HR success: What partners should expect from HR professionals

23 Oct 2014Feature

Jill King explores the key ways in which HR professionals can support commercial and individual success in law firms

We've come a long way since the days when staff matters were dealt with by partners and their secretaries, with little or no professional HR advice. No self-respecting law firm today operates without an HR team of qualified professionals responsible for making the firm a great place to work and helping partners to motivate and develop their teams. The reputation of HR professionals in law firms has shifted significantly from administrators to trusted advisors or business partners, and the evidence suggests that firms have become better employers as a consequence.

However, it remains difficult for managing partners and practice leaders to know whether they are really getting the very best HR support or the very best from their HR professionals. Whilst many partners learn to trust, confide and even lean on their HR managers, they don't have a frame of reference to know what they could and should expect from the very best HR practitioners.

Partners instinctively know what a great lawyer looks like, but differentiating a great HR professional from a merely good one is more difficult. Without a benchmark, it is all too easy to become satisfied without realising that the partners in other departments, or in other firms, are better served. In today's market, with every firm waging a new war for talent, having the
very best HR support is critical to commercial success.

Strategic planning

Having business conversations with your HR professional is one of the best ways to test how good your HR support really is. Great HR professionals won't need much of an invitation; in fact, they will probably seek you out first. They are naturally fascinated by business and instinctively curious about the practice areas they support, the markets they operate within and the dynamics of the people within them. They ask lots of probing questions about revenue, competitors, clients, matters and profitability (see box: Great HR professionals ask partners
great questions).

Great HR professionals ask partners great questions

How is your practice doing against its revenue target?
What skills are you short of to achieve your business plan?
How well are your associates regarded by your key clients?
What does your talent pipeline look like?
How profitable are your senior associates?
Who are your potential future leaders?
How well is your partner group working together?

Great HR professionals are business people first and foremost. They want to understand the firm's strategy, its competitive position, and the business goals of the practice they are responsible for. They immerse themselves in the strategic goals of the practice and think through the people consequences to determine what they can contribute. They take an analytical approach and present ideas for a relevant people strategy (at a firm, practice or team level), that includes actions and responsibilities aligned to specific business objectives.

If the business plan requires growth in a particular area or country, for example, they will analyse current capabilities and suggest ways that expertise can be developed or transferred across practice areas. They will research the market to find out where talent can be sourced and come up with a resourcing plan that taps into talent wherever it can be found. They start with the business goal, ask probing questions to clarify the objective and translate their analysis into consequences for people
in the firm.

They don't come to partners with pre-defined HR policies or approaches that reflect the latest HR thinking but bear little relation to the business priorities of the practice. They refrain from talking in technical HR jargon. Instead, they pride themselves on having engaging business conversations that make partners sit up and think, and persuade partners to address people issues in their personal objectives and actions.

A good example of great HR people making a difference is in how to address the notoriously difficult issue of increasing cross-selling within a firm (see Figure 1). Whilst many partners would view this as a business priority and do their very best to connect partners across practice areas or offices, very few think of talking to their
HR professional about it.

Yet, as with many commercial issues in a people business, change will not happen unless there is a catalyst that mobilises people to act and behave differently around a shared objective. A great HR professional will see the opportunities and possibilities and actively work up ideas to discuss them with their respective practice leaders.

Professional independence

The best HR professionals don't sit at their computer screens responding to emails all day. They walk the corridors and attend practice meetings and social events. They see it as their role to engage with partners, associates and trainees. They seek out peoples' concerns, comments and feelings, and tap into their aspirations.

With a strong innate sense of professional integrity, the best HR professionals understand the need to remain professionally independent and know how to build trust and respect confidentiality. They learn to tread the line carefully between serving the partners (who pay their salaries and have an impact on their own careers) and being a discreet sounding board for trainees and associates. They take time to listen and find ways of relaying staff views and opinions to partners in ways that help them to make good people decisions and motivate their teams to achieve the highest possible performance.

The best HR professionals are not afraid to stand up to partners and challenge their views or their decisions. They know which are the important issues and they argue their case rationally, with strong evidence to back up their arguments (mirroring the way that lawyers think and work). They gain respect from partners by acting as a critical friend and they gain respect from associates by being honest and supporting them through both the
highs and the lows of their careers.

Insight and innovation

It is incumbent on partners to get the best out of their HR professionals and to use them as a source of insight, honest feedback, balanced judgment and innovative ideas (see box: Great questions for partners to ask their HR professionals).

Great questions for partners to ask their HR professionals

What’s on my associates’ minds?
Who’s struggling at the moment?
Is work allocation fair and stretching the right people?
How well are my partners giving feedback?
How engaged are secretaries in our client relationships?
What can I learn from other practice areas?
How am I doing as a leader?

Good HR professionals are perceptive about people and think about behaviours and motivations in a structured analytical way. Great HR professionals take this a step further by providing real insight into group dynamics, impediments to change and leadership styles. They support partners to look at issues from a different perspective, or to accept concepts that may run counter to their own assumptions about people or challenge the way that they view themselves.

Partners should expect their HR professionals to be extremely well networked, not just in their own practice areas but more widely across the firm and with partners and staff at all levels. This helps them to evaluate and compare performance and provide insight into engagement levels and practice capabilities relative to the firm as a whole. Great HR professionals are able to balance facts and different points of view and provide wise counsel about difficult and sensitive decisions.

Moving from ideas to innovation is another sign of great HR support. The best HR professionals read the business pages of the Financial Times, actively network with people in different industry sectors and keep an open mind and ear to new ways of thinking. They are not afraid to suggest radical solutions, whilst understanding the need to remain realistic about what is practical in a professional services organisation.

Having an HR professional who is able to think outside the box is a real advantage given the challenges of a business model under threat from new entrants, technology and unrelenting pressure on fees and profits. Many partners have never had the opportunity to experience or explore different ways of doing things. Great HR professionals bring innovative approaches to the table and adapt them to the needs of the business.

Personal qualities

Working in a law firm is not for everyone. Even the greatest HR professionals can find the internal dynamics of a partnership hard to deal with at times. However, for those who enjoy intellectual stimulation, relationship building and working with highly motivated clever people, there can be no better place to be. HR professionals who enjoy debating ideas, who have an analytical approach to problems and are comfortable with ambiguity and collaborative working are the ones who not just survive but thrive in a law firm environment.

There are clear personal qualities that distinguish the very best HR professionals from the rest (see Figure 2). These include intellectual rigour and curiosity, commercial acumen, courage, resilience and wise judgment - qualities that in fact reflect those we also expect in the very best lawyers. So, perhaps it is not so hard for lawyers to recognise great HR after all. They need only apply the same evaluative lens they apply amongst themselves. Great HR professionals and great lawyers have a huge amount in common; by working together, they can achieve great things.

Jill King is a consultant and the former global HR director at Linklaters
(www.jkinsights.co.uk)