Engaging your senior associates in finding solutions to retention issues

As the economy begins to show some flicker of cautious recovery, the job market is responding with gusto. Headhunters are apparently busier than they have been in years, firms are more confident about investment and those that have been 'sitting tight' through the recession are more curious about new opportunities.

These behaviours are still cautious and tentative, but I feel it is the start of a phase of active and strategic recruitment by law firms, which means there is opportunity for us all. But, this also means there is a heightened need to engage our talent and positively manage our businesses to keep our best people. Added to that are rumours in the legal market that the larger law firms are looking to make good pay rises this year.

Talent retention has formed and continues to form a key part of our strategic plan in the battle to maintain our firm's market position and achieve growth in a difficult economy. But, with limited budgets, an environment in which good-quality work has been harder to win and there are pricing (with resultant profitability) challenges, how can you ensure that your best people stay with your firm?

I believe that you need to engage your talent in finding the solution. Make them feel valued, ensure that their input and ideas are listened to and that they feel part of forming the future and strategy of the firm that they will hopefully one day lead.

Reward and recognition

I have spent a great deal of time over the past 12 months working with our senior associate team on a project entitled 'Reward and Recognition'. My objective at the outset was to introduce them to some of the aspects of leadership, including producing a strategy and engaging them with the business, communications, budgeting and people management.

They took it well beyond my original goal - their plan to engage the firm on the topic of reward and recognition was on brand, in line with the business plan, creative, refreshing and inspiring (reflecting all of our firm's values). Leaders emerged from the group, people began to identify their own strengths and what they could bring to the team and they got the whole firm behind them.

One of the key strands of their plan was to host lunches with all staff below partner level to get feedback on the firm's attitude to reward and recognition - a strategy requiring maturity and good leadership. They handled the feedback responsibly, communicated well with the business and generally raised morale - not only within their group but across the firm.

The most interesting outcome for me was the level of responsibility and accountability they now feel as a group to act on the feedback they have received and to try to act on some of the ideas that were presented by their colleagues in the firm. They are all engaged as a team in making the business even better, driving behaviours and making people across the firm feel as if they have a voice and can influence how things are done. They are empowered.

Avoiding complacency

As the market continues to improve and recruitment activity continues to increase, we will need to be even more alive to the threat of our key lawyers leaving our business.

Our firm's reward and recognition project has engaged our talent, made them think about values and behaviours and (hopefully) encouraged our best to stay and be part of our future.

I suppose the biggest question for all leaders of professional services firms is whether we have identified our talent, what we are doing to engage them and whether we are confident that, when the headhunter call comes, they will stay. We certainly cannot afford to be complacent.