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I Just Want to be Appreciated

11/4/2012

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In the early stages of working with Law Firms, one of the things we always do is talk with the existing staff and ask them to list three things they love about working for the firm and three things they dislike.

We do this because most of the gripes tend to be small things that can be fixed quite quickly and cheaply and when staff see that “things are happening” they tend to come forward with other, bigger suggestions and before you know it, a lot of the problems are fixed.


But no matter the size of the Firm or where they are located, the things that staff like or dislike tend to be the same, or very similar things.

The list they create can be anonymous by handing in notes on a bit of paper or made in an open forum, such as a small group. But no matter which way we use, the outcomes are nearly always the same.

The results are that they nearly always like who they work with. They like the social events, such as last year’s Christmas party and they might also like being located in town.

However, when it comes to the “dislike” list they nearly always put down the first dislike as; “underappreciated”.

In a recent Gallup Poll  71% of workers are “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” in their work, meaning that only a third contribute to their work in a positive manner. I would say that from our anecdotal surveys it’s probably higher than that.

But let’s take that one step further and see what it really means for the Firm or business these disgruntled people work in.

By asking the people who listed “underappreciated” exactly what they mean, we discovered that the knock-on effect of this was enormous and had a big impact on the whole business. 

For example, when we hear comments such as “The partners don’t appreciate me and don’t really value the work I do” we ask how that makes them feel and how does it manifest itself on a daily basis.

It means they arrive as late as possible and leave exactly on time. They don’t go the extra mile on anything. They make no real effort to help others. They don’t provide the kind of service they would if they felt appreciated. This ripples through and affects overall productivity, leading to negativity and low morale which inevitably leads to increased staff turnover; all at a time when many firms are struggling to survive.

And yet, the remedy is easy to implement.

Why?  Well, when we ask the partners if they appreciate their staff, guess what? They do. 

They just don’t tell them.

So the simple solution is to tell them.

Telling them can be done in a variety of ways but often the simplest solution is the best one such as saying “Thank you. Your contribution makes a difference” or better still, writing to them, emailing them or by creating some service awards or as many of the staff say…by giving us a pay rise!

The partners do actually want to give a pay rise, but until some things change, that might not be possible. So what else can be done?

Well, the army is not the place you would ordinarily look to in matters of staff appreciation. They also have other names for it such as man-management and its counterparts, motivation and leadership.

You might think that an army has nothing much to do with a law firm, but let me give you some examples of their thinking and see if any of it could apply to a law firm.

Field Marshal The Viscount Montgomery of Alamein defined leadership as “The will to dominate together with the character which inspires confidence.” He went on to say that “…a leader has got to learn to dominate the events which surround him; he must never allow these events to get the better of him; he must always be on top of his job and be prepared to accept responsibility.”

Wouldn’t it be good if a few partners demonstrated these abilities?

General Sir John Hackett said “…when speaking of leadership I do so in the context of a leader in battle; in battle, pressures are high and the problems of leadership stand out. But while battle may be unique but the problems it exposes are not. Leadership is concerned with getting people to do things willingly when it is most keenly needed, when difficulties, doubts and dangers are at their greatest.  Successful leadership is impossible without the leader’s commitment to the group in his care.”

There is no doubt that the Legal Services Act, ABS’s, the recession (it IS actually a depression but won’t be called that for at least 5 years) all combine to make it feel as if we are in a battle.  Difficulties, doubts and dangers are at their greatest.

So are you as “leaders” committed to your group?  You almost certainly appreciate them, but do you tell them?

If not, what’s stopping you?

(Oh, and the other two dislikes on the list?  IT systems and pay…nearly always those two)

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A Remarkable Firm

1/4/2012

1 Comment

 
One of the great things about working with Law firms who “get it” is seeing the day when everything comes together; because there is usually one day when the collective firm has taken in enough information and all the bits suddenly fit together nicely.

One such day happened last Friday.


But before we talk about Friday, let me briefly explain how they got there.

The firm in question had “merged” in late 2008 with a similar sized firm because they could see that the many external forces that had eroded their income were simply not going to go away and merging could at least reduce some of their costs. 

But even since that merger, they had been butting against their overdraft; the partners had already had to put more money into the firm and they had made redundancies and taken pay cuts…and they had almost run out of ideas.  I say “almost” because one of the partners suggested getting some outside help.

That decision was taken about a year ago.

Following an initial consultation and a Strategy day, the firm decided to implement some changes; nothing major, just some basic business changes to make fee earners accountable and make their billing slicker and cash collection more systematised.

That eight month process culminated yesterday in an event attended by everyone in the firm.  And I mean everyone.

The purpose of the event was to outline to everyone in the firm what had happened and more importantly, what was going to happen in the future; but it was also an opportunity for peace and reconciliation and a chance for all staff to not only vent their feelings but to make suggestions.

Although the whole day was uplifting, the best part for me was the Managing Partner’s opening talk.

I only wish we had recorded it because I would be proud to send a copy to every partner in every struggling law firm with the message that “…it can be done”. You can rescue your firm, grow it and have a positive future.

The opening talk set the scene for the day, but it also set the scene for future of their firm. The Managing Partner drew a line under the events of the past; fully explained to everyone how all the partners had felt about the redundancies they had been forced to make and apologised for getting many things wrong.

And it was a genuine apology; not the sort of apology you see politicians making but a real “from the heart” message that they were sorry that they had let things get as bad as they did and sorry that they had handled some things badly but they had now taken action and it was working.  

The apology also carried forward in that they suggested that they may make some mistakes in the future, but at least everyone in the firm could see that they had their best interests at heart; the whole of the firm and not just the partners.

During the coffee break I not only spoke to some of the staff but I also hovered near to clusters of conversations and I never heard one cynical word about the “speech” but I did hear lots of positive ones.

From then on, the positive tone carried forward onto the next group of speakers.  Each departmental partner spoke for 5 minutes on what they did and what they were looking for; not in a dull monotone way, but chatty, humorous and engaging. 

The day was also peppered with inspirational videos clips, short talks, suggestions on improvements as well as short tasks where everyone came up with marketing suggestions and ways to improve the firm. And it wasn’t all about the big stuff.  Suggested improvements included better access to stationery, keeping the free tea and coffee and getting cleaners in more often!

Finally, (and this was only about 2.30pm) they had an awards ceremony.

The awards went out to staff who had “gone the extra mile” or  “who showed a positive attitude” and each one was met with rapturous applause as well as tears from some of the recipients.

But there was an award for everyone as they left.  As they filed out into the sunshine, there were business cards on the table for everyone in the firm.  Every single person got business cards ....and Easter Eggs for them or their kids.

As one exited lady opened her pack up she had tears in her eyes. “I’ve never, ever had anything like this in my life” she said to me.  I asked her for her card.  She laughed and remembered our talk earlier on stage. She wiped the back of her hand across her face and apologised for being silly, then she gently handed me the card with both hands.

The card had her name and all the details of the firm but no title (I knew that was deliberate…but that she didn’t) so I asked her “And what do you do?”

“I work for the best law firm in the North East” she replied.

Enough said.

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    After many years paying lawyers,I became one in 2005 Just in time for the largest upheaval in the law since records began. Brilliant. Exiting times ahead.

    Disclaimer.  The thoughts, ideas and comments on this Blawg ("Blawg - a legal Blog) are my own and not to be confused (unless otherwise stated) with anyone else and certainly not of anyone in the Firm where I used to work and they are not the views of the firm where I used to work.

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