Legal salaries have increased by double digits in recent years, but that hasn’t stopped many companies from having trouble filling open positions. A majority of businesses now see difficulties in finding and keeping good employees as a significant threat to their long-term financial health.
As they try to find solutions to these employment issues, law firms are learning that compensation is just one factor among several. If you want to win the talent battle, you need to provide current and potential colleagues and business management employees with a number of essential benefits.
You can better recruit and keep great employees by implementing these five strategies.
1. Flexibility is a priority
For many years, legal firms were reluctant to embrace the concept of remote work, with the widespread belief that the nature of their business required everyone on the team to be physically present at the office at all times. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, however, everyone was ordered home, and those teams quickly demonstrated that they could perform practically all of their regular duties from home, given the correct tools.
As a result, some of the most forward-thinking businesses have adopted cloud-based solutions that allow for easy integration with existing infrastructure and cause only minimal interruption to day-to-day operations.
Employees who have proven their worth while working remotely often hope that their newfound independence will be permanent. The notion of in-office work is only one of several that high-performing team members seek from their companies, whether for work-life balance, wellness, or basic flexibility in working hours.
2. Opportunities to Grow
Recent law school graduates are eager to put their classroom knowledge to use and get a taste of what it’s like to practice law in the real world. While it’s important to have fresh eyes looking into legal precedent, doing so for extended periods of time can easily lead to fatigue.
The lack of cutting-edge research tools is especially problematic. Not only does this make workers less productive, but it could also send the message that the company does not appreciate them.
By equipping them with cutting-edge tools, they are able to complete more tasks in less time. Moreover, students can gain a deeper understanding of the law by doing so. There are, however, further approaches that may be taken to enliven a new employee’s first days on the job. For instance:
- Team participation: They will be able to observe how planning sessions are conducted and hear directly from their teammates about what is expected of them. Most significantly, they will have a greater sense of agency over the situation.
- Mentorship system: New hires in sales and management positions want to feel like they’re contributing to something meaningful. They don’t want to feel like outsiders who have to “earn” their place on the team, and would rather contribute right away. If your legal firm doesn’t currently have a formal mentorship program in place, it’s time to start one.
- Learning plans: In addition to receiving guidance from more experienced workers, new hires value information about advancement opportunities inside the company. They may foresee where they will be in two, five, or ten years by creating a growth strategy. If employees can identify where they fit into the company’s long-term plans, it increases the likelihood that they will stay with the company over the long haul.
3. Purposeful Work
Today’s entrants into the workforce are united by a desire to improve the world. They want the time they spend at work to matter as much as the time they spend volunteering for causes they care about.
It’s important to think about the areas where your company has the most inherent influence – its mission. Do so as one of your advertising campaigns. Be sure to periodically highlight projects that further your mission to remind current employees that their efforts are appreciated.
Find out what motivates them on a personal level, and direct them toward projects with clients that share that passion. Permit new employees to use the company’s tools for charitable causes. On the contrary, you should support them when they wish to investigate an issue that is little outside the firm’s normal scope. It’s okay if they become emotional over it. And try to share in their enthusiasm.
4. Generations: Understanding Millennials and Gen Z
Given that millennials and Gen Z now make up the bulk of the working population, these factors are crucial. The eldest members of the millennial generation are now in their forties, and the eldest members of the zoom generation are also in their forties.
Most of other older millennials can remember a time before cell phones and the internet, but they quickly became avid adopters of these innovations once they became widely available. By contrast, today’s Zoomers (Gen Z) can’t remember a time when cutting-edge gadgets weren’t at their fingertips.
Both millennials and Gen Xers have grown up with high-tech tools at their fingertips, making access to such tools a practically mandatory feature when evaluating potential employers. Gen Z make up the vast majority of new hires, and millennials are just now starting to assume leadership roles in many companies, so it stands to reason that employers will place an even greater premium on cutting-edge tools.
Baby Boomers and Gen X may feel a huge disconnect from the younger generation, especially seeing their different work styles now that millennials and Gen z’s are now of working age. It is important for the older generation to be open-minded to avoid generational culture wars. To read more about generational culture wars, check out Lordping.co.uk.
5. Technology
Competition for great talent is now almost as intense as that for new customers. If you want your company to succeed in today’s market, you need to cultivate a culture that appeals to both younger and older workers.
Having the most cutting-edge legal technology may not be as important as ensuring a good fit with their own values. If you take a moment now to assess your company’s present legal technology stack, you’ll be in a better position to compete with other companies offering similar opportunities.
Plus, your company will reap the full efficiency, production, and profit gains that come from investing in cutting-edge technology.
