The profession has changed considerably. There was a time when keeping your talent was a matter of a solid compensation plan and a steady workload. As we noted in “Reducing Turnover at Your Law Firm,” those days are behind us, largely because the workforce itself has changed.
The supply of genuinely strong lawyers has not kept pace with demand, so the best of them are recruited hard and move easily. Unless a firm offers real fulfillment, it is unlikely to keep them.
A firm that does not adjust will feel it in morale first. Three ways to protect it:
Create a Comfortable Work Environment
We tend to equate a pleasant workplace with decor, and to picture game rooms, elaborate coffee stations and ping pong tables.
Those have their place. A positive environment usually has more to do with a collaborative, transparent and well-organized office than with a fashionable one.
Give Your Talent Room to Grow
Not everyone shares the same motivation, and the most ambitious are usually driven by growth. Since only some of them will make partner, room to grow has to mean more than promotion. It means a culture with continuing opportunities to develop, train and build a network.
Foster Continuous Improvement
The firm itself should be improving alongside the people in it. The way to make that stick is to build it into how the office runs, so that growth and continued learning are simply the pattern.
Finally, develop an exit interview process. Properly run, it tells you what to improve and helps you chart the firm’s next few years. People who are content in their work tend to stay, and the work tends to show it.
OnBoard Legal understands what it takes to build a team people want to stay on. Call us at (855) 732-7242.