A compelling case for staff engagement

If you're familiar with the saying 'get big, get niche or get out' you may wonder what a mid-sized, full-service law firm is to do when it wants to thrive and grow.

At Buckles, we have focused our strategy around linking customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and financial measures and within this, employee engagement is proving to be a major force in delivering results.

There's a clear business case for employee engagement with research showing well-engaged employees achieve higher productivity, as well as shaping positive customer experiences. But execution and measurement is key. It's important, but not enough, to implement wellbeing programmes for staff (ours includes free on-site staff gym, fruit bowls, massages, reflexology, financial advice and health checks) and team up for charity (our staff are actively encouraged to take paid time off for community support).

We use a structured approach, placing the employee at the heart of the company, based on the methodology of the national Best Companies to Work For index, which we've entered for the past three years. This measures eight workplace factors that influence engagement and we have devised activities around those indicators, seeking independent feedback from staff and measuring progress annually. The eight factors are:

• My company

• My team

• My manager

• Leadership

• Personal growth

• Fair deal

• Giving something back

• Wellbeing

Of these, leadership and management can disproportionately impact staff engagement. Law school doesn't train lawyers to be leaders or managers, so we ensure they have the skills and support, through training and coaching, to achieve the necessary mind-shift. This is not a quick fix, but a structured three-year plan.

For all staff, we want a fit with our behaviours and values, and this is reinforced at each stage of the employee life cycle - from recruitment through to performance reviews, development and progression. We don't want 'yes' people, we want people who will push change, as that drives engagement and innovation.

Flexibility and autonomy are fundamental, so everyone, from the most junior, is given responsibility for managing their caseload and outputs. More than 30 per cent of staff work flexibly, an approach that has recently attracted two high-flying female lawyers with young families to join us from large London firms. One, for example, leaves at 3pm to spend time with her children, logging back on at 7pm. In our new Nottingham office, two male team members share the school run with their partners, alternating between early starts and late finishes. It's about finding a solution that works for the individual and for the business, whilst still delivering for clients.

Where women are on maternity leave, we recognise that huge change causes re-evaluation. We don't want to lose skilled staff, so we keep them involved in the firm with regular contact days combined with a can-do attitude to enable new families manage the work-life balance. Our managing partner has two children, and has balanced caring responsibilities and significant business growth during her leadership. Her focus on outcomes, rather than 'presentism', and active encouragement of different work patterns has helped build an agile, well-motivated workforce. This was key in my decision to join, offering the chance to fulfil a senior role whilst balancing caring responsibilities. I have a young family and generally work a four-day week.

The Law Society is using the firm as a case study for equality and diversity, recognising our approach to women team members, and certainly the sector will need to address how it nurtures female staff, with increasing numbers of women solicitors and partners expected by 2020.

We can see real progress, through our own assessment and the annual Best Companies index (where we are within a whisker of 2-star status) and believe that's because we deliver to staff. We ask for feedback and when we receive it, those ideas or suggestions are acted upon; or if they're not feasible we explain why, and look at other ways of achieving the objective.

By seeing progress being made, staff feel connected to the business and the role they can play. This has built credibility and encouraged staff to speak up, challenge and co-create projects. We have embedded a project management approach so that deliverables can be tracked, risks identified and lessons learnt so we continually evolve and refine. We are very much a learning organisation.

No single killer point will deliver our strategy of differentiation, for us or any firm. It is the sum of many small things. Engagement is a fundamental and compelling component, proven so far through the calibre of staff we are recruiting, our retention rates and very low absenteeism, alongside our financial results which show annual net profit growth of over 8 per cent and annual super profit growth of nearly 16 per cent.

True engagement is not a quick fix, it takes sustained focus, stamina, perseverance, courage to try new things - and not be afraid to fail - and commitment to the purpose.

Jennie Oliver, chief operating officer, Buckles Solicitors