds easy to tick off the list).

4. Manage the Ping

We are increasingly are overwhelmed with distractions from various connected devices, and legal professionals are no exception. With smartphone and tablet use increasing at a rapid rate, we now spend the equivalent of an entire day every week online.

Harvard Business Review reports that this reliance on our technology is stopping us focusing. And Stanford psychologist Emma Seppälä says: “By constantly engaging our stress response [when we check our phones], we ironically are impairing the very cognitive abilities — like memory and attention — that we so desperately need.”

Being in a perpetually hyperconnected state doesn’t allow us the opportunity to process, recharge and refocus our thoughts and energy. So, set aside specific times to check your phone messages, email and other digital distractions. For example, you could check incoming mail at 8 am, 2 pm and 5 pm.

And don’t forget to put your devices on silent.

5. Cut Meeting Time

Are you inviting just the essential people to your meetings? If not, you should be!

Countless studies, including this 2015 HBR research, have shown the benefits of smaller teams.

Focus and responsibility are more challenging to coordinate with a big group. And if you invite colleagues who are not critical to discussions, you will end up with half of the group staring silently at their laptops for the duration of the meeting.

Additionally, it’s worth considering stand up meetings – they are not for everyone, but they certainly cut down on time. If you can’t face the thought of a stand-up meeting, consider quick ten minutes catch-ups over coffee. That way, everyone doesn’t get settled in for the long haul in the boardroom, where scope creep can flourish.

6. Know When it’s Good Enough

Many legal professionals are just that – professional.

But sometimes it’s easy to slip into wanting to make everything perfect. And while I’m not suggesting you should cut corners, sometimes good really is good enough.

For example, if you’ve spent days working on a report and you know it’s finely crafted, ask yourself -will it make any difference if you send it to your senior partner now, or wait another night to tweak it even further? Is it good to go?

7. Don’t Forget to Delegate

Failure to delegate can result in overwhelm.

You don’t have to take on everything yourself. Your competent and professional legal team are there to help!

So, delegate work where you can. Not only will it free you up to concentrate on the critical cases, but it will also allow your paralegals to prove that they can be trusted to do a good job.

8. Remember to Take Time Out

It’s essential to allow yourself frequent breaks. Taking time away from your desk provides the opportunity to reflect, de-stress and recharge, leading to better levels of productivity.

Additionally, it’s critical to keep learning new things to expand your knowledge and creative thought. So, invest in lifelong learning – from training on how to use the new computer data programme in your law firm, to reading up on the latest legal cases and news in the Law Gazette.

Next Steps

I hope these hacks have provided you with some useful tips on managing productivity better to get the most out of your day.

If you’re reading this article because you are looking to develop your legal career, call one of the Clayton Legal team on 01772 259 121 and let’s have a conversation to explore your options.

About Clayton Legal

Clayton Legal has been partnering with law firms across the country since 1999 and during that time has built up an enviable reputation for trust and reliability. We have made over 5,000 placements from Partners to Legal Executives, Solicitors to Paralegals and Legal IT Personnel to Practice Managers.

If you are building your legal team or looking for your next career move, we can help. Call us on 01772 259 121 or email us here.

If you would like to know more about recruiting trends in the legal sector this year, download our latest guide here.

From artificial intelligence for candidate sourcing to a new generation of employees – what does the future hold for the legal profession and its employees?

As we enter a new decade, now is the ideal time to focus on the predicted trends in legal recruitment and ask which ones will dominate the legal recruitment sector in 2020.

Recruiters are conscious that significant changes are ahead in the next twelve months. A retiring baby boomer generation, advancements in technology and a new generation with a considerable set of alternative world views will join the workforce, impacting on current employees, law firms and their clients.

So, in a legal marketplace where it seems change is the only constant, what can you, as a legal professional, expect to see over the next year?

In this article, I will address some of the critical areas predicted to impact on the legal recruitment arena in 2020.

1. Automation

Advancements in automation technology mean that sifting through individual CVs is becoming a thing of the past for hiring managers and recruiters. Today, automation can take the strain – and time –out of the hiring process by helping facilitate candidate screening, scheduling (and conducting) interviews and performing skills and personality analysis (more on this later). For candidates, this will mean paying extra attention to constructing job applications and CVs to ensure the right words are picked up by automated processes.

Additionally, a rise in e-discovery professionals is expected. This rapidly growing legal field will aid legal professionals, offering significant advancements in technology to facilitate legal procedures and manage electronic data in 2020. E-discovery allows both parties in a lawsuit to discover information in possession of the other, without the inevitable hold-ups created by physical searching for paperwork and holding vast quantities of data in paper form.

2. Psychometric Testing

Alongside other new ways of hiring, such as video interviewing, is a surge in preference for psychometric testing. First developed in the early 20th century, this tool has gathered credence as a valuable asset within the hiring process. It is predicted to gain further traction as one of the go-to methods of selection in 2020.

Psychometrics will save employers time, help ensure the ‘best fit’ candidates are selected for an interview, maintain a consistent standard for hiring, and enable employers to work out the best personality type to enhance their legal team.

For employees, it will mean a better chance of aligning their ethos with that of the firm they want to work for, and ensuring that they will be a good mix with colleagues at the firm, if successful in their application.

3. Employer Branding

Purpose-driven firms evolve faster than others, and in the new decade, employer brand becomes more crucial than ever in positioning law firms in the legal marketplace.

Employer brand encompasses the vision, mission and goals of the firm. Those who ensure their brand is seen favourably in the marketplace will see an upsurge in top legal professionals who wish to work for them.

For candidates, clear employer branding will enable you to know precisely what the firm stands for – their culture and goals – before you apply for a position. Once in place, good company culture and EVP will ensure you want to stay and grow your career with that firm and help them achieve long-term aspirations.

4. Hiring on Attitude

More and more employers are discovering the merit of hiring on attitude rather than skillset – good news for many candidates.

There is a rise, backed by evidence, that attitude is a considerably more significant predictor of success than IQ, and that disengaged, negative employees can have a costly impact on the economy.

So, it stands to reason that as we move into a new decade, law firms realise that employees with a positive outlook, good communication skills and well-developed emotional intelligence are the way to create a successful legal team and enhance the firm’s financial position.

So, for those looking for a new legal role, it will be crucial to offer a robust set of transferable skills and show a positive attitude.

5. Candidate Experience

When it comes to hiring, it used to be the case that the employer had the upper hand. Not so any longer. With so much competition for top talent in today’s legal marketplace, would-be employers must make sure to provide an excellent candidate experience.

2020 is likely to see a rise in the pressure on firms to offer an enticing combination of salary, benefits (more on this next) and company culture to attract new talent and enable them to feel connected to the firm’s culture and philosophy. Firms will need to manage their hiring process effectively to avoid losing candidates and consistently maintain an excellent reputation via social media.

In effect, this means that candidates can expect to enjoy a smooth and professional hiring process and onboarding experience.

6. The Desire for a Better Offer

Competitive hiring market means that to secure talent, employers will need to re-examine not only the remuneration on offer but the whole benefits package.

Candidates can expect to see flexibility in working hours, with employers offering (where possible) working from home options. For Millennials and Gen Z, who see work-life balance as a critical decider when looking for work, these flexible working options could be the deciding factor in deciding which law firm to work for.

Alongside better benefits, employees desire for a workplace that matches their ethos and values is expected to grow significantly. Consequently, law firms who embrace the concept of company culture will be positioned firmly at the front of the pack for jobseekers.

7. Diversity and Culture

A study by McKinsey & Co in 2015 found that companies with greater racial and gender diversity were 35 per cent more likely to have higher financial returns than the respective industry average.

And since then, employees desire for an excellent company culture that embraces diversity in all its forms has grown. Company culture is a pivotal part of the decision-making process for candidates with multiple job offers – and this trend looks to build, with more and more firms realising that they need a great company culture and career pathway options offer as well as a good salary.

8. Rise of the Next Generation

Baby Boomers will continue to retire in large numbers as we enter the new decade. This will have an inevitable impact on the legal arena, as an estimated seventy-five million retirees will see a surge in demand for legal services focusing on retirement planning, securing assets for the next generation, and the legalities of living arrangements for old age.

For the younger generations entering the marketplace as high tech and hyper-connected individuals, a rise in employers recognising what drives this generation will enable them to find their place in a forward-thinking law firm with excellent career prospects. And with their passion for innovation, new employees will thrive in their legal career where they are recognised and appreciated for the skills they bring to the workplace.

Conclusion

While it’s impossible to predict the economic future, it is relatively safe to say that advancements in technology, innovation and a Gen Z surge will define recruitment in 2020.

Legal services are one of the most important world markets, and with a demand for legal services comes a competitive race to attract top candidates to firms. Therefore, legal professionals can expect to have a variety of options open to them when looking for a new role and can look ahead to a fulfilling legal career that enables them to achieve their ambitions.

Next Steps

If you’re reading this article because you are looking to develop your legal team to stay ahead of your competitors in the new decade, call one of the Clayton Legal team on 01772 259 121 and let’s have a conversation to explore your options.

About Clayton Legal

Clayton Legal has been partnering with law firms across the country since 1999 and during that time has built up an enviable reputation for trust and reliability. We have made over 5,000 placements from Partners to Legal Executives, Solicitors to Paralegals and Legal IT Personnel to Practice Managers.

If you are building your legal team or looking for your next career move, we can help. Call us on 01772 259 121 or email us here.

If you would like to know more about recruiting trends in the legal sector this year, download our latest guide here.

The ‘war for talent’ is much documented at the moment across many sectors as the number of vacancies advertised continue to grow as firms ramp up hiring activity after a tumultuous 12-18 months. And, according to statistics from Broadbean, despite a 20 per cent rise in vacancies advertised in Q1 2021 compared to the last three months of 2020, applications to those roles rose by only 4% in the same period.

Law Firms are one again competing for the same, sometimes scarce, pool of talent; some of whom are reluctant to move roles against the backdrop of a pandemic and perceived market uncertainty, and some who do have that confidence and have whole host of options available to them.

With Firms jostling for supremacy in the hiring stakes, eager to attract the best talent to work for them, it does beg the question: how does your firm perform when it comes to attracting and hiring the best people – particularly in the current market?

If you’re finding it challenging to hire great talent, it could be that your law firm is repelling would-be employees – and it goes deeper than your salary offer.

It could be down to your Employer Brand.

In this article, I will be looking at how your Employer Brand could be repelling would-be talent from joining your law firm, and how you can redress the balance, create an engaging market presence and attract and retain the talent you want to work for you.

What is Your Employer Brand?

If you haven’t yet heard the term Employer Branding – it’s time to take a leap of faith and embrace this workplace phenomenon. Your Employer Brand isn’t something new – in fact, it’s been around forever, and all firms have one – whether they are aware of it or not.

Your Employer Brand is, in essence, the market’s perception of your firm. It re-affirms what you stand for; your reputation, leaders, history and customer service ethos.

It also goes far beyond these specifics – it includes other’s emotional response to things like your adverts and how they feel when using your services or when talking to others about your firm.

It has a secondary function too. And this is the one that may be repelling talent from your firm.

Your Employer Brand also describes the agreement or ‘promise’ you make to your employees in exchange for their experience, talents and skills. It is how you are viewed as an employer and the attitude and response to your law firm that lives in the hearts of your employees.

This is known as your Employee Valuation Proposition, or EVP, and it’s a compelling factor in attracting – or repelling – the legal talent you want for your firm.

If you’re wondering how to embrace your EVP to make sure you’re attracting the right legal talent to your firm, this article will illustrate the benefits of having a winning EVP, and how to create one to attract new talent.

But first, let’s look at the potential pitfalls of failure to invest in your EVP.

The Dangers of Non-Investment

There are definite downsides to not investing in your EVP. And not just in the general happiness levels of your employees. It can affect your firm in recruiting cost-per-employee, your HR budget, and the overall bottom line.

With the costs of employee turnover being anywhere up to 2.5 times your team member’s salary, depending on their role, it’s worth thinking about investing in your firm’s EVP.

Moreover, as well as lost employee and rehiring costs, there’s also the financial impact of lost productivity, training and the decreased morale of other employees to consider too.

Additionally, when thinking about your EVP, it’s worth remembering that more and more individuals are valuing an attractive workplace culture over salary, and failure to invest in this area of your firm could lead to lower retention and less appeal when compared to other law firms who offer more benefits.

So, investment in your workplace will see attraction and retention levels increase.

The Benefits of Investment in Your EVP

If you needed further reasoning for investing in your EVP, did you know that when top talent wants to work for you, your recruitment costs don’t just drop, they plummet?

The latest figures reveal that costs go down by around 43%. This is mainly because recruiters find it easier to get top talent into law firms they are keen to work for, i.e. those with great reputations. Less persuasion is needed, and therefore turnaround is much quicker.

In addition to this, the rewards of investing in your EVP include definite and measurable upturns in your ability to retain the best employees.

Your EVP embodies your mission and values and is a powerful communication tool for both current and potential employees. It can help you prioritise aspirations and goals for your law firm, and used effectively it can not only attract new talent but re-engage current employees who may have found themselves demoralised or disengaged in their work.

And with a great EVP, your existing pool of talented staff can help drive and promote your firm – not only officially on your company website, but in their social media engagement, recommendations to friends and family, network conversations, job reviews and testimonials.

Provide an excellent EVP – and your team will become cheerleaders for your firm, influencing others around them who may be looking for their next legal career move.

How to Create a Winning EVP

Your EVP is primarily an employee centred approach – it should be defined by and road-tested by your current employees.

Conducting an audit of your current EVP will help you gauge your position in the legal marketplace right now. If yours is short of the mark, consider what can be done to improve it.

Here are some of the things you may wish to look at when considering improving your EVP.

Values and culture. A workplace study found that 56% of employees valued an excellent company culture fit over salary. That’s how vital company culture is to individuals.

By embracing an inclusive and diverse company culture, you will attract new employees as well as retain existing ones, and build morale. And that means harbouring an environment where employees are respected and valued, where there is a shared vision, and where communication, transparency and teamwork are paramount.

Career development. LinkedIn’s 2018 Workforce Learning Report showed a whopping 93% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their careers.

Especially in the legal world, having a transparent career path in your employee’s personal development plan and offering training to achieve it, will set you ahead of your competitors and boost your attraction and retention figures.

Employee recognition. From providing excellent feedback to saying ‘thank you’, it’s crucial for Senior Partners and Managers to acknowledge their staff to maintain a sense of wellbeing and pride in a job well done.

Work-life balance. Investing in better work-life balance for your employees starts with leading by example. So, Senior Partners should set a good example, as well as seeking to develop a more supportive culture where everyone feels they can take advantage of better work like options.

Benefits. From salary to flexitime, gym membership to annual leave allowance, there are many options for a firm to include in their benefits package.

Conclusion

The most exciting thing about your Employer Brand and EVP is that it’s not just about having your mission on the firm’s website.

Employer Branding begins and ends with real people – your employees. By building a great culture for them to work in, you will find that they will not only enjoy working for your law firm, feel engaged and part of a bigger picture – they will actively promote your firm for you.

Attracting new talent starts with making the most of those already working for you – and letting your reputation do the rest.

Next Steps

If you’re reading this article because you are looking to scale your law firm, call one of the Clayton Legal team on 01772 259 121 and let’s have a conversation to explore your options.

About Clayton Legal

Clayton Legal has been partnering with law firms across the country since 1999 and during that time has built up an enviable reputation for trust and reliability. We have placed thousands of legal professionals in new roles; from Partners to Legal Executives, Solicitors to Paralegals and Legal IT personnel to Practice Managers.

If you are building your legal team or looking for your next career move, we can help. Call us on 01772 259 121 or email us here.

Are you looking for a new legal role?

It’s a generally held opinion that it’s much easier to find a job if you’re already in a post. You’re already in the ‘thick of it’. Liaising with other legal professionals and interacting with contacts on a daily basis.

If you’re unemployed, you don’t have that sort of access.

Additionally, if you’re in a job, you have the luxury of being able to look around and take your time. You don’t need a job; you want a new job. And you can wait for the right one if necessary.

But it’s wise to practice caution when job hunting while still employed. Nothing will turn a potential new employer off faster than a breach of ethics. And finding out about a breach of ethics by your current manager or senior partner won’t look good for you either.

Seeking to avoid burning your bridges with the law firm you are currently with it a good idea – they are still paying your salary, after all. The least you can do is job search ethically.

Here are the steps to take to ensure your legal job hunt remains professional.

1. Job Search in Your Own Time

Here at Clayton Legal, we advise candidates to avoid job searches in work time.

That means not looking for jobs when you should be working on a caseload, not looking for new opportunities when the rest of the team are out at a meeting, avoiding sending job hunt related emails out from your firm’s pc or looking jobs up on the internet in between seeing clients.

And not using the firm’s printer to do multiple copies of your CV is a given too!

2. Keep it Quiet

If you want to maintain your ethical job search in your own time, it’s wise not to discuss it at work. Not even with your best work buddy. Once someone knows, it’s only a matter of time before word gets out.

Not only could knowledge of your job hunt suggest to your Manager or Senior Partner that you are unhappy in your current role, but you could also find yourself in the awkward position of being removed from discussions and even cases if they perceive you are less than 100% committed to your current role.

While keeping your LinkedIn profile up to date is vital in your job hunt, not mentioning that you are looking a new role is prudent. Just make sure all your details such as recent awards, training, qualifications and experience are there for prospective employers to view.

3. Schedule Your Interviews Carefully

Taking time out for a ‘dentist’ visit or contriving a sick day when you’re going for an interview is not ethical.

Try to schedule interviews before or after your regular work time, or in your lunch hour. If it’s impossible for the interviewer to see you at a time that works outside your current hour, take a day’s annual leave.

That way, you’re not likely to bump into your firm’s Solicitor in the high street at lunchtime when you’re supposed to have flu.

4. Remain Diplomatic

If you’re asked about your current firm or employer at interview, do not be tempted to use the occasion to let potential employers know how unhappy you are, how your Senior Partner hasn’t a clue how to run a law firm, or how much you loathe the clients.

It should be obvious, but sometimes even seasoned legal professionals fall into the trap at an interview of being too candid with their opinions.

Maintaining diplomacy at all times is the key. Concentrate on what a new job could offer you (career path, the broader scope for legal areas to cover, diverse clients, etc) and less on what your current position doesn’t provide.

After all, if you are keen to rush into a character assassination of your current employer, your interviewer’s first thought will be “Will they talk about my firm the same way in 12 months?”

5. Keep Up the Good Work

You may be leaving your current employer because you don’t like working for their firm, or you may be going to increase your chances of moving up the career ladder elsewhere.

Whatever the reason, while you are still employed at your current law firm, it’s the mark of your integrity and professionalism to keep up the standard of work expected of you.

Knowing you are doing everything in your power to remain ethical and principled in your job search will be rewarded by the self-knowledge that you handled the situation well, and it will demonstrate your sincerity and honesty to your future employer.

Conclusion

Job searching while employed can be difficult, not least due to the time constraints you face, but it does have its advantages. You are in a better position to negotiate your preferred salary, and you won’t be under the same pressure to take any job that comes along just to meet your mortgage or rent payments.

Additionally, by conducting your job search ethically, you can be sure your current employer will be more than happy to provide a glowing reference.

Good luck in your search!

Next Steps

If you’re reading this article because you are looking for the next move in your legal career, call one of the Clayton Legal team on 01772 259 121 and let’s have a conversation to explore your options. With our help, your transition can be smoother and quicker.

About Clayton Legal

Clayton Legal has been partnering with law firms across the country since 1999 and during that time has built up an enviable reputation for trust and reliability. We have made over 5,000 placements from partners to legal executives, solicitors to paralegals and legal IT personnel to practice managers.

If you are building your legal team or looking for your next career move, we can help. Call us on 01772 259 121 or email us here.

If you would like to know more about recruiting trends in the legal sector this year, download our latest guide here.

As a legal professional, you take your career seriously.

You may well already have a personal brand that you’ve spent time developing. Mapping it out will have made you more self-aware and knowledgeable, as well as signalling to Senior Partners and Managers that you are the ideal candidate for the next promotion opportunity.

Establishing yourself as a go-to for specialist legal knowledge has made you the person everyone looks to for advice. Your brand indicates your strengths, capabilities and enables you to stand out above the competition.

In short, few things are more critical to building a successful legal career than having a strong personal brand.

So, what could go wrong?

Sometimes, your personal brand can slip and work against you, preventing you from moving forward in your career. So, it’s wise to look out for these tell-tale signs that your brand is failing – and how you can rectify it before any damage occurs.

1. Your Goals Are Too Vague

Why are you building your brand? What are your end goals?

A vague “I want to become a leader” isn’t clear enough. You need to have a definite goal in mind. Be it achieving a Senior Partnership, Managerial role or Senior Solicitor within your Law Firm, having a clear objective will help you focus and plan on how exactly you’re going to get there.

And understanding why you want to develop your personal brand will keep you on track too.

2. You’re Neglecting ‘Real’ Interactions

Blogging and vlogging may be all the rage, but are you neglecting the more traditional channels of communication?

It’s tempting to follow the herd, and there’s nothing wrong with having an online presence it’s essential (more on this later), but it’s also worth considering other ways to get your brand across.

Keynote speaking at law events, networking at conferences or writing a guest piece for a legal publication – all these can help establish your personal legal profile. Face to face interactions have a lot more impact than online relationships – so make sure you utilise both well for maximum impact.

3. You Don’t Practice What You Preach

While we’re talking about interactions, considering your interactions with your team in the workplace is crucial to maintaining your personal brand. Having one persona for the outside world and another in the office isn’t going to cut it.

How you treat your legal team is going to directly affect how they view you. Consistency in your communication, from important meetings to casual chats in the hallway, is crucial.

Be aware of your communication style, actively listen and make time for your staff. They are the ones who will bolster your position and recommend you to others, thus building your credibility.

4. It’s All About You

Hopefully, you don’t have any controversial tweeting habits, but when online it’s ideal to mix promotion of yourself with legal industry knowledge that conveys your expertise without it seeming as though you are endlessly indulging in ‘over the top’ self-promotion. In other words, the Goldilocks effect: not too much, not too little.

Ideally, 10 per cent of your posts should be about you (for example, recent achievements or awards) and the rest should highlight current legal news and trends, provoking discussion and sharing your perspective on things that are happening in the legal world.

And it goes without saying – keep your private life private, and your professional life professional online. Mixing the two is inviting trouble.

Be mindful that it may not be something you write on your personal feed that will damage your reputation, but it could be a controversial response from a friend; from political comments to excessive personal information – keep it off your professional profile.

5. You Don’t Stick to Your Promises

If you promised to appear as a speaker at an event, you wouldn’t not show up, would you?

Similarly, if you guarantee an in-depth article to your online followers every week, you need to ensure its there. If you fail to keep your promises, even at this level, you will lose the trust of followers and damage your brand.

So, think carefully before you promise articles, videos and twitter posts and ensure that you can fit them into your schedule.

6. You Don’t Follow Up

Credibility is built on consistency, so being constantly mindful of behaviour is critical.

Putting your brand ‘out there’ but failing to keep consistency is going to damage your brand. You’ve got your LinkedIn profile updated and your articles written for your blog posts – what else can you do?

Just as you would if you were marketing your law firm, you need a marketing strategy for your brand (remember the goals we talked about earlier?) Consistent messages and actions keep your sense of identity and credibility going and help power you towards those goals.

Maintaining your identity online and in-person will add value to your propositions and opinions.

That way, you will establish your professionalism and earn the trust of peers, colleagues and industry professionals to build authenticity and make the most of your personal brand.

Next Steps

If you’re reading this article because you are looking for the next move in your legal career, call one of the Clayton Legal team on 01772 259 121 and let’s have a conversation to explore your options. With our help, your transition can be smoother and quicker.

About Clayton Legal

Clayton Legal has been partnering with law firms across the country since 1999 and during that time has built up an enviable reputation for trust and reliability. We have made over 5,000 placements from partners to legal executives, solicitors to paralegals and legal IT personnel to practice managers.

If you are building your legal team or looking for your next career move, we can help. Call us on 01772 259 121 or email us here.

If you would like to know more about recruiting trends in the legal sector this year, download our latest guide here.

Before we look at ways to build a diverse workplace for your legal team, it’s worth thinking about what exactly we mean by a ‘diverse workplace’. There are so many buzz words around at the moment that it’s hard to know what they all mean – and if they communicate the same thing to everyone.

The ‘company culture’ that diversity and inclusion bring have gained momentum as de rigour in the world of work for candidates looking for employment. A recent workplace study found that 56% of employees valued a good company culture fit over salary.

Workplace diversity means employing people with a wide range of diverse characteristics. These could include age, gender, race, religion, cultural background, language, sexual orientation, education, ability, etc…the list goes on.

But it’s not just a fad – there are tangible benefits from offering a diverse workplace in the form of achieving higher productivity and profits for those who embrace workplace diversity in their law firm. And workplace diversity was one of the key trends last year – with no signs of stopping as we head towards 2020.

So, how will building a diverse workplace for your legal team encourage them to flourish? Here are 9 ways diversity can help your law firm achieve success:

1. Increases Creativity

Diversity is one of the critical ingredients for creativity. Diverse solutions come from having multiple options that are provided when you have a group of individuals with different thought patterns, world views and ideas.

In your legal team, having employees who are all very similar in terms of mindset and life experience inevitably leads to a smaller viewpoint overall.

Conversely, harnessing the personal creativity-diversity techniques of a group of people who recognise that everything can be viewed in multiple ways can lead to the generation of more creative ideas. If your Fee Earners and Solicitors come from diverse backgrounds and experiences, they will inevitably have a wider pot of knowledge from which to draw fresh ideas and solutions.

2. Allows Different Perspectives

Different perspectives are beneficial when it comes to strategic planning.

The ability to see things from alternative points of view will allow your firm to better judge which direction it should take in goal planning. Having varied options, and a clear idea of results from those options will enable your firm to decide which is the best route to take to achieve the required overall result.

3. Makes Problem-Solving Easier

Again, the scope provided by a diverse team makes it quicker to problem-solve. Because different individuals think in different ways, it’s possible to quickly come up with various potential solutions to a problem, from which a final decision can be made.

This Harvard Business Review report confirms that diverse teams solve problems faster than cognitively similar groups.

4. Encourages Innovation

A melting pot of novel world views can open doors to innovation. It can be inspiring to be part of a group that sees things in a different way and can come up with creative innovation that otherwise may not have been considered. The ability to think outside the box and from a different angle can enable diversity of ideas to come to light.

Additionally, in an environment where diversity and inclusion are nurtured, it’s likely that individuals are more inclined to voice their ideas without fear of reprisal or ridicule. For example, junior members of the firm such as your Legal Secretary or new Personal Injury Assistant are more enabled to come forward with ideas if they believe they will be listened to and encouraged to contribute.

In a forward-thinking legal workplace, you are more likely to achieve innovation through group participation – you never know what ideas your team may hit upon!

5. Engages Employees

The link between diversity and engagement is an obvious one. Where employees experience inclusivity they automatically feel engaged and loyal to their firm.

A law firm that has engaged employees will benefit from a strong team with shared values. Along with diverse and inclusive traits comes a nimble and agile team who can turn things around quickly, achieving more in less time and with access to multiple possible solutions – driving your firm forwards.

6. Improves Company Reputation

Your Employer Brand is how you are perceived by the outside world. To ensure your law firm is seen in a positive light as knowledgeable, reliable and at the top of your game, it’s essential to ensure that your employer brand is truly reflecting your worth and achievements.

Having happy and motivated employees helps your law firm retain its status and reputation. In addition to the better service they will inevitably provide your clients, their online chat and information – formal and informal – alongside word of mouth and personal recommendation to friends and family, will help position you as the go-to firm.

7. Achieves Better Retention

A law firm who offer a diverse and inclusive workplace is going to make their employees feel valued and appreciated as individuals. Happiness in work leads to better retention levels, with staff showing loyalty to a fair employer and staying with them to build their career. Employee turnover can be costly, so investing in your diverse team is pivotal in achieving better retention rates.

8. Attracts New Talent

Ultimately, a law firm with a great reputation for diversity and inclusion, who has engaged employees, good profit margins, innovative ideas, a superb reputation and high retention levels is bound to attract new talent to want to work there.

And if that isn’t enough to convince you…

9. Increases Profits

McKinsey & Co found that where companies had more diverse teams, they also performed better financially.

Diverse teams are better able to win new talent to the firm. This, in turn, helps to improve client service, employee satisfaction and make decision-making faster.

All this gives a forward-thinking, diverse law firm an advantage over competitors and enables them to achieve more profit as a result: a cycle of increasing returns.

Conclusion

Bringing a mix of skills and experiences to the workplace is good for business, providing an admirable company culture for your law firm. It’s worth noting that this starts at the top, too. Diversity at senior level is more likely to introduce new product innovations than are those with homogeneous “top teams.”

In the millennial age, offering diversity and a great company culture means harbouring an environment where all employees are respected and valued, where there is a vision shared and worked towards by everyone, and where communication, transparency and teamwork are paramount.

While I’m not suggesting that achieving excellent diversity across your law firm will be easy, it’s something to consider working towards. The benefits are multiple, and your employees will thank you for it – as will your Senior Partners when they see the benefits reflected in the firm’s reputation and profit margins.

Next Steps

If you’re reading this article because you are looking to build a better working environment for your legal team, call one of the Clayton Legal team on 01772 259 121 and let’s have a conversation to explore your options. With our help, the transition can be smoother and quicker.

About Clayton Legal

Clayton Legal has been partnering with law firms across the country since 1999 and during that time has built up an enviable reputation for trust and reliability. We have made over 5,000 placements from partners to legal executives, solicitors to paralegals and legal IT personnel to practice managers.

If you are building your legal team or looking for your next career move, we can help. Call us on 01772 259 121 or email us here.

If you would like to know more about recruiting trends in the legal sector this year, download our latest guide here.

In the legal world, as everywhere, teams come in all shapes and sizes. Getting the right people into your legal team can be challenging. When you onboard, you are looking for a good team ‘fit’ – attitude as well as aptitude to do the job.

For the most part, if you have followed due process when onboarding, your team should ‘gel’ well and work collaboratively.

But what happens when one of your employees isn’t a team player?

For example, you have a new, big client. You want your top team to work together on a case this client has given you. It will involve much collaboration, sharing out the tasks, visiting the client, days in court, etc. Everyone is excited to be part of this.

Your Compliance and Risk Manager will handle the case review and ensure call listening is carried out; your corporate paralegal will review all documentation, maintain the files and attend meetings; even the graduate trainee is looking forward to experiencing being part of an exciting case.

But your new Corporate Solicitor, who is in a pivotal role, is not engaging with the project at all. In fact, they are looking distinctly as though they wish they were somewhere else.

Are they just not team players, or is it something else?

The Pitfalls of Not Engaging Your Team

It’s a fact that people grow your law firm. If one or more of your team are disengaged, it will affect productivity and performance across the whole team.

Collaborative working may not be top of the priority list for everyone, but the job of a team is to move the firm forward to success. The bottom line is that it is part of everyone’s job description – and that means working together.

TEAM – the rather cheesy acronym of Together Everyone Achieves More, does ring true. Handling a member of your team who doesn’t believe that collaboration and communication are the way forward can be a major challenge and one that you need to address – quickly.

So, what are the best ways to deal with your legal employee who just won’t join in?

Look for Hidden Reasons

As Stephen Covey advised, “Seek first to understand”.

It’s easy to leap to conclusions about other people who aren’t playing the way you want. You could dismiss your new solicitor as just lazy or being deliberately awkward in their unwillingness to work with the team.

But maybe there’s something else?

It could be that they don’t believe they have the necessary skills for the project in hand, or that they have a personal problem at home that no one at work is aware of.

They are only human – and problems can manifest in many ways.

So, check-in with them and give them the opportunity to explain if there’s a problem that’s stopping them from getting involved.

Check Your Communication is Clear

Make sure you are clear with your instructions and communications.

Is it possible that the individual has misinterpreted your intentions? Have you been clear?

Especially if you have more than one disengaged member of the team, it could be that you need to communicate your intentions more clearly.

So, make sure your expectations are transparent so that each individual knows exactly what their role is and what is expected of them.

Listen

It can often be the case that an employee feels disengaged because they don’t believe they are being listened to. So, consider talking less, and allowing them to voice their opinions, concerns and ideas.

By practising active listening, you will gain valuable insight into what makes them tick, and where the root cause of their disengagement lies.

You will also empower them, and they will be much more likely to see themselves as part of the bigger picture with a role to play. By engaging them in this way, you can also encourage feedback and offer support.

Acknowledge Their Work

Do you remember the last time a senior member of staff said ‘thank you’ to you for a job well done?

Receiving praise and acknowledgement is a sure-fire way to instil a sense of passion and willingness to do more in an individual employee.

The ‘win’ doesn’t have to be major; it could simply be a thank you for staying late to help finish a case or write up a report. But it indicates your appreciation of the employee and the part they play in your law firm.

Offer Development Opportunities

Whatever job role you have, sometimes the daily grind can seem just that. Let’s be honest, we all have moments where we feel bored at work; stuck in the same routine every day.

Mixing it up, where possible, will reignite enthusiasm in your team. So, send your Paralegal out to visit clients with a Solicitor, or allow your Legal Secretary to work on an extra project where they have autonomy.

Coaching or mentoring is a great way to get individuals involved and build up their confidence and skills.

By offering opportunities, either official training and development or just something a bit different in the daily workload will help re-engage disinterested employees.

Embrace Inclusivity

Inclusivity into a team and the law firm as a whole will ensure that each individual can see how they fit into the overall aspirations of the firm and make them feel that they are contributing to its success.

As part of that inclusivity, it’s crucial to ensure that all staff are kept in the loop with the firm’s news – whether that’s good or bad.

Good news will, of course, help engage and inspire, but not so good news is also important. Delivering bad news is never easy. But sweeping it under the carpet is a source of frustration for many employees – it can lead to a feeling of being kept in the dark by employers (and consequently a feeling of not being important) as well as leading to the rumour mills springing into action.

So, deal with news, whatever kind it is, by engaging your team, so you can all move forward together.

Be Aware of Social Styles

Finally, remember not everyone absorbs information in the same way.

The way individuals interact is known as their preferred ‘social style’, a phrase coined by David Merrill and Roger Reid in the early 1960s. It explores how people behave in social (or work) situations to ascertain how to predict managerial, leadership and sales performance and therefore how managers can get the best out of their team.

Spending time with your team will enable you to understand how each member prefers to interact and contribute. You can then use that information to moderate your behaviour towards them, making them feel more comfortable to make their contribution.

So, bear in mind that a disengaged employee isn’t a lost cause.

By utilising one of two of the suggestions in this article, you can help foster a culture of inclusivity where individuals are inspired, encouraged and motivated because they feel part of a bigger team and can see the role they play in contributing to growing your law firm’s success.

Next Steps

If you’re reading this article because you are looking for the next move in your legal career, call one of the Clayton Legal team on 01772 259 121 and let’s have a conversation to explore your options. With our help, your transition can be smoother and quicker.

About Clayton Legal

Clayton Legal has been partnering with law firms across the country since 1999 and during that time has built up an enviable reputation for trust and reliability. We have made over 5,000 placements from partners to legal executives, solicitors to paralegals and legal IT personnel to practice managers.

If you are building your legal team or looking for your next career move, we can help. Call us on 01772 259 121 or email us here.

If you would like to know more about recruiting trends in the legal sector this year, download our latest guide here.

Even with a backdrop of economic uncertainty, we are still witnessing a buoyant legal jobs market with  many practice areas looking to hire new talent with relative urgency. However, by the same token, and amidst a still-current skills-shortage, the number of applications from jobseekers is still not accelerating along that same trajectory.

As we have seen before, demand once again exceed supply which translates to a highly competitive, candidate-led legal marketplace.

With competition at its fiercest, law firms are looking to attract the best (and often the same pool of) talent, so it’s imperative that they look for ways to create standout. And, once those candidates have expressed an interest, ensuring that the recruitment process from end-to-end is on point, engaging and compelling.

Are you making critical mistakes that could be hindering your chances of engaging and retaining the best talent to grow your law firm?

Here are some of the questions that will help you recognise if you’re in danger of making some critical hiring mistakes.

1. Is Your Recruitment Process Up to Date?

Are you clear on what you want from your ideal candidate? If your job description and person spec are vague, you won’t attract the top level of legal professional you need.

Too often, law firms believe they can reuse an old job description, but that just isn’t true. Today, legal candidates are looking for challenging opportunities in a career that will advance their knowledge and experience.

A dry, ‘dusty’ old job description that has clearly seen better days isn’t going to attract the right calibre of candidate to you.

So, think carefully about the job description, the person spec and the advert for your legal vacancy. Is your offer going to create a stir in the marketplace? Will candidates be beating a path to your door, eager to work for your firm?

If not, its time for a rethink and a revamp.

2. Is Your Offer Right?

Talking of which, it’s crucial to make sure you’ve got the offer right. And we’re not just talking about salary here.

Although remuneration remains an important factor, there are other big elements in the game that contribute to whether a candidate ultimately decides whether to apply for a legal position or not.

These deciding factors often include a package that offers additional benefits such as flexible hours, working from home options, the chance to work at different locations and with different teams, great company culture and friendly, productive environment, a clearly defined career pathway and extras such as healthcare, gym membership and profit-sharing schemes.

Now, that might seem a lengthy list of wants, but with Glassdoor reporting that 57% of job candidates list benefits and perks as among their top considerations before accepting a job, are you confident that your law firm has the right offer for the role?

Are you sure you can meet marketplace expectations?

3. Is Your Interview Strategy Thorough?

Having a well-timed plan for your interview process is pivotal in choosing the right candidate, having your offer accepted, and seeing your new legal hire at their desk.

Failure to achieve any part of the process in good time could see you miss out on securing your ideal employee.

Sorting applications and deciding who to interview can be a lengthy process if not planned well.

For a successful interview strategy, you need to consider:

• A timely plan for processing applications
• A crib sheet for marking to ensure all candidates are treated equally and fairly
• Synchronised diaries so everyone involved is available when needed their role in the interviewing/marking process
• An allocated member of staff to meet and greet – and set up tests if these are required
• Rooms for the interview and discussions afterwards
• Scheduled breaks for the interviewing team
• A deadline for deciding and contacting the successful candidate to avoid the candidates accepting another law firm’s offer first

If you believe you will struggle to deal with this time frame, it’s worth considering talking to a specialist legal recruiter such as ourselves at Clayton Legal, as we can help you speed up the process because of our unparalleled access to both active and passive legal candidates.

4. Are You Exploring Future Potential?

It’s advisable to resist hiring on qualifications (or first impressions) alone.

Personality is essential, as is the right cultural fit for your team. Will the candidate gel with your other team members? Will they make a good team player, and do they have the same ethos and values that your law firm holds?

Additionally, it’s worth considering the future – apart from the initial role they may hold in your firm, do they have the skills, or the ability to achieve them, that will enable them to develop with your team? Are they potential managerial or partnership material for the future?

Don’t be tempted to reject individuals out of hand.

Although the candidate may not be the right person for the current vacancy, if they have a good range of skills and traits, and a professional outlook, they may be worth retaining in your talent pipeline for future opportunities.

A good talent pipeline will enable your law firm to quickly find a replacement for a member of staff who leaves or an additional person for an expanding team. Having someone in mind already will save you time and money.

5. Do You Have a Strong Employer Brand?

It’s easy to put all your effort into getting the recruitment process right and forget that it’s important to maintain a credible and attractive employer brand to appeal to candidates.

But what exactly is your employer brand?

It’s the way you differentiate your firm from others; your USP, and what will attract the ideal candidates to apply to work for your law firm over another.

Having a strong brand will help you compete successfully in a candidate-driven marketplace. It should reflect your ethos, culture and approach to its employees. Keep it authentic to retain a trustworthy reputation.

6. Are You Onboarding Successfully?

It’s crucial that having found your ideal candidate, you don’t fail to onboard successfully.

A recent Harvard Business Review study indicated that a good onboarding process can reduce the average amount of time for a new employee to reach full performance by a third, from six months to four.

Conversely, many new employees leave their new role in the first few months due to poor onboarding. Forbes suggests a strong correlation between onboarding and unwanted employee turnover. For example, nearly all low-turnover firms (95%) have an onboarding process that helps with retention. In contrast, 20% of high-turnover firms do not have an onboarding process.

The onboarding process will play a pivotal role in your employee’s early days perception of the firm and will influence the level of loyalty they develop as a direct consequence. So, a great onboarding process won’t just result in having a team player up to speed quickly; it can also mean better retention rates and therefore lower recruitment needs and expense for the firm in the future.

With the (albeit forced) rise in remote working last year, and the anticipated step change towards hybrid-working models on a more long-term basis, virtual onboarding may also need to be taken into consideration. We’ve created a guide to onboarding remotely which contains the critical points to remember if this looks to be a viable option for your firm.

7. Are You Getting Expert Help?

Recruiting can be time-consuming and expensive. If you are struggling to recruit to your law firm, perhaps a specialist recruiter like Clayton Legal could help?

With over 20 years’ experience of partnering law firms to build resources, we can help streamline your hiring process.

Rather than tying your staff up in trying to find and hire the ideal candidate, we can speed up the process. With access to a vast range of contacts in the legal sector, including both active and passive candidates and a well-developed talent pipeline, we often have someone suitable straight away, saving you time and money.

Our expertise in the legal marketplace makes us the ideal partner for your busy law firm when looking to hire new talent.

Next Steps

If you’re reading this article because you are looking to scale your law firm, call one of the Clayton Legal team on 01772 259 121 and let’s have a conversation to explore your options. With our help, your transition can be smoother and quicker.

About Clayton Legal

Clayton Legal has been partnering with law firms across the country since 1999 and during that time has built up an enviable reputation for trust and reliability. We have placed thousands of legal professionals; from partners to legal executives, solicitors to paralegals and legal IT personnel to practice managers.

If you are building your legal team or looking for your next career move, we can help. Call us on 01772 259 121 or email us here.

If you would like to know more about recruiting trends in the legal sector this year, download our latest guide here.

Feedback is something of a controversial subject.

Some argue that it doesn’t fulfil a valuable function in the legal workplace; that it merely wastes the time of those giving and receiving it and that it can undermine an individual’s confidence in their ability to do their job.

But feedback can be a powerful tool in your legal team.

Useful feedback has benefits for the giver, the receiver, and your law firm as a whole; it can be used to make critical decisions.

Continuous improvement is not just the latest buzz word; it focuses your law firm on building performance by helping individuals make better decisions going forward, doing more of what is already going well, and establishes a culture of ongoing two-way communication.

Feedback is a Skill

Firstly, it’s essential to recognise that giving and receiving feedback is a skill.

Good feedback relies on your ability to embrace emotional intelligence – using your self-knowledge to enable you to accept positive criticism and use it to learn and grow, and using your empathy to put yourself in another’s shoes to see things from their point of view when providing feedback.

Feedback also requires active listening – making sure that both parties know they have been understood and that what they said holds value (more on this later).

So, the trick to implementing valuable and worthwhile feedback to your legal team is to understand what it provides and to use it correctly.

Feedback is a Constant Process

Most law firms, when asked, would say feedback is given during employee surveys, at performance appraisals or in training evaluations, and that’s true. But, feedback is also there all the time in our day to day working lives.

So, be aware of feedback being a constant – and aim to use it wisely when communicating with your legal team. In effect, good feedback between senior partners or managers and their teams can enable you to grow the firm by instilling a sense of support across all employee levels, from trainees to Senior Partners.

Feedback is a Two-way Conversation

Feedback provides an effective way of giving value to and acknowledgement of another’s thoughts – it’s also critical to ensure that for everyone concerned, feedback provides an opportunity to speak and be heard.

That means providing feedback and allowing for comment back on your observations.

It involves practising active listening to ensure that both parties are on the same page with exactly what the feedback means.

It’s so easy for comments to be misinterpreted: I find it useful to repeat what someone has said to me to be sure I’m clear on their meaning.

So, for example, if you are giving feedback to your legal secretary, you might say, “So, from what you are saying I understand that you are unhappy with the level of caseload work and would like to know if it’s possible to introduce a software package to help speed up the admin process. Is that correct?”

This sort of clarification opportunity ensures that you don’t misinterpret the message – which of course can lead to problems further down the line.

Feedback Provides Opportunity

Feedback should be an opportunity to help individuals know where they are doing a great job and where they need to focus on developing skills and abilities.

Without feedback, there is a lack of understanding for an individual as to how they are measuring up in their legal work and therefore, limited opportunity for them to improve.

If individuals do not receive feedback or don’t know how to receive it in a constructive fashion, they are likely to lose out on potential promotion and the chance to grow in their skill set, knowledge and capabilities – and gain a fulfilling career in law.

Feedback Addresses Specifics

Feedback should be delivered with respect – always.

Even if the feedback is negative, it’s critical for the giver to be aware of the manner in which they are delivering their comments to ensure that the feedback is constructive and specific.

That means referring to specific incidents rather than vague statements, for example, “In the meeting last Thursday you interrupted Jim before he had a chance to put his case” rather than “You’re always talking over other people.”

The feedback should be non-judgemental – so, “I believe you may have misunderstood the reasons for the client costs going up?”, rather than “You were wrong to say the cost shouldn’t have been increased.”

It should also let the individual know the effect their action or comment had. For example, “After you talked over Kim’s suggestions in the meeting last week, she felt upset and undermined, which affected her confidence in her professional opinion.”

Feedback Enables Growth

Remember, feedback isn’t just about the negatives.

It’s also an excellent opportunity to acknowledge where good work has been done and to formally recognise it as part of your employee development plan.

Positive feedback provides a significant morale boost and is part of the learning process – reinforcing what a team member is doing right. It shows you recognise excellent performance and enables the employee to be able to move forward, doing more of the same behaviour.

Of course, we’re all only human, so feedback can never be entirely objective.

It’s crucial, though, to focus on delivering all feedback in a way that minimises the chances of the recipient feeling threatened or defensive and allows them to take on board comments (good and bad) and see them as drivers to inspire learning and development.

This will enable individuals to grow and flourish in their legal career and will allow you to develop a legal team who perform at the top of their game.

Initiating Feedback

Asking for feedback unprompted shows that a team member is more likely to accept it as a positive and learn from it.

These are the employees who are more likely to advance in their legal career. Conversely, it’s often the case that those who never ask for feedback are less open and likely to be more defensive if they feel challenged in their behaviour.

If you have team members who actively seek your feedback, then be prepared to provide constructive comment to help them.

And don’t forget, asking for feedback yourself shows excellent leadership qualities – after all, no-one’s perfect!

Feedback, either informally requested or as part of a formal review process, can provide an excellent platform for improving performance.

Instilling a culture of feedback in your law firm and seeing it as positive will enable you to remain aligned to overall goals, help create strategies for the firm, develop services, improve relationships and achieve success.

Next Steps

If you’re reading this article because you are looking for the next move to grow your legal team, call one of the Clayton Legal team on 01772 259 121 and let’s have a conversation to explore your options. With our help, your transition can be smoother and quicker.

About Clayton Legal

Clayton Legal has been partnering with law firms across the country since 1999 and during that time has built up an enviable reputation for trust and reliability. We have made over 5,000 placements from partners to legal executives, solicitors to paralegals and legal IT personnel to practice managers.

If you are building your legal team or looking for your next career move, we can help. Call us on 01772 259 121 or email us here.

If you would like to know more about recruiting trends in the legal sector this year, download our latest guide here.