The legal industry is experiencing change at a remarkably rapid pace. The last few years have ushered in a transformative period that will come to define the future of the legal landscape in later years. Amongst the many developments we have seen emerge in the past few years, such as the gradual shift towards greater flexibility in the work life of legal professionals, the incorporation of AI technology into legal and hiring practices and the transition of the industry away from established traditional norms comes a particularly pertinent point of discussion – and contention – one that has (and will continue to) influenced how law firms will operate in years to come: The well-documented skills shortage experienced by law firms across the market.

It’s no secret to anyone keeping tabs on how the industry has fared since the pandemic from a hiring perspective, with redundancies, and a resulting candidate-led market just a few of many defining features of the post-covid era. Much has been written about its impact on business performance, and in particular, recruitment, as law firms large and small face a lot of difficulty today in acquiring the talent and expertise they need, due to a variety of factors at play.

Why is there a Skills Shortage?

Some of these said factors are simply a direct consequence of the pandemic, as businesses across the world of work have struggled to keep their head above water amidst a multitude of challenges such as economic turmoil and changing regulations, which has led to a sharp increase in client demand for legal services, one that law firms are buckling under the pressure to meet. Last year UK law firms were reported to have advertised over 2,300 jobs for London-based associates between January and November the year before – a whopping 131% increase on 2020’s numbers – but struggle to actually fill them.

And with the increasing effort to expand workforces to address this issue, comes an inevitable squabble for the top legal talent on the market, leading to stiff competition between law firms for the same candidates and consequently the difficulty in recruiting we see amongst businesses today. Chris Sullivan, head of Clifford Chance’s London private equity division echoed this sentiment: “The hires we are making are about growing our business to meet client demand…The aim is to grow our headcount and given the demand we’re seeing I wouldn’t put a cap on that. It is certainly a very competitive market for talent, there’s no question.”

Law firms are consequently plugging the gaps with an attempt to turn the heads of legal professionals with much-improved remuneration packages, including ‘retention bonuses’, offered to those wanting to leave for a rival firm, and a host of other benefits now known to be in high demand amongst candidates, such as flexible working arrangements. Such a shift from practices expected of legal employers in hiring points to another reason the fight for talent is so intense, and that is the changing needs and priorities of legal candidates.

Partly borne out of the restrictions necessitated by the pandemic, the idea of flexible working has quickly become a staple in the list of demands of candidates today, due to a greater need for better work-life balance in such turbulent periods and is now expected to be part of any benefits package worth considering from legal employers. Hybrid and remote working have been warmly welcomed amongst legal professionals, and any idea of returning to a type of culture that, according to a recent article in Bloomberg,  pushed so many to leave for the sake of their well-being is firmly rejected. The rising demand for other desirables such as development opportunities, and a real sense of purpose that provides lasting satisfaction beyond a handsome salary, makes meeting candidate expectations while fulfilling business obligations a real challenge for law firms, especially considering how averse the industry is in general to changing established practices.

Perhaps one of the biggest drivers of change in the industry today, and a big reason for the skills gap, is its movement towards digital integration and a technology-centric approach to business. The pressure of rising costs and shrinking budgets on firms across the sector has pushed many to embrace the value that digital technology holds in streamlining legal procedures, improving productivity, and bolstering efforts to comply with data protection regulations, giving rise to the need for lawyers who are digital-literate and capable of adding such expertise to their value as a professional. As the legal industry has always held fast to its very straight-and-narrow approach to cultivating legal talent in terms of culture and education, there is now a lack of ‘business of law talent’ in the skillset of legal professionals, with ‘practice’ narrowing as the ‘business of delivering legal services’ expands.

Where is the Gap?

Amongst the most desired hard skills missing in the repertoire of candidates, cloud computing and cybersecurity rank the highest, and unsurprisingly too, considering the level of efficiency (collaboration and cost-wise), flexibility, and scalability the former offers firms looking to keep pace with increasing client demand and adapt to changing workloads. Hand in hand with that comes the necessity of ensuring client data privacy and security can be maintained across cloud-based systems, (especially considering this is a sticking point with the use of such technology) explaining the high demand for competence in cybersecurity. With the world shifting towards a digital-oriented way of working over the last couple of years, the skills gap present in firms and general counsel in this area is increasingly striking. A 2021 EY CEO Imperative Survey revealed that nearly two-thirds of respondents (which comprised of business leaders and senior legal officers) admitted that they lacked the data and technology required to respond to a data breach. Sixty-eight per cent of General Counsels stated that they lacked access to accurate, real-time info on their legal entities, highlighting a real lack of confidence from GCs in their ability to handle increasingly complex corporate risk management.

With GDPR in the EU a big driver of the use of technology amongst firms, and GDPR regulations tightening the noose around businesses failing to comply, the need to ensure client data security, as well as competence in risk management, has never been more evident for employers active in the hiring market for legal talent.

However, a notable by-product of the industry’s sudden shift towards digital technology is the difficulty of younger candidates stepping into the profession during the post-pandemic era in building core soft skills essential for career success, leading to a soft skills gap in today’s talent pool. Many will be well aware of how the divide in digital literacy has created multiple issues in building and maintaining relationships – personal or professional – over the last few years. As consultant and psychologist Kim Tasso eloquently put it, those who missed out on acquiring these key skills while the world grappled to cope with the impact of Covid and lockdown now find themselves playing catch-up.

So what exactly is missing when it comes to soft skills?

At the top of employers’ lists when looking at an ideal skillset for advancing employees is attention to detail according to research conducted by Business Name Generator, with more than a quarter of respondents within the legal industry stating it was the most important skill to have in the workplace. Self-motivation came in close second, with 22% highlighting the need for it in a new recruit’s repertoire, and this was further echoed by Kim Tasso in her piece on what soft skills legal professionals will need this year: “Set goals…and keep these goals front of mind. You will need to constantly check them against data and evidence to see if you are still on track; and know when it might be appropriate to revise or update them.”

Communication & Emotional Intelligence

One important skill, however, that atrophied in many due to the nature of the pandemic era is communication – both verbal and non-verbal. It’s no secret to any aspiring legal professional the importance of active listening, good conversational skills and confidence when interacting with peers, colleagues and clients, as it is a non-negotiable for key areas of the profession such as client and relationship management, effective networking, and conflict resolution. The ability to present cases and ideas persuasively, whether through a Zoom call or in front of hundreds of conference delegates, is indispensable for any legal professional who wants to be taken seriously.

Even more important for things like effective client management is the awareness of and ability to pick up non-verbal communication cues such as body language and facial expressions, particularly when cultural barriers are involved. As it comprises the vast majority of overall communication, it can and often is the difference between a closed deal with a client or a major career opportunity, and a failing endeavour to achieve lasting success on an individual and corporate level.

Another highly sought-after trait that comes hand-in-hand with, and actually facilitates excellent communication is a high EQ (emotional intelligence). As the single biggest predictor and strongest driver of leadership and excellence, it is also a must for employers to have among their legal teams in abundance. This can be broken down into several different skills: self-control (ability to understand one’s emotional triggers and manage one’s own emotions), empathy (ability and desire to recognise and understand the emotions of others), and the aforementioned self-awareness (ability to recognise our own emotions, and impact on others).

While these are already highly relevant and desirable, they are set to become even more so in future for employers as the industry continues embracing the value of digital and AI technology in streamlining processes and automating more mundane, non-complex tasks. With this highly likely to lead to a big jobs slash across the legal sector, ‘what will be left is the capacity to deal with human beings’, as Fuller stated in HBS’s publication Working Knowledge. Only the high-value, complex or newest areas of law will need human input, among which will inevitably be client and relationship management, pointing to an even greater rise in demand for legal talent with a well-developed set of soft skills in the near future, something that Fuller also emphasises in the above publication: “Bosses will be hungry for good judgement, strong motivation and the ability to collaborate and articulate a vision.”

It is therefore concerning that, despite efforts to attract the candidates of today, businesses are failing to hire on a permanent basis, and are at risk of becoming oblivious to the gold mine of talent right beneath their feet due to the issue of inflexibility still present in the hiring practices of many firms today. It’s one thing for a skills gap to be present due to a lack of candidates available in the current talent pool with the desired kind of profile, and another thing entirely for such a profile to be the actual reason there is a perceived skills gap in the first place. According to a report from Harvard Business School and Accenture, there is a huge pool of skilled hidden workers shut out of employment by inflexible working requirements established by companies.

Just under a third of respondents of a survey conducted by Managing the Future of Work stated that they are only able to work part-time due to caregiving obligations, a reason highlighted as the ‘single biggest driver’ of hidden talent by Fuller in HBS’s publication. With 91% of that number being women – who are said to have better social skills in general – and this preference for flexible working set to only grow amongst candidates, the inability to show ample flexibility when it comes to working arrangements in the legal industry poses a major threat to the hiring efforts and overall success of firms unwilling to budge, especially considering what the future looks like from a business perspective.

In light of this, it is, although expected, prudent to ask oneself: How do employers combat the ongoing skills shortage to avoid a grim trajectory and futureproof their tomorrow? To answer that there are a few things you must consider:

Work-Life Balance: The Cornerstone of Individual – And Corporate Success

Starting with the most obvious but perhaps least straightforward aspect of the solution, the relaxing of stringent rules around working arrangements is very much the way to go for any law firm serious about standing out to today’s candidates. This isn’t just a matter of policy, but a cultural shift that should be embraced internally. With research increasingly indicating that employees able to achieve a better work-life balance are more productive, the priority a firm places on its workers’ wellbeing is evidently inextricably linked to the level of corporate success they see. This is the first step any business is advised to take when struggling to recruit, as it not only makes your accessibility to talent looking for a supportive culture far higher but also enables you to better facilitate their success.

What will determine the amount of value you get out of these decisions, however, is the prep work you do internally – that is, the commitment you show to building that kind of culture in your firm. Yes, what this will look like will differ slightly from individual to individual and it is multifaceted in nature but the most important rule to follow is communication with both your employees and leadership team. You should aim to have regular, frank and open conversations about what kind of culture you wish to establish and what every employee can do to help the business do that. This might be easier said than done, but there are steps you can take to make every candidate sure that you are an accommodating employer when it comes to culture.

This doesn’t just apply to working arrangements. Candidates are more discerning about where they work when it comes to career development and work culture, as this plays a large part in career satisfaction and work-life balance. Considering the nature of the problem at hand it is in your best interest to prioritise and invest in an employee development plan to upskill your workforce and ensure they are well-equipped to thrive in their roles in order to shield your business from the impact of a skills shortage and mitigate the problems it can cause down the line.

Setting Your Employer Brand Apart

Once these boxes have been ticked, the groundwork has been laid for your employer brand to shine. Taking a proactive approach to changing the culture and practices of your firm ensures it has the platform it needs to position the firm as one that values and invests in its workforce. In an age where the candidate experience is more important than ever, it’s imperative that you not only have an established employer value proposition but are also capable of communicating it effectively and convincingly to candidates. We break down how to build a winning employer brand in this guide here.

Your Personal Reservoir in a Talent Drought

The value that a specialist legal recruiter holds for firms running dry in their search for talent cannot be understated. With access to a wide pool of candidates, active or passive, a profound insight into current market trends and changes at every level, and a commitment to understanding the hiring needs of your firm, they are your ultimate ally in navigating a talent drought and staying competitive in a harsh climate. By simplifying what is often such an expensive and time-consuming process for hiring managers, they help to save your firm two of its most valuable resources, while ensuring you get the skills and the talent your business needs to thrive and excel.

That’s why our team at Clayton Legal are on hand – we take the stress and complications out of recruitment for your firm so that you can focus on what really matters. If you feel that the time has come to make an important hiring decision regarding your team, get in touch with us here.

Next Steps

If you would like to speak to us confidentially about market conditions, opportunities in your practice area or geographical region, or if you are actively looking for a role and would like us to help give you that competitive edge, we would love to speak to you – especially if you have your heart set on a new challenge for the new year.

Click here to speak to one of our experienced Legal specialists or call 01772 259121 for more information on how our exceptional recruitment experience can help your career aspirations.

What legal professionals look for in an employer has changed significantly since the pandemic, with work-life balance being the theme that has taken centre stage in job discourse amongst legal candidates. As the importance of employee satisfaction has grown massively in recent years – whether that be in the form of hybrid working or strong DEI practices – the value of career fulfilment has become a staple part of the modern legal professional’s priorities when searching for the ideal employer. 

Today it’s not at all uncommon for employees to be left with a lingering sense of stagnation after spending a few years building their skills in their current role, and consequently view the option of jumping ship as the only way to experience real progress in their career, in part due to the negligence of their employers to ensure their continued growth with a long term development plan of any sort.

The resulting high turnover rate is what has brought the idea of Employee Development Plans into focus for law firms, as it provides a range of solutions that can benefit all parties on an individual, collective and corporate level. Such plans centres on work-related skill development, and is owned by both the employee and the line manager. As a continuing process that is consistently and regularly reviewed and updated, an EDP should aim to ensure ongoing employability through improving the individual’s workplace soft and hard skills, and industry knowledge. A good plan will strive to create a series of actions designed to help the individual develop and grow within the context of their legal career, while also developing their capabilities and meeting the needs of the employer. 

 EDP: Goal & Objective

As mentioned above, the goal of Employee Development Plans is not just to meet the needs of the individual – when done right it should also help employers effectively tackle the problems that are brought about by a lack of professional and career growth, the biggest of which, is replacing key skills and people your team without having to invest so heavily. The difficulty of doing so in today’s market is no secret to any Hiring Manager or Partner and while utilising the services of a specialist legal recruitment agency can mitigate this, it is still very much advisable to eliminate other causes of persistent turnover issues by demonstrating a genuine commitment to your employees’ professional development. This in turn will create and facilitate a productive workforce that gives back that same level of commitment across the business because it: 

• Meets their career/professional needs. 

• Provides that sense of security and support they need from their employer to thrive as individuals. 

It also ensures your firm doesn’t constantly run the risk of being hit by a skills shortage, and helps avoid additional costs involved in recruiting, onboarding and training up new staff. 

 With the importance of an Employee Development Plan in a firm’s people strategy now established, let us look at what makes a great EDP. 

How To Create A Great Employee Development Plan 

 There are 6 key points to consider when mapping out Employee Development Plans, and although not exhaustive, are certainly a good place to start:

1. Where does the skill gap lie?

•  Begin with an audit of the individual’s skills and see how their existing skillset aligns with the demands of their current role. You’ll want to consider how your clients’ needs have changed over time, what skills the role will demand of the individual in question and how the role will develop/evolve based on this. Knowing where the employee needs to be at the end of the training will enable you to measure progress, and gauge what the next step forward will be at each stage. 

 2. What training and development is required? 

•  Leading on from the initial skills audit & your vision of the role, your next step should be to establish what the employee’s personal and professional goals are. This is important because it encourages them to develop a holistic view of their own growth. Remember that the goal at this stage is alignment between their professional goals and the business needs, and the best way to achieve this is to have employee buy-in right from the start. Having them understand their perspective on where their competencies, capabilities and flaws lie, as well as how to build a training plan that addresses all aspects of their growth makes them more likely to be invested in an EDP. 

 3. Building Your Action Plan: 

•  The next area of focus should be the training itself – what training courses, qualifications or knowledge the employee will need. The 70/20/10 rule can prove helpful in this regard – 70% of learning should come from experience on-the-job, 20% from other colleagues and 10% from training and courses. This is important as it helps the individual avoid viewing the training as separate to their daily work lives. Any training scheduled should be built into the role itself or based on already established relationships with others. 

 4. Why this needs to be done: 

• Transparency and communication of long-term goals helps to instil a sense of belonging and ownership in the employee. Making them aware of how their learning and development will benefit not only their own career but also the wider business can provide them with clear guidelines and focus on how they can contribute in their role. It will also give them a sense of place – how they fit into the firm as a whole – and help them build a sense of pride in their work. T his in turn will fuel productivity and accountability for their own progress in their training.  

5. When is it needed? 

•  It is advisable for managers and employees to have agreed achievement milestones put into place. These can reflect the overall aims of your legal firm where appropriate. Monitor progress regularly to encourage and provide direction to the individual, and to show support on their journey. 

 6. How can progress be measured? 

•  Methods for measuring training and development can be in the form of formal appraisals, informal meetings and open discussions. The method chosen may depend on the goal(s) and the timeliness set. For short-term training it may be appropriate to have a 1:1 with the employee at an agreed time (for example, after completion of a training course). For more long-term goals, or where several employees require the same upgrading of knowledge, it might be more beneficial to have an open discussion on progress. 

 Staying Ahead to Stay on Course 

 A regular and thorough review of the latest and most relevant, procedural and practice development processes is paramount to the continuity and eventual success of the EDP. Ensure you do your due diligence in establishing where training needs to be updated, improved or changed and don’t forget to change training needs as the requirements of your firm develop and expand. Encourage your employee to offer suggestions on where development needs should be considered and where the training can improve. Regular meetings to discuss and record progress, as well as reflect on what is and isn’t going well should be conducted to ensure smooth and successful progression. 

EDPs present a fantastic opportunity to address longstanding needs of both employees and employers and ensure lasting success through a continuous alignment with individual and practice progression. The long-term benefits are undeniable, as the value of having employee satisfaction from a real sense of involvement, and employer commitment and satisfaction shows in the effect a that skilled, up-to-date workforce – who are committed to your firm and are future-proofed – can bring to your firm. 

Of course, the entire process can be made much less of a burden – and significantly more successful – by getting the right hire through the door first time. The best EDP is no substitute for effective recruitment and as a business your best shot at maximizing the value of your EDP is to recruit individuals whose career goals and aspirations run parallel to those of your firm’s from the get-go.

That’s why our team at Clayton Legal are on hand – we take the stress and complications out of recruitment for your firm so that you can focus on what really matters. If you feel that the time has come to make an important hiring decision regarding your team, get in touch with us here. 

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 guide here.

In the last few years, and notably since the pandemic, the hiring landscape across the legal sector has presented a number of challenges.

Some firms were forced down a redundancy route, whilst others, despite the appetite and budget to grow, were met with an apathetic talent pool and skills shortage.

What is a common challenge for all businesses, almost irrespective of market conditions, is the importance of getting hiring decisions right – the first time.

That said, with competition for the best legal talent on the market the fiercest it’s ever been, the time, resources and money spent on training a new hire make the investment stakes in recruitment & onboarding far too high for the hire in question to underperform. Not only does this put your firm in the awkward position of restarting that recruitment process to look for a replacement, but it also means that possibly more time & resources will need to be spent to avoid such an issue the second time round.  

 Here we look at the real cost of a bad hire in the current market and what you as an employer can do to mitigate any risks in your recruitment process. 

The Consequences of a ‘Bad’ Hire

Fact – making the wrong hiring decision costs your firm money. 

What is shocking is not only the number of poor hiring decisions that are made but how little hiring managers are aware of the true cost involved, especially considering how cut-throat the legal market has become in a post-pandemic era. According to a study done by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, 85% of HR decision-makers admitted their company had hired someone who was not right for the job and despite 33% of businesses not believing it to cost their business anything, it was found in the same report that a poor hire at manager-level with a salary of £42k can cost a business over £132k – more than 3 times the person’s annual salary – when factoring in costs for training, onboarding and more. 

Due to the growth of the legal sector in certain areas, some law firms have struggled to find the right talent to meet their needs – which has led to a lot of rushed hiring decisions and consequently, an uphill struggle to adequately replace them. When considering how much time & resources are wasted on a bad hire, how much it takes to find and recruit a new one and the risk factor that virtual interviews and onboarding processes now bring into the equation, having to replace a bad hire is far too costly a venture for firms to make in 2024. 

The key is finding the right candidate for your vacancy who not only ticks the boxes in relation to the role, but who will also fit in with the existing team, who can envisage a long-term future with you, and who has room (and the desire) to grow professionally. 

Hiring In The New World – What to Hire for Now?

It starts with establishing what you are looking for in your legal hire, what they are looking for from you and how you are going to find a sizeable overlap between the two. Only when this occurs will you get the right ‘fit’ – the ideal candidate that wants to stay and build their career at your firm. 

However, as you will likely have noticed by now, what legal candidates are looking for has changed somewhat. Flexible and hybrid working now sits near the top of their priority lists as the value of an employer that can offer such arrangements is now very apparent, considering the positive impact it has been shown to have on employee performance due to a greater work-life balance.   

Additionally, with candidates now in a time where they are always connected enough to express as well as access a range of opinions however and whenever they wish, they are now increasingly looking for firms with a strong employer brand. Thus, in an industry where reputation rules, how your firm comes across on a cultural level to the average candidate is now more important than ever. With increased importance placed on DEI and an imperative now placed on employers to support candidates on all sides of the neurodiversity spectrum, how your employer brand positions your firm to compete beyond things like remuneration and job titles and offer such candidates something more, now becomes the difference between a great hire and a bad one. 

If you aren’t making the ‘right’ offer to legal talent, you will find your applicant shortlists filled with candidates who don’t meet your expectations. When the time comes to make a hiring decision, the chance of you making the ‘wrong’ recruitment decision will then be significantly higher due to your reduced talent pool both in terms of volume and ‘quality’. 

If you want to know what turns heads amongst candidates, and how to rework your hiring practices to better bridge that gap between what candidates want and what you offer, check out our guide on how to tap into what legal candidates today are looking for.

The Importance of Head-Turning Job Ads to Do The Heavy Lifting

When it comes to your hiring requirements, and the importance of getting the attention of the right legal talent the first time around, how your job descriptions are written is key. Despite how much the hiring landscape has evolved in recent years, legal candidates still rely on engaging and effective job descriptions to determine which role is the best fit for them personally and professionally.  

 Your job descriptions should not only be informative about the role but should also be easily accessible, communicate your EVP clearly, be transparent about the candidate experience during and after hiring and ensure inclusivity in all stages of the hiring process. It’s also important to consider whether the skills and personality traits you usually look for in your employees have changed. Many legal specialisms have exploded since the pandemic, you may want to ensure your job adverts aren’t alienating the right legal talent with hyperbolic language or setting rigid and unnecessary requirements that can deter otherwise well-suited candidates. 

Mitigating The Risk By Enlisting The Help Of Experts

Whilst the hire/no-hire decision ultimately comes down to the firm in question, using the services of a specialist legal recruiter will also help to ensure that only the right candidates are short-listed from the get-go. Not only will using a 3rd party save time – especially in the early stages of reviewing CVs and applications, you will also have access to passive talent; widening the net and ensuring that the role(s) in question are visible to a much larger talent pool.

What’s more, many agencies also offer retained services as well as contingency, with additional features designed to impact the likelihood of a successful outcome.

This model is often more rigorous in nature and may include additional features such as:

• Bespoke market mapping
• Salary benchmarking intel
• Psychometric testing
• Video interviews and candidate profiling
• Dedicated Account Manager or team of specialist consultants<
• Regular face-to-face updates and reporting/analysis
• Strategic headhunting
• Integrated marketing campaigns including advertising

Whilst there is no absolute guarantee that your new hire won’t leave through utilising a recruitment agency, the belt-and-braces approach and additional screening will undoubtedly help to mitigate that risk.

Finally

Often, we hear responses of 70-75% retention said with pride but we’d ask you to turn this statistic upside down – and consider the direct impact that 25-30% is actually having on your bottom line. Therefore, we’d encourage you to make use of our True Cost of Hiring Calculator, particularly if you have hired legal professionals in the last 12 months, and have unfortunately found that some have left before their 1-year anniversary. The presentation of your results and accompanying report contains a wealth of information to further demonstrate why getting that fit right first time is imperative. 

Remember that if you want to avoid making the wrong hire, you need to find candidates who are truly a great fit, not someone who will be looking for a new role in a few months. 

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 perhaps have had your fingers burnt by a bad hire in the past, we can help. Call us on 01772 259 121 or email us here.

One factor that all businesses face at some point in their future, is the potential disruption that comes with a key individual leaving – be that for another role, or as they head towards retirement.

And whilst you hopefully have a succession plan and strategy in place ready to put into action, realistically it could take several weeks or months before you find a suitable candidate that fits the bill on all fronts.

Enlisting the help of a specialist legal recruiter will no doubt pay dividends here, and as part of your overall hiring strategy, is key to ensure you kick start the process and find a suitable candidate as soon as possible. This is of particularly importance if the leaving employee will directly impact the bottom line with their impending departure.

But if you only hire every now and again, you will also have to go through the process of researching which agency is the most suitable. Which has a good reputation in the market? Which are likely to have a ready talent pool of individuals? Which offer the most ‘value’ when it comes to their fees and terms of business? This in itself can take much-needed time and a concerted effort to ensure the agency/agencies fully understand your firm, and your hiring requirements.

An alternative scenario?

Whilst the impact of a key individual leaving will still be felt by the firm, you may be in a position as a business where the first step is to refer to your Preferred Supplier List (PSL). Depending on your prior relationship, the process is likely to be much-simplified, whereby you make contact and are instantly connected to a recruiter who knows you, your firm, your ethos and exactly what you need.

They may even have someone in the pipeline already who’s ideal for you.

Which of the above scenarios do you prefer to be in?

When you’re busy running your own law firm, we know all to well that time is often, money – and is a scarce resource in itself. Streamlining processes, without compromising on your requirements or cutting corners is key – and establishing a PSL may prove invaluable to get the best out of your hiring efforts.

In this blog, we look at the many benefits it can provide:

Time-Saving

We’re sure you’re well aware of how time-consuming and exhausting looking for the right candidate can be, and this is firstly, and perhaps most obviously, where having a PSL can be advantageous, as it will help to save you a potentially inordinate amount of time in the whole process – especially as you will have built up that trust with the recruiting agency already.

A good legal recruiter will have the network connections, industry knowledge and insider information on candidate movement in your specific practice area and/or region. They should also have a talent pool of passive candidates not presently searching for roles, but are already engaged and have built up their own trust of the recruitment brand as a credible resource when that sentiment changes.

Agencies will also have a wider awareness of your competitors – who are hiring in the same space/practice area, and are on a growth trajectory or looking to back-fill roles where individuals have left.

Having this at the fingertips helps to speed up the entire process and eliminate potential sources of stress for your recruitment team. Additionally, your PSL will provide you with a list of pre-approved agencies who have already committed to an agreed rate and service level, so there will be no need for further lengthy negotiations. As a result, what might take you weeks or even months to achieve can frequently be actioned in a matter of days.

Reduced Costs & Increased Value

Whilst recruitment costs are still a consideration, having a PSL in place can create a huge amount of value and a cost reduction for your firm in a number of ways.

With a PSL in place, organisations can significantly expedite the end-to-end process. Instead of starting from scratch with supplier evaluations and negotiations each time a need arises, they can turn to their trusted list of pre-approved suppliers, saving valuable time and resources.

Such agreements often enable organisations to negotiate favourable terms and pricing with their preferred agencies too – especially if there is a volume of hires required (and an exclusivity clause in place).

Having gone through a vetting and selection process prior, firms will also ensure a level of quality and reliability in the services they procure. In turn, this mitigates certain ‘risks’, ensuring that the agency in question adheres to legal, professional, and any regulatory standards – and ultimately negate the likelihood of costly disruptions down the line.

A Re-focus On Core Competencies

Embracing a Preferred Supplier List empowers law firms to redirect their invaluable internal resources towards honing and excelling in their core competencies – whether that’s in a HR or hiring capacity, or if lawyers themselves are involved in the wider process.

This strategic move frees them from the time-consuming and resource-draining tasks associated with advertising, CV reviewing, shortlisting, negotiation, and management of the process. As a result, teams can channel their expertise and energy into innovating, strategising, and delivering exceptional value to their clients and stakeholders.

In this way, a PSL becomes not just a cost-saving measure but a catalyst for organisational growth and excellence, ensuring that the firm remains agile and competitive in its chosen region and specialism.

Continuous Improvement In Your Supply Chain

PSLs offer a dynamic framework that goes beyond initial supplier selection and contract negotiation. They facilitate a culture of continuous improvement among suppliers. This ongoing process involves regular performance evaluations and feedback mechanisms that encourage suppliers to consistently enhance their quality and service levels.

Through periodic assessments and audits, law firms will identify areas where suppliers excel and areas in need of improvement. This data-driven approach allows for constructive dialogue, helping agencies continually understand the firm’s evolving needs and expectations.

The incentives for agencies to improve are multifaceted. First and foremost, maintaining a position on the PSL is typically contingent on meeting or exceeding predefined performance benchmarks. This competitive aspect motivates recruitment businesses to consistently deliver value and strive for excellence.

Moreover, the feedback loop in a PSL fosters innovation. Agencies will proactively propose new ideas, technologies, or process enhancements that can benefit the firm and impact the hiring strategy more widely. These innovations can lead to more efficient operations, cost savings, and better outcomes, all of which contribute to a stronger partnership all parties.

PSL Vs. Exclusivity

A PSL and an exclusivity agreement are two distinct but equally valuable arrangements that law firms can employ to optimise their supplier relationships and get the most out of these for a successful outcome; namely, a new hire that is a great fit on all fronts.

If a PSL is not a desired route, an alternative option would be an exclusivity or agreement granted to a single agency with exclusive rights to hire for a particular role/roles.

While both options offer advantages, they do serve different strategic purposes. A PSL provides flexibility by offering a range of pre-vetted options for various needs, promoting competition and potentially lower costs. Exclusivity agreements, on the other hand, foster deeper, exclusive partnerships with agencies, which can be beneficial when a specific hire is needed, ensuring consistency and a focused supplier relationship.

Ultimately, the choice between a PSL and an exclusivity agreement depends on the firm’s specific needs, priorities, and the nature of its supplier relationships. Both approaches aim to enhance efficiency, reduce risk, and create value, but they do so through different means.

In Conclusion

If you are responsible for hiring within your law firm – either wholly, or as part of your role as a practicing lawyer, one of the choices you have as part of your hiring strategy is whether you go it alone, or enlist the services of a recruitment specialist.

This decision may be based on a number of variables including £budget, speed (the need to get the position filled quickly), and the potential scarcity in the market of the hire(s) in question.

External factors may also impact the decision. The current market, still impacted by headwinds from the pandemic, is undeniably tough as we enter a new year against a backdrop of economic uncertainty and a much-publicised skills shortage. Attracting (and then retaining) talent can be arduous at the best of times, but balancing squeezed budgets, keeping existing staff engaged, and still focusing on growth and expansion is certainly a big ask for law firms who also have the ‘day job’ to do.

Consideration of a PSL, an exclusivity agreement, even a retained recruitment service is worth doing – each with their own unique benefits and advantages but all focused on a collaborative approach to sourcing the next hire for your firm.

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.

The term “Neurodiversity” is not exactly new – although there is still arguably some uncertainty about what it means, and how specifically it is relevant to the world of work.. The topic has become a much-discussed aspect of DEI in recent years and the impact of its cultural recognition and widespread advocacy – having made many aware of the potential that lies untapped in this group of individuals – has seen the term not only find its way into everyday vernacular, but also spark a change in company hiring practices, with a genuine attempt now seen from businesses to understand and embrace the value such talent can offer, and strive to support them by adapting their hiring practices. 

But despite the focus on the latest update of today’s DEI initiatives, the question remains: has all the buzz translated into a real change in the fate of cognitively diverse professionals when it comes to employability?  

As widely acknowledged, diversity plays a pivotal role in recognising and embracing the inherent differences in human brain functionality. It should, therefore, be clearly reflected in a company’s recruitment process if they genuinely aim to empower neurodivergent candidates and support their success at every step of hiring. The significance of accommodating neurodiversity cannot be underestimated, as it profoundly influences the potential success of these individuals in any position they occupy. However, the question remains, do most recruitment processes today truly embody these principles?

Are Businesses Just Paying Lip Service?

The latest ONS research revealed that the employment rate for people with autism in the UK sits at just 29%, a figure lower than the rate for those with other kinds of impairment, with unemployment rates for the neurodivergent community overall at 30-40%.. A later report written by Auction, an IT consultancy, as part of a survey to investigate neurodiversity in work, found that a third of people with autism admitted that going through traditional recruitment processes was the most difficult part of their career. 

It was also found in a recent EqualTech report by SpartaGlobal that just 21% of survey respondents actually work for businesses that tailor their recruitment practices to neurodivergent candidates, despite 87% of them stating that neurodiversity will be an absolute priority for their companies in 2023. 

So, are employers simply paying lip service? While a lack of commitment to changing engrained recruitment processes to support neurodivergent individuals is a plausible (and apparent) reason for the disparity in expectations and reality, another probable one is the failure of employers to make this aspect of their DEI initiative part of a structured, wider recruitment strategy. Efforts to adapt hiring practices for the benefit of neurodivergent candidates are more often seen in only some stages of the recruitment process, rather than at every point possible, ultimately leading to a disjointed and ineffective approach. 

Eliminating Unconscious Bias In Hiring

Take blind hiring for example. It is a DEI strategy employed to eliminate unconscious biases that can arise from relevant but unnecessary information (such as names, age, years of experience, or level of education) that employers pick up at certain stages of the hiring process. It makes the employer unable to discriminate against candidates because of the lack of information that triggers unconscious biases.

While its value is clear, with successful implementation increasing the likelihood of candidates from minority or disadvantaged groups making it to the interview stage, its potential cannot be maximised unless it is supported by complementary strategies at other stages of the hiring pipeline. One such strategy is the targeted recruitment of neurodivergent candidates through the use of a talent pipeline, which addresses the fact that the strategy of blind hiring cannot increase the diversity of interview pools if not many candidates from the neurodiversity community apply in the first place.  

Building the Foundation for Holistic & Bias-Free Hiring

When talking about implementing complementary strategies, certain things must be set in stone. To begin with, a law firm must be clear on its objectives for its recruitment process. As the starting point and the thread that will be running through your entire recruitment process, how well your objectives are clearly defined and communicated throughout your team will determine the quality of the changes you make in your hiring practices and how effective they will be in facilitating the achievement of said objectives. Whatever that objective may be, whether it’s to improve efforts to adhere to corporate social commitments through an inclusivity-centric process, or to simply improve workforce productivity across the business, it must be well-conveyed and well-supported by the leadership team in the firm at all levels. 

Creating Your Target Persona

Once clear, your objectives should inform the creation of your target persona. The profile you create to represent your key target will not only give you a concrete idea of the skillset you are looking for in your ideal candidate but will also give you the opportunity to test and falsify pre-existing notions and ideas about what you believe is needed to be successful in the role. Are there any assumptions about the importance of social skills or personality traits in the performance of the role? What impact would it have on performance if these skills were absent? Critically assess your selection criteria to eliminate possible biases that can creep in, and ensure it is fully justifiable. 

 It is your target persona that will then determine how you rework and adapt your hiring practices, at every point of the entire recruitment journey. This aspect is where organisations tend to err in meeting the needs of neurodivergent candidates. The true purpose of the hiring process, which is to assess the necessary competencies and traits required for the role, as well as the candidate’s willingness and aptitude for growth, is only partly acknowledged, and at certain stages of recruitment.

This leads to the many flaws still seen in hiring practices, such as the emphasis on social interactions in interviews, which can be particularly difficult for some neurodivergent individuals who struggle with social cues and communication (verbal and non-verbal). 

Stage One: Effective Job Descriptions 

Any recruitment process built to facilitate the success of neurodivergent candidates must be reworked and adapted from the starting point to the endpoint; in other words, it must begin supporting candidates before they get to the interview stage.

Its success starts right from when candidates read the job descriptions that advertise these roles, and get both the information and the accessibility they need to proceed with the application, not simply one or the other. This involves things such as the kind of language used, as well as the choice of terminology to describe the skills required for the role. With job descriptions that are designed to cater to neurodivergent candidates, the watchword to follow is clarity; your choice of words should clearly and plainly describe the role and the requirements necessary to be considered for progression. Outline which ones are must-haves in a simple and presentable format (a simple bullet point of skills required works best here) but avoid unnecessarily broad and generic phrases like “must be a good communicator or “must have strong teamwork skills’’, especially if they are not traits required to be effective in the role. They attach an unneeded sense of exclusivity to the required competencies that can mislead candidates into thinking they are not adequately qualified to apply.

You can add in a section clearly listing skills that are desirable, but take care not to bloat your job advert with a skill wish list, as this can equally be as off-putting to neurodivergent individuals. 

Consider An Accommodation Statement

Another good way to demonstrate your willingness to support applicants is to explicitly let them know you intend to do so through an accommodation statement. This is a crucial but often overlooked aspect of job adverts (if they’re even included at all), as it can help to eliminate the source of their worries when considering applying. Letting them know that they will receive the necessary support and accommodation should they need it, helps to break down the initial mental barrier that can prove problematic during this first stage of the hiring process.  

Stage Two: Review & Interview

Whist an adapted ‘traditional’ application process is still the best method of assessing candidates for some businesses, unconscious bias does remain an issue at this stage, and the adoption of alternative evaluation methods can help to mitigate this. In addition to the practice of blind hiring suggested previously, you can consider using a scoring system against a set of questions. This approach puts the focus on experiences and skills that can be overlooked in favour of good CV writing skills or a first-class honours degree. Other methods like video submissions, workshops, and telephone applications are approaches you can and should be open to – the onus is on you to experiment and get creative with your recruitment practices! 

The interview stage has always presented the biggest challenge to overcome for neurodivergent candidates. And, whilst it’s not realistic to discount this stage in its entirety, they should not be the sole evaluation method, but balanced with other assessment techniques in order to provide a fairer and more accurate appraisal of candidates. For example, consider assigning less weight to interviews in the overall evaluation process and couple them with a work trial instead, to allow for a more skills-focused assessment of suitability for the role. 

Equally as important, is your level of proactivity in offering reasonable accommodations during this stage. Not only does this create the optimal conditions needed for the interviewing candidate to perform at their best, but it also helps to quell any anxiety that may arise because of the occasion. It also communicates a willingness as an employer to do everything you can to see that individual succeed. Whether this involves arranging for flexible interview locations, permitting the use of screen readers during online assessments, or even providing interview questions via chat during virtual interviews or before an interview to enhance accessibility, you should ensure you’re well-prepared to facilitate their success. 

Stage Three: Post-Interview Process 

Following the interview or review stage, the focus should be on providing constructive and prompt feedback to candidates. Avoid the common mistake of ‘ghosting’, and instead communicate your reasons for your decision on the outcome of their application process, openly and transparently. Let decisions made on their suitability be made primarily based on the competency demonstrated for the role, and avoid making hasty judgements based on what might be perceived as ‘awkward’ moments, unconventional body language, or a perceived lack of social skills, as these may not have any impact at all on the candidate’s ability to perform the job effectively. By building this two-way line of communication you are not only fostering transparency across the recruitment team but are also improving your hiring process. 

The recruitment process for any legal candidate can be overwhelming – and the same applies for the law firm itself, particularly when market conditions are challenging. Recruiting under pressure can mean that processes aren’t followed in the same manner, including ethical recruitment practices and standards, albeit temporarily. In short, practices designed to ensure the highest standards of professionalism, fairness, and transparency is key. 

Stage Four: Onboarding 

Although it is one of the less obvious aspects of the recruitment journey when the contracts are signed and the start date has been agreed, onboarding is a process that requires just as much attention and preparation as any other stage when welcoming a neurodivergent employee into your team.

Onboarding neurodivergent employees is not a one-size fits all approach. Employers need to be acutely aware of how their new recruit works, in order to understand how best to engage and optimise the potential their talent brings. 

Educating the existing team with diversity awareness training in advance of a neurodivergent colleague starting is crucial, as it will ensure that colleagues know how to communicate with the individual, learn about and understand particular characteristics and preferences while respecting their privacy & dignity. It also helps them avoid making presumptions about what the best way to carry out the onboarding process is. For example, common icebreaker activities that are used to help introduce new employees to the team can be quite stressful and anxiety-inducing for neurodivergent individuals and often end up becoming counter-productive. A better way to approach it would be to speak with your new starter beforehand to find out how best they would like to meet their new team members and ideally have a conversation with the management or other senior figures about their new colleague so that the team better understands what to expect in the short, medium, and long term. 

As such, a line manager or management team that is willing to be supportive and patient enough to train up their new employee is key to the success of their onboarding. They need to know that no matter the need, their manager is always approachable and available to help. This is also where the help and input of colleagues to help the new employee ease into their new environment can be instrumental. Quick but regular check-ins via email or inviting them out for a bite at lunchtime can go a long way in helping the individual to settle in and quickly feel part of the team.

And Finally

Much is written about the importance of organisations reviewing (and amending) their recruitment process to enable cognitively diverse candidates to showcase their strengths. However, recognising the value of neurodiversity in the workplace and facilitating their success, is just the beginning of a larger journey towards fostering an inclusive and thriving workplace culture. Efforts to support neurodivergent candidates should extend beyond the recruitment process, as neurodiversity should be embraced as an asset that brings out the unique perspectives and talents of all employees. This is how you as an employer can build an inclusive culture in the workplace and maintain a supportive environment, to ensure your workforce is fully optimised. 

In a much-documented skills-short market, ensuring that the proverbial net is cast far and wide is critical for law firms to remain competitive, and their hiring objectives on track. Revaluating your recruitment process is an easy way to tap into the wide range of neurodiverse talent who may have been overlooked for employment, or put off reaching out proactively by that critical first experience and interaction with your firm.

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.

Hiring amazing talent in any industry starts with attracting the right people.

Yet, as reports of the Great Resignation rumble on, and we continue to see an ongoing transformation of the workplace, capturing the attention of amazing legal candidates isn’t easy.

According to current industry data, 95% of employers say they find it extremely difficult to fill the gaps in their team, thanks to today’s competitive market.

And, with many Law Firms continuing to press ahead with their hiring for the coming year,  managing partners need to work harder than ever to make their listings stand out amongst the clutter.

It all starts with writing the most effective job descriptions.

Even as the hiring landscape evolves, legal candidates still rely on engaging, informative, and powerful job descriptions to determine which law firm best fits their needs.

The best job descriptions combine critical insights into an available role, with a touch of marketing and a behind-the-scenes look at firm culture. It’s not enough to list the required skills and experience under a quick summary of what a job entails.

To attract loyal, engaged employees to your teams, you need to highlight information that matters to top talent. Today’s job descriptions should focus on the benefits you can offer as an employer, your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a clear overview of why legal candidates should choose your firm over dozens of competitors.

Today, we’re exploring how employers in the industry can turbocharge their job descriptions and ensure they’re attracting the widest selection of talented legal professionals.

What is a job description’s function, and is it still important?

Job descriptions are simple documents outlining the essential responsibilities involved in a role. They highlight the qualifications and experience a candidate needs to excel in a position, describe the type of work they’re going to perform, and offer insights into the benefits of a role.

Job descriptions have grown increasingly critical over the years as legal employers struggle to find the best talent. Today’s law firms are now using job descriptions to outline the key components of a role and essentially put their best foot forwards to qualified candidates.

An effective job description ensures your brand can attract candidates and fill crucial skill gaps. In fact, 52% of job seekers in a recent Indeed research report say job descriptions directly influence their decision on whether or not to apply for a role.

Job descriptions help you to outline exactly what you need from a new employee, so you can make the right decision about whom to hire first-time around. These documents also:

• Give candidates a clear idea of what to expect from a role
• Act as a guide when making hiring decisions
• Communicates the expectations aligned with a role
• Form the foundation for interview questions

What are the Core Components of a Good Job Description?

Many firms have a unique process for writing job descriptions. Those responsible for hiring within the firm may work with existing employees to build descriptions based on feedback from staff and, importantly, what they need the employee to deliver in that role.

Others leverage the skills of legal recruitment agencies like ourselves to boost their document’s performance. According to Indeed, to write an effective job description, companies must find the right balance between providing concise, straightforward information, and using the right details to engage, excite, and intrigue candidates.

Typically, your job description will include the following information:

A Title & Summary

The first component of a good job description is a role title and a summary of what the position entails. Highlight the nature of the role (whether it’s permanent, full-time, or contract) and how you expect your employee to work (in-office, remote, or hybrid). Keep in mind flexible working options could make your job descriptions more attractive. 76% of professionals say they’d like to work fewer traditional hours and want a flexible approach to when and how they work.

Remember to use a specific, easy-to-understand job title to avoid confusing your potential candidates with jargon. Talk to your legal recruitment agency if you’re unsure what your title and summary should be – especially in order to widen the net and attract more suitable candidates.

An “About Us Section

This section is where you can really ‘sell’ your firm and provide an introduction to who you are. Whilst some law firms can rely to some extent on the weight of their brand and reputation in the market, the best talent these days are looking for evidence of an empathetic, inclusive, and reliable employer – so focussing on how you bring this to life is paramount. You can highlight your firm culture, vision, and purpose here and give your potential candidates an insight into your values, such as a commitment to innovation, collaboration, and evolution.

The “About Us” section is also a fantastic space to highlight critical DEI information. 50% of employees currently believe their employer isn’t doing enough to promote diversity, so highlighting how you address this from the get-go will undoubtedly pay dividends amongst jobseekers in the market.

The Role and Responsibilities

Your job description is important in setting expectations for your legal employees. You should outline the core purpose of the role straight away and what your team members will be responsible for in this position. Make sure your list of responsibilities is as clear as possible, with no industry jargon, unclear acronyms, or confusing language.

Be precise and let team members know what kind of systems and software they will be working with, what case loads they will be dealing with, and what the short and long-term objectives of the role might be.

Competencies and Skills

This section of the job description tells your legal candidates what characteristics you’re looking for in an employee. Essentially, it’s a checklist of everything a good employee will need to perform well in the role. Avoid listing educational requirements and skills that aren’t entirely necessary here, as it could stop potentially good candidates from considering your opportunity.
Create a list of specific skills and qualifications your team member will require. Highlight whether they need experience working with certain programmes or platforms, and draw attention to any on-the-job training you can offer. You may also want to outline some basic traits you’re looking for, such as punctuality and proactivity.

The Benefits and Salary

Finally, you’ll need to show your candidates what’s “in it for them” if they decide to join your team. Provide an insight into the kind of salary your candidate can expect. You can choose a salary “range” if you’re open to negotiations. Just make sure it’s in line with the average for that job role in that particular region.

Don’t forget to draw attention to benefits too. Many employees find benefits to be just as attractive as a good level of remuneration. For instance, maybe you can offer flexible and remote work, a four-day workweek, or access to in-house therapy and mental health support.

A good way to make your benefits more attractive is to write them in a way that helps your candidates envision what it might be like to work with you. For instance, instead of writing “4-day work week”, write, “Start your weekend early every week with a four-day schedule, so you have more time for family and friends.”

Remember to discuss your decisions with the recruitment agency working with you on the role. They speak to candidates daily, so they can tell you exactly what the candidate you are looking for wants in a role.

Top Tips for More Compelling Job Descriptions

Writing effective job descriptions for candidates in today’s current legal landscape isn’t just about ensuring you include all the right information. In competitive markets, it’s important to look for ways of making your job descriptions more compelling and actively ‘sell’ the role to jobseekers.

Here are some quick tips to help you attract more candidates.

1.  Improve the Opening Section

It’s becoming extremely difficult to make job descriptions stand out these days. Your potential candidates will be scanning through job listings daily. That’s why it’s important to make sure you instantly grab your talent’s attention.

A good way to make your descriptions more compelling is to focus on the benefits the candidate can expect immediately. Rather than starting with a phrase like “The ideal candidate will”, talk about what your employees will get from you. For instance, “This role gives you a unique opportunity to work with world-class clients on a flexible schedule.” Focus therefore on ‘what’s in it for them’ rather than your list of stipulations and requirements.

2.  Communicate Your Compelling Culture Clearly

Legal candidates are a lot pickier about where they work in today’s jobs market. With that in mind, it’s important to highlight the culture of your firm straight away, so talent can determine whether your firm really fits their needs. Introduce your brand’s vision and mission, values, and commitment to building a diverse workforce.

Discuss the firm culture employees can expect, introducing concepts like remote work opportunities, flexible schedules, and team-building exercises. Consider including genuine insights and quotes from your existing legal employees. This is a great way to demonstrate your firm’s credibility and authenticity.

Whilst a written job description can only do so much to demonstrate such things as ‘culture’, why not include links to your website, or even better…a dedicated landing page focused on hiring where you can include such things as employee testimonials, videos that highlight the working environment, and any other feature of your firm that you believe is attractive to potential new hires.

3.  Make Information Easily Accessible

Job descriptions need to be informative, but candidates don’t want to be overwhelmed with huge amounts of text and complicated words. Consider cutting down on lengthy sentences and switching to bullet points where possible. This will help your candidates scan your content and find the necessary information to determine whether they should apply.

Experimenting with different kinds of content is a good way to make your job descriptions a little more engaging. Alongside paragraphs and bullet points, again, link to videos to provide insight into your firm with statements and stories from current employees. Show candidates the office space, and let them hear the hiring manager’s voice to make your content more memorable.

4.  Double-Check Your Content is Inclusive

As demand for diverse, equitable, and inclusive employers continues to rise, it’s more important than ever to double-check that your content doesn’t include any evidence of bias. Unconscious bias can easily creep into job descriptions and prevent crucial talent from applying.

For instance, you may use words like “young go-getter” or “experienced veteran” without malicious intent, but these terms alienate whole age groups within your candidate pool. When writing your job descriptions, watch out for any language which might make your description less appealing to a specific gender, age group, or ethnic group.

If you’re worried your diversity message isn’t clear enough, talk to your recruitment consultant, who will be able to advise you on how to include your commitment to DEI, and ensure your job descrptions don’t inadvertently trip you up.

5.  Be Transparent About the Candidate Experience

Setting expectations in the job description is an excellent way to save time for your team and your potential candidates. Being open and clear in your job description about what the interview will entail and how decisions will be made shows your candidates that they can expect a straightforward hiring journey with you.

Highlight whether there are likely to be any post-interview tests your candidates will need to complete, and let your potential employees know if interviews will happen in person or virtually. It may also be worth introducing some basic information about the onboarding experience for successful candidates.

(It’s also worth reading our blog on ‘ethical recruitment’ here to ensure that all your recruitment practices ensure the highest standards of professionalism, fairness, and transparency).

6.  Ask for Feedback

As employee and candidate expectations change, it can be difficult to consistently update your job descriptions in a way that generates real results without a little help. Fortunately, there are various places where you can cultivate feedback. Ask your existing team members for help in making your job descriptions stand out. They can tell you what benefits make your role more compelling and what information you might have missed.

Speak to your legal recruitment agency for advice on how to make your job listings stand out. After all, these professionals have years of experience reviewing and communicating job descriptions to the market in order to help law firms attract top talent.

The Mistakes to Avoid in Your Job Descriptions

Writing the most compelling job descriptions can be a complex process, particularly in today’s competitive hiring landscape. It’s easy to stumble into several potential mistakes, which could mean you miss out on the most valuable legal talent for your team.

Aside from following the steps above to make your descriptions more compelling, it’s also worth ensuring you don’t fall victim to any of the following common errors:

1.  Using the Wrong Job Title

As law firms continue to rely on “marketing” strategies to attract new legal talent to their team, recent trends have emerged among organisations trying to make their descriptions more compelling. For instance, some companies try to showcase their unique personality and culture by switching out job titles with more inventive but unusual ones. You may have already seen listings for various legal “superstars” or “rockstars”.

While weird and unusual job titles can be fun, they’re also highly confusing. Most people in today’s digital landscape are actively looking for job descriptions which include specific keywords. And in a sector as traditional as the legal industry, this can make your efforts counterproductive as using unusual job titles prevents candidates from finding your posts. Additionally, complex job titles can make it harder for employees to determine whether they’re applying for the right roles. It’s worth sticking with titles you know your current legal employees are familiar with.

2.  Using Hyperbolic Language

In an age where legal candidates are looking for more genuine, honest, and empathetic employers, they’re increasingly less likely to apply for roles where law firms use a lot of superlative and hyperbolic language. Telling your candidates that working with you gives them a chance to be part of the “best law firm in the world” won’t increase your chances of attracting talent.

Instead, focus on the clear, authentic benefits you can offer. Don’t just tell your candidates your firm is the best in the world. Highlight what makes your job offer special. Can you provide flexible working schedules, consistent education and training, and access to unique benefits no other law firm can offer?

3.  Failing to Include Relevant Information

While legal candidates in today’s fast-paced environment have less time to browse through job listings, this doesn’t mean you can “skip” parts of the job description. Failing to include important information means you’re less likely to attract candidates because they won’t know what to expect from your role.

Make sure you highlight all of the position’s key responsibilities, the benefits on offer, and any other information that might be necessary for legal candidates. Include details where relevant too. For instance, what makes it flexible if you’re listing a “flexible” role? Can team members work from home whenever they like, or will they be able to change their schedule easily?

4.  Alienating Crucial Talent

In a competitive legal market, you cannot afford to accidentally alienate qualified people from your role. With this in mind, it’s worth double-checking that you’re not driving possible candidates away. For instance, it might be a good idea to remove any requests for a specific number of years of experience from your job descriptions.

Experience is great, but it’s not the only factor determining whether potential employees will thrive in your role. Adding requests to your job descriptions for an employee with five years of experience in a specific practice area can prevent qualified candidates from applying.

A candidate with an excellent growth mindset and two years of experience may be better for your law firm than someone with ten years of experience and a laid-back attitude. Focus on the skills you need your employees to have and the results you want them to achieve instead.

5.  Failing to Get the Right Help

As the legal market continues to suffer from significant changes, it’s harder than ever for law firms to find the talent they need without a little extra help. Ultimately, going it alone isn’t an option if you want to attract the right talent as quickly as possible. No matter how big or small, every company should consider working with an expert.

Working alongside legal recruitment specialists will help you to enhance your job descriptions, build your talent pipeline, and increase your access to talent. Not only can their team of consultants give you tips on improving your job listings based on their extensive experience, but they can also ensure your listings reach the right people by promoting them on the correct channels.

Final thoughts

Designing the ideal job descriptions is one of the most important things you can do as an employer trying to attract the very best legal talent. In such a competitive market, it’s crucial to ensure your job descriptions not only show your would-be employees what they can expect from your role but also give them insight into culture and benefits.

If you struggle to update and enhance ineffective job descriptions, contact your legal recruitment agency for help. They’ll be able to provide behind-the-scenes insights based on years of experience working with similar firms – and will also help to further market your role and your firm when liaising with potential candidates.

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.

Click here to speak to one of our experienced Legal specialists or call 01772 259121 for more information on how our exceptional recruitment experience can help your career aspirations.

Whether the news of your soon-to-be ex-employee leaving represents a big blow for your firm or a possible weight off your management team’s shoulders, the reality of employee turnover is and has always been an unavoidable part of business, come rain or come shine. But like all inevitabilities, how it is prepared for and dealt with determines what it brings for a company, and this rings true for any firm looking to thrive in a market filled with unpredictability. 

So, if you’ve just had your talented and likeable Senior Conveyancing Solicitor come and tell you they are leaving to go and work for a competitor, how do you react? Do you panic and wrack your brain for a way to make them reconsider their decision? Or do you perhaps treat the issue as something to avoid losing time and resources over, and wish them the best of luck as they depart for pastures new? 

 Do you make keeping them a priority, and should you even try? 

 If that individual is a big asset to the firm – reliable, motivated, hard to replace (or expensive), and now planning a move to one of your biggest competitors (and perhaps with a time-sensitive caseload on their plate) you will be tempted to offer them the moon to stay. Additionally, the true cost of losing an employee can be prohibitive – hiring fees, recruiting time, onboarding and training – not to mention the nose-dive in morale for other employees who see a valued and talented colleague walking out the door. 

 But a word of warning. A counteroffer may not be the solution it initially appears, as all angles of the situation need to be looked at before going down that route.  

Why Employees Leave 

What you should be wary of when looking to convince the employee to reconsider their decision, is going into the conversation with a financial incentive in mind as your bargaining chip. Research states that 50% – 80% of employees that accept counteroffers end up leaving their employer within 6 months due to the same issues that led to their initial decision. The fact is that it’s rarely a salary issue that sees employees leave to take up another job offer, so the chances that an offer of increased salary will keep them at your firm are slimmer than you might think.  

Rather than an issue of compensation, the following are the biggest reasons employees typically begin embarking on a search for pastures new: 

Lack Of Career Progression

If an employee feels they have climbed as far up the career ladder as they can with your law firm, they are going to start casting their net elsewhere to discover better opportunities. A survey last year conducted by Go1 discovered that 60% of employees that were found to consider leaving their job in 6-12 months’ time, cited a lack of career prospects as their main driver. When a promotion has long been deserved but is not forthcoming, employees will begin to look for it elsewhere.  

The same can be said for job satisfaction from a more micro perspective. When an employee’s work doesn’t provide the necessary stimulation for growth or progress that it should, it leads to the dangerous drops in work ethic that the resulting boredom brings. Perhaps your Conveyancing Solicitor has been dealing with the same clients doing similar work for several years and yearns for a new challenge. Or your Portal Fee Earner has been hoping for promotion to Team Leader for some time but hasn’t been successful. If an employee doesn’t feel stretched or challenged in their job, they become disinterested and disengaged. Then disinterest quickly transforms into boredom, and this eventually manifests in a search for something else to extend their capabilities. 

Poor Management 

People don’t quit their jobs; they quit their bosses, and this remains the case today for law firms. Poor management practice can do a lot of damage, – killing employee morale and impacting engagement levels – and consequently make the work environment a barrier to, rather than a catalyst for employee success. A workplace that doesn’t encourage ‘out of the box’ thinking or is inflexible with its staff is not going to facilitate success on an individual or collective level, and this is especially the case with legal professionals today, with whom working with an employer that shares and lives out similar values to theirs is now much more of an expectation than a luxury.  

Employees need to feel valued and respected. They need to look forward to coming to work and enjoying their job. Having these aspects of the work culture in place enables them their drive not only their own career progress but that of the firm too. 

Opportunity To Join A High-Profile Law Firm 

Blinded by the dazzle of the prestige that comes with working for a top law firm, an employee might feel the urge to leave just to be part of a highly-reputable business. While it’s hard to argue with this one, they (and you) should be warned of the possible pitfalls. Does the firm have a good reputation? Does it have a high staff turnover? Both parties should weigh the pros and cons involved.  

Better Work Life Balance 

Some things money just can’t buy, and this is one of them. Even in a period where flexibility and healthy work-life balance is high on the priority list of legal professionals, burnout remains common among many today. The nature of the work life involved in the legal profession – as well as the prevalent workaholic culture that pressures many into sacrificing their own well-being for their firm’s success – inevitably drives many employees to look towards leaving a position to try to claw back some time for themselves and their family.  

Asking The Right Questions

The best way to approach the conversation is by asking a few questions to get a good indication of why your employee is considering leaving. Keeping them general to begin with is best, as not everyone will be willing to discuss their reasons for leaving a job.  

A simple “What’s go you thinking of leaving’’ followed by a question asking whether they’d like to discuss it is a good way to get the conversation started. Asking questions can help you understand the underlying issues that have gotten your employee to the point of seriously considering leaving. Ideally, discussing these concerns can help you identify problems that you have the ability to address and  retaining your employee. 

And, even if they remain unconvinced, you will at the very least have learned  from their experience and can make improvements for future employees. Regardless, by addressing the issue and doing your best to find a resolution, you have ensured that you’ve done everything you can to take appropriate action.  

Making Your Counteroffer 

If you intend to make a counteroffer, start by asking your employee the following questions:  

1. Do they enjoy working at your law firm 
2. Can they envision a future there? 

 If the answer to both questions is yes it is worth considering a counteroffer. Begin by offering non-financial incentives to encourage them to stay, as we’ve already that these are unlikely to solve the issues at hand. Instead, consider the following alternatives:

• Foster a workplace culture that embraces diversity and inclusion. 
• Explore flexible working hours, including options such as flexitime for employees experiencing stress or other options, such as working from home. Employers who are more open to alternative working arrangements tend to be more respected by their teams and see better levels of staff retention. 
• Assign them a role that plays to their strengths. Is there an opportunity to move the employee into a position that better suits their skillset and ability? Is there a project/case they could lead on which would challenge them? 
• Provide mentoring opportunities – a great mentor can provide invaluable insight, support and guidance to an employee who is struggling with their career. 
• Address management issues promptly, as there’s no excuse for poor behaviour in the workplace at any level. Bullying, harassment or just downright rude bosses or staff need to be dealt with ruthlessly. 
• Consider hiring additional staff to alleviate workload pressures. If workload overwhelm is the issue, then a temporary or permanent staff addition can reduce pressure on current employees, and lead to an increase in productivity, as well as fewer absences due to stress. 
• Establish a clear progression pathway. Everyone wants to feel they can achieve their career ambitions through their work and see tangible progress.  
• Develop an employee development plan that shows a clear training, development and progression route for each employee. This will give individuals something to aim for and ensure they are more likely to stay and grow with your law firm. Remember that taking tangible actions is crucial for the success of your counteroffer.  

Potential Pitfalls To Be Mindful Of 

Even more important to consider than the pros of a counteroffer are the potential drawbacks involved. The following should be considered before proceeding:  

• Could offering a salary increase create imbalance across the team?  
• Will other team members pressure for a salary rise when word gets out – and if so, can you manage expectations? 
• Will you get a reputation in the market for overpaying that could lead to unsuitable candidates clamouring to join your law firm for the wrong reasons? 
• Can you even afford an increased financial offer in the first place? 
• Is there a real chance of the employee taking your offer for granted? Could they continue performing at previous levels or become complacent, even arrogant, because they got their way?

Moving Forward

Whatever the outcome, you may want to consider ways to improve staff retention going forward; improving firm culture, opening lines of communication to provide transparency and most importantly, valuing your employees. Using conversations around why an employee wants to leave can be a strategic opportunity to reflect and make improvements internally. 

As a Manager of Business Leader in the Firm, you should always be on alert for the signs that key individuals may be a ‘flight-risk’. In today’s changing legal landscape, issues like disengagement, burnout, and even “quiet quitting” are becoming increasingly common. But if you can recognise these signs ahead of time, there are still things you can do to re-ignite your staff’s passion for your firm and prevent them from seeking other employment options…hopefully long before the conversation around resignation and counteroffers is even on the table. 

Moving On?

If despite reasonable negotiation, the employee still intends to leave, it is best to agree to part ways amicably and wish them well. Remember, life is about change. If it’s time for them to move on, let them resign gracefully. Don’t be tempted to behave childishly – that will only get the rest of your team thinking about starting their own covert job hunt. 

Instead, consider celebrating their contribution with a kind Thank You gesture. That’s the best way to build trust and successfully manage your legal team. 

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.

Click here to speak to one of our experienced Legal specialists or call 01772 259121 for more information on how our exceptional recruitment experience can help your career aspirations.

The employee performance review has received a lot of criticism in recent years. Traditional employee appraisal processes have been causing headaches for both managers and employees, yet most employees believe performance reviews are ineffective at driving performance. 

There’s still a place for the annual performance review. But success-driven organisations know it must be part of a bigger performance conversation strategy. 

Regardless of whether you’re conducting an annual appraisal, a quarterly review, or a monthly performance check-in, performance conversations can be challenging if a consistent review process isn’t followed. 

A goal for all business managers is to create a positive experience that motivates employees and consequently drives high performance. 

Before we dive into the tactical side of performance reviews, it’s important to understand what it is and why it is important. This will give you the foundation you need to start using them more effectively in your firm. 

What is a Performance Review?

A performance review is a two-way, individualised conversation between managers and employees about performance impact, development, and growth; related to the objectives set for an individual. It is a critical component of an organisation’s overall performance management strategy. 

Traditionally, performance reviews have occurred once a year and have focused on evaluating past performance. 

But reviews are now changing. 

Modern performance reviews work well when they happen monthly, where logistically possible, and focus on driving and improving future performance through motivational and developmental feedback. 

The classic performance review has taken a lot of flak over the past several years. Yet, the reality is, performance conversations are a crucial part of effective employee engagement and retention strategies, especially in the current economic climate. 

How Performance Reviews Improve Individual, Team, and Firm Success

Why are performance conversations important? Because they have a big impact on the success of your employees, teams, and firm. 

Discussing performance isn’t always easy. It’s tough for managers to give feedback and even harder for employees to receive it. How employers handle these conversations plays a huge role in an employee’s engagement and overall experience. 

Performance conversations will often make or break trust. An open, honest, and regular dialogue helps build trust among employees, managers, and your legal teams.  

Ongoing performance conversations can boost employee success by: 

• Helping employees identify their needs, goals, and challenges. 
• Informing line managers on challenges, obstacles, and decisions before they impact performance. 
• Opening opportunities to discuss feedback, celebrate recognition and reinforce alignment. 

Performance conversations help managers evaluate team performance by giving them a clear picture of that of their team members. They’ll know where the team is strong and where the team needs help or development. 

If employees aren’t aligned and on a clear path to success, organisations will have difficulty achieving important goals and objectives. Performance conversations allow managers to connect employees to the bigger mission, vision, and goal of their law firm. 

They also give managers and leaders the data to make important decisions about compensation, promotions, development, role changes, exits, etc. 

Knowing all the benefits a performance review can bring, what are the key elements that make up a successful review?  

The Vital Elements of Performance Reviews

Performance reviews give employees and managers a chance to discuss how they meet their objectives and do better together. 

Delivered well, they can engage and motivate employees to maximise their efforts. Delivered poorly, they can send employees down a disengagement spiral—and even decrease performance. How do you choose the right performance appraisal method? Below are a few elements to consider.  

Frequency Is Critical

Our experience as a specialist legal recruiter for over 23 years in the industry has shown that successful law firms, and those highly coveted by legal candidates, ensure performance conversations happen more frequently. They also make them more engaging too. 

Managers and employees equally contribute to the discussion, and employees are as invested in the preparation. 

While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for all performance discussions, every conversation should promote trust by reducing anxiety while creating clarity for all concerned. 

Performance conversations like these aren’t only about performance; they can also address: 

• Career growth, development, and training 
• Business objectives versus time 
• Changes or key messages from senior leadership 
• Recognition 
• Peer feedback 
• Customer feedback

Make Them Future Focused

Old-school style performance reviews would often look at the past, what happened versus what didn’t, mistakes made, values not aligned, and the list goes on. Unfortunately, something that happened months ago could have been continually repeated because it wasn’t addressed at the time.  

Contrary to what you might think, this isn’t exactly motivating for an employee who hasn’t been given an opportunity to change because they weren’t given feedback at the time. 

However, employees do have the power to change what happens in the future—and this is where the bulk of your performance conversations should focus. It’s good to reflect on the past, but managers and employees should also spend time looking forward.  

Make Them Transparent & Objective

Performance reviews can be anxiety-inducing for any of us. One of the best ways to reduce anxiety is to bring employees into the process early and involve them in the preparation and planning.  

Managers should work with each employee to create a clear, shared, and collaborative agenda with main discussion points. Both parties should know exactly what to expect. And if you have implemented the suggestions about frequency, there really should not be any surprises. 

Reviews have no excuse not to be objective. Today we have a huge volume of data to use alongside our ability to base our assessment on behavioural observation versus our judgment about what we think we saw or heard. Managers can come prepared with data from various sources such as recent recognition, 360-degree feedback, talent review ratings, one-on-one notes, goal progress, observational coaching, feedback, and more. 

Every statement made should be fueled by data or observation—not by a  manager’s personal opinion. 

To recap, here are some key differences between traditional performance reviews and modern performance reviews.  

Traditional Performance Reviews

These tend to be a six-month or annual affair. It is generally one-sided, with a line manager informing the employee what they did wrong and right, focusing on developmental feedback. 

This is usually subjective with a grading that either does or does not result in a salary increase.  

Modern Performance Reviews

Everything a traditional review isn’t. They happen every month or quarter at least and involve two-way conversations and focus on the future.  

They review recent performance and involve coaching to impact the employee’s development and growth. The conversation is always based on data and facts. The conversation is then followed up the next month too.  

Preparing To Run A Performance Review

There is nothing worse than being unprepared at work. Even though our knowledge and experience can get us through most situations, somehow, that never seems to work when interacting with another human being.  

What makes it even more critical to prepare in advance is the impact your lack of planning has on your employee. Always approach any performance conversation with thoughtful preparation and lots of data and examples.  

Making Time & Setting Expectations

You have a lot of responsibilities on your plate as a manager in a law firm and conducting performance reviews with each team member can be time-consuming. But the payoff is worth the investment, and it’s critical that you carve out appropriate time for each member of your team. 

If you forgo important performance conversations, you risk missing out on new opportunities for promising employees, and the negative actions of under-performers will go unchanged. 

You begin setting expectations the moment your invite arrives in their inbox. Hot tip: Don’t just send a calendar invite out of the blue; a personal email works so much better. 

Schedule the meeting at least one week out, or ideally at the end of your last review. You want to give yourself adequate time to look into an employee’s recent performance.  

Make it clear what will be covered in the meeting; a clear agenda works well. Employees should have a complete understanding of what will be discussed, one of the many benefits of conducting reviews regularly. 

These topics should be a part of any performance conversation:  

Current performance: Both parties should enter data on how the employee performs against the objectives originally set at the start of the year. Have your employee consider current barriers and if there’s anything you can do to help them. 

Make sure you get an update on why they are failing or achieving their objectives so far. 

The original performance objectives were set in good faith between the two of you, and they play a big part in determining whether the employee is succeeding or failing.

Career goals: Employee performance is usually fueled by their view of the future. Motivated employees continually push themselves and seek additional responsibilities and the potential of their next promotion. Get employees to consider where they want their legal career to go and how those motivations impact their performance.  

If there are performance issues, make sure your employee understands that it’s about developmental feedback and a plan to move forward. 

When employees aren’t achieving goals or objectives, these meetings can help determine why and how to help an employee improve.  

Start on the right foot by aligning expectations for the meeting itself.  

An employee should know their role in preparing for the meeting. They should review the agenda, add topics they’d like to cover, and know where and when the meeting will occur. 

Second, employees should know what to bring to the meeting and what information might be referenced or pulled into the discussion from the manager’s side. 

Finally, employees should have a clear idea of their responsibilities after the meeting and how their manager plans to help them succeed. 

Above all, managers and employees should have a shared understanding of what good performance looks like.  

When necessary, managers should clarify each employee’s role and how the firm perceives their contributions. By aligning expectations with your firm’s established performance criteria, your employees won’t feel misguided or alarmed when their review begins.  

Select Your Setting

Depending on the culture in your firm, there may be a standard procedure or way of conducting reviews. If in doubt, a private setting is best. It demonstrates to your employee how important they are and the level of respect you have for them. 

Catch-up chats are fine in communal areas; performance reviews are different.  

How long should the review be? That is up to you, and remember it is key to make your staff member feel important. Managers in a fast-paced work environment are often stretched for time, but this is one area to allow more time. An hour is a time frame to consider. 

If it is physically possible, choose a training room or conference facility away from your own office. Neutral ground, no matter what you are discussing, is always best so that all parties can have at least a few minutes of processing what has been said before they return to their desk. 

For example, suppose you are meeting with specific developmental feedback, and creating an improvement plan. In that case, you’ll want to choose somewhere private, so your team member can focus on the plan and less on what others might overhear.  

The Power of Questions

As a manager, it is your role to lead the review and ask questions to reveal what is related to the objectives. 

One of the easiest ways to do this is to list performance objectives and related questions. 

Brainstorm a list of open questions that encourage more than a yes or no answer. These generally start with who, what, where, why, how, and when. 

Always build rapport and put your employee at ease. Though you might feel awkward carrying out a review, remember your team member is feeling that too. 

Here are a few examples of questions you could use. 

• What results from last month are you most proud of? 
• How did you achieve X, Y, or Z? 
• What disappointed you about your performance? 
• What will you stop, start, and continue next months? 
• Tell me more about what happened with A, B, or C? 
• What roadblocks are in your way? 
• What impact has your performance had on the firm? 
• How can I support you as your manager? 

Using questions like this will give you more information and data to add to what you already have. Performance conversations should be two-way, so make sure you’re facilitating a discussion and actually listening.  

Remember to take notes so you have a record of how the discussion proceeds. As human beings, we have an innate desire to be heard. Asking questions, listening, and taking notes demonstrates this to your team member. 

Listening to your employees helps you learn and understand rather than simply giving someone equal air time. Ask follow-up questions to help you dig deeper and paint a fuller picture. 

Now is the time to focus on feedback, both developmental and motivational.  

The Gift of Feedback

I know some people think there is irony in this phrase, yet the truth is, how can we improve unless we are given feedback on how we perform and how to get better? 

Successful business owners employ a coach to improve their performance. The good news is that you can become a performance coach for your team. 

Mastering the art of giving feedback is one of the single most important things you can do as a manager.  

Feedback comes in two forms. Motivational feedback is when you’re congratulating or praising a team member for something they’ve achieved or done well. Developmental feedback is where you highlight a performance issue or behaviour that requires development to improve. 

Of course, the key lies in balancing the two types of feedback and how they are delivered. 

Many managers focus on developmental feedback only, which the team interprets as only noticing ‘the bad things.’  

Sometimes the manager does this because they appreciate developmental feedback. They think that others prefer this style too – or more commonly, they had managers who didn’t give motivational input, so they’re not accustomed to its benefits.  

On the other end of the scale, some managers praise a lot but don’t offer enough feedback for development. They don’t know how to give good developmental feedback, and so avoid giving it. Many managers haven’t been sufficiently trained in giving feedback or have had poor role models in their past managers. As such, no one knows where they’re going wrong or how their performance could improve. 

It isn’t helpful to give vague or ambiguous feedback to your team members, whether it’s positive (motivational) or negative (developmental).  

Yes, it can be helpful to tell someone they are doing a great job, yet it’s far more beneficial to let your team member know exactly what performance traits you have seen that has contributed and want to see them continue to use. 

As a generalisation, it’s easier for individuals to receive motivational feedback compared to developmental. However, suppose you invest time nurturing your relationships with each team member and stocking up their emotional bank account with sufficient motivational feedback. In that case, it is then easier for them to handle the developmental side. 

Too often, managers focus on what an employee can improve first and consider praise as a second thought. While this can be quickly rectified if you see someone every day, it’s not always the case if some of your teams are now working remotely. 

Research from the CIPD suggests that anything from five to six pieces of motivational feedback to one developmental is the right balance. This will vary by individual, and there is no better person than a manager to know which team members need more praise than others. 

As the review ends before developing a follow-up process, let’s discuss a topic that is often pushed aside, the conversation around compensation and benefits.  

The Compensation Conversation

We are currently in a volatile hiring market, which is highlighting discrepancies in salaries and compensation in some law firms. 

Interestingly, a recruiting MD colleague in an aligned sector shared with me how a candidate he was working with was made a counteroffer from her current employers when she submitted her resignation.  

They offered to increase her salary by 35%, and, with one of their star performers about to leave, they were also willing to consider remote working – something they had refused a year earlier.  

The employee took up the offer from a new employer as her trust in her current company had been ruined. 

This isn’t a one-off occurrence. 

If compensation conversations are not commonplace in your organisation, maybe they should be. 

If a high-performing employee asks for a pay rise or additional benefits, be prepared. No matter who’s making the request, your star performer or an average one, you’re likely to feel taken aback or annoyed at being put in this position. 

Don’t react with the common platitudes I am sure all of us has heard; “not my decision”, “if it were up to me, of course, I would give you an increase.” 

Depending on the size of your organisation, you may have flex; however, take stock as you plan your next steps. 

Be curious and use the time-tested strategy and phrase, “Tell me more.” Then listen and take notes.  

Ask open questions to uncover as much information as possible, depending on the individual’s explanation and reasons why you can then make a case or not for their request. 

Ensure your employee feels heard and agree when you will get back to them. Though you might have been ‘miffed’ at their request, remember it won’t have been easy for them to raise the issue in the first place. 

As a first step to handling the situation professionally, are you paying the ‘going rate’ for the role and responsibility? If you are unsure, ask your current legal recruiting partner, who will know the answer. 

If you are underpaying, then be prepared for the consequences in the current market, which will be losing a good employee with knowledge and experience of your firm and how you operate. Legal professionals are on the move more than ever before, and for the sake of a small pay increase, in the bigger scheme of things, is it worth losing a valuable employee? 

The conversations have happened, so what next? 

Post Review Follow Up

One of the common errors in managing effective performance reviews is the lack of follow-up. A great conversation happens, and then no follow-up communication occurs, and the impact gets lost. 

Your employees need support to achieve the next steps you have agreed to together. Ideally, put a development plan in place with milestones, timelines, and actions. 

Plan in the diary your next meetings and agree on what all parties will do between meetings. 

Follow this process, and you will have a comprehensive and fair process that will benefit your employee, team, and firm.  

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.

Click here to speak to one of our experienced Legal specialists or call 01772 259121 for more information on how our exceptional recruitment experience can help your career aspirations.

The COVID-19 Pandemic taught businesses many things. How to adapt (and quickly), how to navigate unchartered territories, and most of all, how to be as prepared as you can for the unexpected. Those businesses that had business disruption plans in place were naturally given a head start, while others arguably had their fingers burnt when the world turned upside down.

One factor that all businesses face at some point in their future, is the potential disruption that comes with a key individual leaving – be that for another role, or as they head towards retirement.

And it will undoubtedly be small and medium-sized boutique firms that are the most at risk from disruption as the required skill set and knowledge will be concentrated amongst a few key individuals.

Put simply, firms without a succession plan risk losing revenue, reputation, and relationships, and whilst it’s hard to find the time to plan for the future when you are busy running the day-to-day, putting a clear strategy in place will only help to protect the business when the time comes to put it into action further down the line.

Here we look at the 9 steps to take to start a succession plan for your law firm:

1. First things first: look for signs your key people are thinking of leaving

Legal professionals can choose to leave your firm for a variety of reasons. They may be looking for a new opportunity or challenge in their career, want to move into another area of law perhaps, or simply have become dissatisfied in their current role.

The first step to planning for the future is to be ever aware of the warning signs your top talent is thinking of leaving.

This might include:

• Avoidance of long-term projects and growth
• Visible signs of the stress connected to the role
• Signs that the individual is not as creative or intuitive as usual
• Performance is beginning to suffer

In today’s changing legal landscape, issues like disengagement, burnout, and even “quiet quitting” are becoming increasingly common. Fortunately, if you can recognise these signs ahead of time, there are still things you can do to re-ignite your staff’s passion for your firm and prevent them from seeking other employment options.

If that is not an option, or all avenues have been exhausted and the individual has progressed to handing their notice in, you might want to consider step two…

2. Consider whether a counteroffer is the way forward

When you are faced with the prospect of losing a key individual from your law firm, it can be tempting to enter straight into negotiations to counteroffer. Not only can it be expensive to replace key people, it can also damage morale and affect client relationships. If there is a glimmer of light that the decision can be reversed, it is no surprise that many employers go down this route to mitigate any collateral damage.

However, business leaders should think twice before making a counteroffer as there are both pros and cons that should be considered.

There are times when negotiations are worth entering into, especially if that individual can still see a future at the firm, still finds the culture and working environment a ‘fit’, and any identified obstacles can be overcome.

However, if the counteroffer is based around salary expectations, take heed. Will offering an increase lead to an imbalance across the rest of the team? Will it start a snowball effect with other individuals? Can you actually afford the increase?

Finally, it is also worth noting at this point that any negotiations around encouraging a key individual to stay will not be relevant if the reason for leaving is retirement. However, with a presumed notice period that will be required in this instance, following the next steps are still key as that person works through those final months (or years).

3. Review your current team in depth

As a business leader – whether as a practicing solicitor or not, the structure of your business should always be reviewed periodically. Of course, you may have an ongoing hiring plan in place to fill certain ‘gaps’ or around a growth strategy as you increase headcount. But consideration should always be made around highlighting key individuals across the business that are likely to cause some element of disruption if they were to leave suddenly (either enforced by the firm or due to extenuating circumstances).

A good starting point would be to look at ‘vulnerable’ vs. ‘critical’ positions

• Vulnerable = There is no identifiable successor. Risk is loss of functionality and knowledge as there is no obvious replacement.
• Critical = A leaver in this category would significantly impact a firm’s operations. All leadership positions are critical by this definition – in particular CEO, CFO type roles.

Assuming you prioritise planning for the departure of these roles first, ask yourself if there is someone else in the business that can take on those responsibilities for example. What would happen to that individual’s clients or caseload? What clients are a flight risk and would potentially follow that individual to a new law firm?

These are the initial key questions when putting a succession plan in place: understanding the risks and ensuring that business continuity is key.

4. Develop your future leadership team

At any given point, having a pipeline of future leaders in the business is incredibly important – whatever the size and structure. Having clear progression paths in place is a good starting point so individuals can envisage their future at the firm, supported with robust training and upskilling where needed as part of the wider package of benefits and employee support.

When it comes to creating a succession plan, however, more careful consideration needs to be taken when assessing the exact skills and experience needed  – applicable whether you are planning to move people into that role from within or recruit externally.

You need to consider for example:

Key skills that may be lost  – If the individual leaving is a business leader or managing partner, these may not only be around their skills as a practicing lawyer. Business acumen, entrepreneurship, strong financial control, and managing a team are all essential skills that you would hope their successor would have. Above all, someone who has experience in change management would be ideal to take the business from its current state to a desired future state – executing change, mitigating risk, and minimising resistance.

SPOFs – ‘Single Point Of Failure’ – an acronym that originates in the world of IT, it refers to a component or part of a system that, upon failure, would cause the entire system to fail or significantly impact its operation. In business terms, therefore, you need to consider if any individuals have sole knowledge of a particular process or system or hold a set of critical skills that no one else in the business currently has. To see these, quite literally walk out of the door, may significantly impact your business, so ensuring that knowledge is shared is good practice.

Using notice periods to your advantage – if a successor has been identified, and there is a notice period for the leaving individual to serve, it may be worth considering if there is an opportunity for the two to work side-by-side for a period. Obviously, you will need to consider internal costs here and the impact on billing criteria if you have an individual mirroring a new role, but the time spent shadowing or preparing for the shift of responsibilities could be a sensible move in the long run.

5. Active management of client transitions

Unless the individual is leaving your firm because of retirement or to cease employment altogether for other reasons, there is always the risk of clients following that individual to one of your competitors.

So what can you do to mitigate the risk (and impact on your bottom line)?

Once again, the starting point is taking time to analyse your book of clients, particularly those who you would class as ‘high-value’. Do these have a team of people that you deal with regularly, or is it just one individual? Understanding these relationships is key, as is ensuring that all leads and client data is shared internally through your database or CRM.

If it is appropriate, ensure that the client has contact with a number of people within your firm, not just a single person. Regardless, open and transparent communication with your key clients is vital to uphold those valued relationships, maintaining service quality, and contribute to client satisfaction with the proposed changes ahead.

From an internal point of view, and if there is a formal transition in place between leaver and successor, make time to transfer knowledge about that client. This should be on a deeper level than the information found on a CRM or caseload platform. Ongoing projects, key individuals, processes, and how they like to do business are all vital nuggets of information that will equip the person taking over the relationship with the inside track over and above facts and figures on a much more personal level.

6. Creating an external comms plan that maintains stability

By now it is evident that clear communication to all stakeholders is a key part of continuity and succession planning. Creating a plan that also addresses ‘the market’ is also key here – particularly if the individual leaving is senior, a managing partner, or a CEO for example.

The objective of general external communications is to mitigate any potential damage to the firm’s brand and to reassure clients and potential clients about the continuity of service.

And, whilst a smooth and well-managed transition can have a positive impact on a firm’s brand, a poorly executed or mishandled succession process can actually tarnish its reputation.

Communicating future plans here is key – when people observe a well-prepared and seamless transition of key personnel, it instills confidence in the firm’s ability to maintain consistent service quality, fostering trust in the brand and reinforcing its reputation for reliability.

What’s more, succession planning allows a firm to strategically position itself by identifying and developing talent in specific practice areas or industries. By aligning succession plans with the firm’s strategic objectives, it can communicate its expertise and wider value proposition to clients and stakeholders. This further strengthens the firm’s brand reputation as a trusted authority in those areas of law.

7. Focus on internal communications and vision

Having a clear roadmap for the future; setting a vision and the steps in place to get there is crucial for any law firm, whatever their size or practice area. Engaging team members, ensuring efforts are aligned, and facilitating personal growth and development are key elements of successful internal communications.

When a key individual has given their notice to leave, it may very well lead to discontent and worry – albeit temporary – on the supposed disruption ahead. It’s therefore vital to be completely transparent with the remaining team about what plans are in place, and how they will affect the business in the short, medium, and long term.

Some key areas to focus on in your communications include:

Providing a clear roadmap ahead –  outline the future strategic direction particularly if this will change as the individual departs.

Engage in 2-way communication – encourage team members to share any concerns, thoughts, and ideas openly about what the future will look like.

Promote personal growth opportunities – ensuring the remaining team members can still see opportunities for their own growth, progression, and personal development is crucial.

Visualise the vision – where you can, make your firm’s vision tangible and relatable.  Use visual aids, and real-life examples to help team members connect on an emotional level.

Managing change communications is a critical aspect of successfully navigating organisational transitions and ensuring the smooth adoption of new initiatives and significant changes, including the departure of key individuals. Done well, this can help your remaining team transition with clarity, understanding, and engagement for the road ahead.

8. Consider hiring strategy as structure changes

Depending on the role in question, you may not want to hire someone external – rather, promote from within. This has clear benefits – these individuals are already a good fit for your firm, understand your tech stack and processes, and may already have fostered good relationships with key clients.

However, external hiring may be needed to back-fill the role of the successor for example. A shift around of roles and responsibilities internally inevitably leaves gaps somewhere – so consideration of what a revised or likely business structure should be taken to feed into a plan around hiring.

If you are responsible for hiring within your law firm – either wholly, or as part of your role as a practicing lawyer, one of the choices you have as part of your hiring strategy is whether you go it alone, or enlist the services of a recruitment specialist.

This decision may be based on a number of variables including £budget, speed (the need to get the position filled quickly), and the potential scarcity in the market of the hire(s) in question – but there are clear advantages to engaging early with a sector-specialist to give you a head start as you continue to focus on handovers and the transfer of knowledge of your departing employee.

9. Keep internal admin up to date

Job descriptions and the roles and responsibilities of individuals are likely to change over time – particularly if they progress along a defined career path, or the business changes and roles have to flex to accommodate those.

It is therefore prudent to keep documentation up to date to make it easier to recruit into that role when the time comes – be that from your internal talent pool or externally.

Even if the ‘new’ role may change with the departing individual, it at least allows you to benchmark and assess areas of the role that may need to pass to the successor.

And, ensuring that key processes are documented and shared internally is crucial if you don’t want to end up with SPOFs in the business who take that knowledge with them as they depart.

Conclusion

Whilst it’s not always the case that business leaders get a heads up on when the key individuals of their team are leaving, it is still worth having succession planning as part of the annual strategic review – particularly if a SWOT analysis is conducted where this could be classified as a very real threat to business-as-usual.

Where reasons for leaving are around retirement or taking a more permanent step back from current responsibilities, as much time to plan ahead should be taken. Using notice periods strategically to help document processes and pass the baton over to a suitable successor is time well spent.

And, if there is no one in the wings that look like they have the right skills and mindset to take on additional or alternative responsibilities, engaging with a trusted and reputable legal recruitment specialist as soon as you can is key to ensure you kick start the process and find a suitable candidate that is the right ‘fit’ from the outset.

Successful succession planning is about putting solid plans in place before key individuals leave – not scrambling to fill gaps and manage ripples of worry or discontent as they walk out of the door. And, as Vijay Parikh, Owner of Harold Benjamin Solicitors wrote recently for The Law Gazette whilst succession planning may not be something on many senior partners’ agenda, it is an absolute necessity, like any other future planning for a successful business.

In short, it’s never too early to start thinking about putting a strategy in place  – even if it only comes into force sometime in the future.

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 – whether that’s on a contingency or retained basis.

Call us on 01772 259 121 or email us here.

The concept of having a shorter workweek isn’t a new one by any means. Industries have long since recognised the benefits it can provide for employees and their business, with the (then-revolutionary) idea of a 5-day work week first being introduced in 1926 by American businessman Henry Ford (as well as the two-day weekend) during a time when, in the midst of the industrial revolution, it was the norm for those in Britain to work 6 long days.

With a 5-day work week in place, employers recognised its massive success in increasing employee wellbeing & productivity, and addressing concerns like absenteeism. The shorter workweek then, as we know, went on to become a part of everyday working life for people worldwide.

But since then, despite much talk of this trend bringing another transformation of the structure of the current working week, it has remained unchanged for over a century.

Until recently, that is.

On Trial – The 4-day Week

The idea of a 4-day, or 32-hour work week had begun to garner mainstream attention in the last few years, with six countries (Canada, Australia, Ireland, the UK, New Zealand and the US), already experimenting with it over the past year. In June 2022 we saw the introduction of the first UK 4-day workweek trial, (piloted by organisations 4-Day Week Global and Autonomy) in which 61 companies and 2,900 workers participated, which sought to achieve the same results as the current working week structure and find a better common ground between employers and employees.

And with the results of the trial having been published in February 2023, we now have a glimpse into how it could work across a variety of sectors in what has been heralded by and large as a resounding success.

One of the biggest selling points of the 4-day week notion to employers is the increase in productivity that workers experience. Contrary to how counterintuitive it can appear at first, research from a study conducted by the University of Auckland has shown that a shorter workweek can give rise to greater levels of productivity from employees compared to a standard 5-day workweek. The study involved a New Zealand company, Perpetual Guardian, which trialled a four-day workweek for two months and during the trial, employees reported feeling less stressed and more focused, which led to an increase in their productivity levels.

Similarly, in the pilot, many employees reported improved work-life balance, reduced stress levels, and better overall well-being, with 60% of workers finding it easier to combine their work with caring responsibilities and 62% better able to juggle work with their social life. And it’s showing very encouraging signs business-wise as well, as key metrics show that companies’ revenue, by and large, hadn’t changed over the trial period, but instead showed a healthy increase (35% on average) compared to data from similar reports in previous years. The number of resignations in participating companies also saw a significant decline (57%), highlighting the true value of the benefits that the 4-day workweek structure provided to employees.

The most persuasive statistic of all when considering the longevity and permanency of such a working arrangement is that 92% of companies (56) that participated decided to continue with the model, (with 18 of them making it permanent). It certainly seems to offer a new perspective for employers and employees to find common ground when attempting to strike that delicate balance between increasing productivity & sales whilst also creating a more supportive work environment.

Research Associate at the University of Cambridge, Dr. David Frayne, attested to its effectiveness:

“We feel really encouraged by the results, which showed the many ways companies were turning the four-day week from a dream into a realistic policy, with multiple benefits. We think there is a lot here that ought to motivate other companies and industries to give it a try”.

What Still Remains Unanswered?

But which questions do the results still not answer? And what are the implications for the working world at large should this become a new reality?

Perhaps the first thing that springs to mind when looking at all the positive discourse regarding the results of the trial is, “can it deliver on the promise it’s showing”? While it’s certainly no pipedream to believe it can, considering the trial’s outstanding results, it does highlight a need for a touch of pragmatism when assessing the 4-day workweek’s feasibility and in particular for sectors where it has proven difficult to implement or has just not been successful when doing so.

Take customer-facing businesses for example.

Unlike other professional services that often involve project-type work (which gives employees a greater degree of flexibility when it comes to deadlines), companies in this line of work must have a certain number of staff on-site to take care of the more hands-on aspects of the role and ensure a smooth running of the business.

Naturally, there are bound to be scheduling challenges that arise because of this when implementing the model as customer needs must still be managed effectively, and the business must ensure that communication between teams and with customers is maintained at all times, meaning the idea of a three-day weekend every week for some companies is just not feasible. Certain sectors such as education, healthcare or public transport may argue that this is just not feasible at all.

And even if staffing and logistics issues could be overcome within these sectors, not all can guarantee a productivity increase (and money on the bottom line) to make up for the reduced hours of a 32-hour workweek particularly as such businesses or public services will have to take on extra staff to cover any shortfalls, meaning extra costs overall.

One such company that ran into several of these practical issues when implementing it across their business is Engineering and Industrial supplies company Allcap. Despite reducing the frequency of their staff’s three-day weekend to once every fortnight (due to the nature of their business), they found adapting to the 4-day workweek model difficult, particularly with the increase in daily workload. Employees found it difficult to benefit from the extra day of rest that they had available, as their new week structure now meant that they had gone from ‘’10 normal working days to 9 intense ones’’, making them exhausted by the end of their week. Added to this was the difficulty in finding enough staff to cover for the absences of employees on their free day when holidays, sickness and caring responsibilities were all factored in. Ultimately, and with two months of the trial still planned in, Allcap was forced to abandon across its main trade sites.

Mass Rollout Or Mass Walkout?

As seen from numerous other examples in the trial results, it is certainly not a one-size-fits-all approach and not all businesses can afford the wiggle room needed to adapt to it, which raises valid concerns about its applicability on a larger scale.

Its scalability isn’t the only question mark about it either, as there is the concern of how sustainable it can be over longer periods of time than just the 6 months, considering the unknown long-term impact of a 4-day workweek’s intense work pattern on the physical and mental well-being of employees.

Could the exact reasons for pushing ahead with the pilot around staff wellbeing lead to a worsened state in the long run? It does very much depend on the sector, the type of work being conducted, and the expectations of the customer base – and on that basis it is harder to see how this could be rolled out en masse irrespective of these nuances.

So what next for the trial? And where does all this leave us with regard to the current state of affairs?

Post pandemic, it is clear that there is a growing focus on greater flexibility from employees who are more mindful of when, where, and how they work. In turn, there has been much narrative from businesses around hybrid, flexi, remote-working and analysis of these changes on the impact on business performance and productivity.

Undoubtedly, there has already been a seismic shift in working patterns as numerous companies move to more flexible means of working, but is a further shift to a shorter week on top of this a step too far – at the moment at least?

“Even as the value of the pound goes up and down, the value of people’s time doesn’t.”

Summed up nicely by the above quote from Programme Manager Alex Soojung-Kim Pang at 4-Day Week Global, perhaps the biggest litmus test for the 4-day model, and currently its biggest barrier to a much-anticipated systematic change, is how well it can fare in not just the current economic climate, but an ever-changing one.

With vacancies harder to fill, and potentially more staff on the books (for some sectors) to accommodate a 4-day workweek, it simply isn’t an option at the moment for some, and whether it can still be as viable and as practical in unfavourable conditions remains to be seen.

One thing is for sure, change won’t happen overnight.

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.