Taking a consistent and firmwide approach to career conversations

People are your organisation's most important assets. Any business aiming to grow will fail to do so if it does not have the right people doing the right work at the right time.

Greater emphasis needs to be placed on preparing law firms for upcoming changes to their talent pool. Not only are baby-boomers approaching retirement age, but also many firms' workforces have changed in nature over the past five to six years. An increasing number of mid-career lawyers are changing track and seeking new career pathways, developing portfolio careers earlier than they did in the past.

This potential talent drain needs to be managed carefully if your firm's business is to be sustainable and grow in this ever-competitive marketplace. Learning and development teams can play a crucial role
in supporting the firm to achieve this essential balance in talent management,
but how often are they directly and proactively involved as part of a clear
talent management strategy?

Continuous care

Talent management is frequently undertaken by firms as part of their annual bonus allocation activity. This usually involves deciding who has done a great job,
who they fear may leave if they don't remunerate them handsomely, and who
they wish would leave the firm but are reluctant to manage out.

Structures for talent management often exist in the form of assessment and development centres for various levels of an individual's career pathway within the firm. However, it is still uncommon for firms to actively engage in regular career conversations with their high-potential employees outside their appraisal processes or to ask them how the firm can support their continued growth and development.

The ability to provide feedback and to conduct coaching conversations about career opportunities, performance and competence is critical to good talent management. L&D teams are able to assist partners and managers to hold such conversations. They are also able to have neutral career-development conversations with those seeking to progress their careers in the firm, without announcing their aspirations and ambitions to their managers.

However, these conversations are of limited use if there is no talent management strategy in place. These conversations
tend to be locally held within a team, rather than forming part of a firmwide discussion that explores new opportunities and exposes hidden potential.

Insightful firms with a talent management strategy in place are
able to identify the right people to meet client demands without having to explore records, rely on anecdotal evidence or partner favourites, because they have formally identified their high potentials.
They monitor their career progression, the nature of their experience and consciously move them into roles which will expose them to management challenges. These firms also provide their talented individuals with projects and work which will allow
them to grow into the leaders of the future.

Such an approach requires active talent management, which is often best undertaken by the L&D team. The team are best equipped to marry individual progress (or otherwise) with the appropriate development intervention. By adding talent management as a regular discussion item on the agenda of the firm's senior management team, they can ensure the firm is actively managing its talent and increasing its chances of retaining its best people.

Cascading responsibility is also essential if talent development is to be meaningful. It provides employees with a visible commitment from senior partners
and managers and demonstrates accountability in developing talent.

Successful firms will know the skills, knowledge and experience that future leaders will need and consciously plan appropriate development activities.
Having a variety of tools in place which supports and sustains a talent management strategy is important. A growth strategy which relies on organic growth will need different approaches to a firm which grows by acquisition, simply because the data about individuals will be of differing quality and reliability.

Education programmes should help individuals to understand the firm beyond their own team, establish networks and communities of practice, and support the continuous development of relationships and knowledge. Knowledge transfer
and sharing is a key component of
talent management.

Career conversations

Regardless of the strategy for the growth of a firm, the nature of career conversations does not change. The need for strong performance management, clarity around development options and opportunities for engagement of high potentials in proactively managing their careers is critical. The commitment of the leadership team, the talent pool, their line managers as well as HR and L&D will be essential if the firm's talent strategy is to deliver the leaders it requires in future.

Sue Beavil is UK learning and organisational development manager at international law firm Slater & Gordon (www.slatergordon.co.uk)