denotes premium content | Sep 6 2008 Managing Partner archive
Volume 6 Issue 6
Special focus: Strategic HR for law firms
HR has become a popular subject in many law firms, as the profession attempts to benchmark itself against blue-chip clients, competing with law firms to provide the best services by paralleling the client’s business operations both externally and internally. On an external level, firms are keen to demonstrate value-added services based on a good knowledge of their clients’ businesses and the markets in which they operate. To strengthen and support those services, however, firms are recognising the importance of focusing on their internal infrastructure. And, in a business where profitability lies in the knowledge and expertise of the firm’s people, the concept of HR has won many supporters.
The trend is best reflected by the number of HR professionals hired by law firms over recent years. As contributors to this issue demonstrate, they have been hired from a broad spectrum of companies, from accountancy firms such as KPMG (Jill King, Lovells) to the Royal Navy (Robert Halton, DLA). The expectation is that they will add their management expertise to firms that, until recently, would have baulked at the idea of dealing with anyone other than lawyers.
Driven by this new expertise, HR is evolving from an administrative function to a core strategic component of the business, closely integrated with marketing, IT and finance. Firm-wide training, performance development and one-on-one coaching activities have become familiar attributes of legal HR, designed to create a culture of knowledge sharing and better client-relationship management, all closely aligned to an overall business-development plan.
It’s all very impressive considering the inherent difficulties of partnerships moving to such corporate ideals. Lawyers are not renowned for their love of management and those who are elected to management roles are often burdened with the task for a short while only before they can resume their legal work, leaving any management duties to the next on the electoral list. This month’s roundtable, with HR directors from Clifford Chance, CMS Cameron McKenna and DLA, reveals some of the problems HR professionals face when working with partners, convincing individuals of the merits of their strategy and reinforcing their efforts through successive elections that might completely change the firm’s leadership.
It remains to be seen whether firms really have changed or if there is a considerable gap between rhetoric and reality. After all, for all the evidence of training schemes and performance appraisals, initiatives for flexible working and better offices, including restaurants, gyms and swimming pools, there remain the stories of woefully long hours, poor internal communication, non-existent feedback and impossible targets.
For some firms, there is little doubt that rapid advances have been made and the working environment is better than ever before. For many others, however, there is still a long way to go. And, until they take the first steps, the only thing that is going to suffer is the business, as the best recruits go elsewhere, and clients begin to see the benefits of working with firms that have an integrated, knowledge-sharing, cross-selling culture.
Caroline Poynton
Editor
Features
Legal technology: Coping with e-mail
It is not that long ago that e-mail was still being talked about as the “killer app” that would really change the way lawyers work. And it certainly has – although perhaps not in the way originally envisaged if reports that in some City firms fee earners are spending as much of 40 per cent of their time dealing with e-mail are anything to go by.
Thought leader
I have to confess to a mix of feelings at this time of the year – seasonal melancholy overwritten by a renewed sense of anticipation. The cause of this condition is not the changing colours of the foliage but rather the arrival of the annual intake of new trainees into my firm. I recognise that both emotions may be attributable to my age.
By the people, for the people: Making the strategic HR voice heard
The corporate world has long adopted HR processes as an integral part of business development. Law firms lag behind, however, in part restrained by the individualism of the partnership structure and in part by constructs such as the billable hour, which make practical change difficult. Jill King, director of HR and knowledge management at Lovells, examines the challenges for implementing an HR initiative and explains why she believes that successful HR is all about sustainable partner buy-in.
Thank your lucky stars: Putting your partners at the heart of successful business development
Taylor Wessing’s director of business strategy, Simon Slater, sees service delivery in a different light to many. Rather than focus on the services a firm can deliver to new and existing clients, he suggests that firms should turn the spotlight inwards to ensure their partners are happy and given every opportunity to shine. Only then, he argues, can law firms look forward to a truly productive and profitable business for all.
It’s no big deal: Overcoming the pain of giving feedback
While many lawyers can ably communicate their client’s position on a legal case, the same cannot always be said of their ability to communicate effectively with their staff. What’s the problem? Why are conversations concerning performance often so terrifying for those concerned? Magdalene Lavery, co-founder and strategic director at Davies Lavery Solicitors, attempts to answer these questions by looking at ways of taking the sting out of delivering feedback, and turning it into a valuable experience for both parties.
Where’s it all going? Getting the best out of your senior lateral hires
Despite the trials and tribulations of a flat market, many firms have continued to make lateral hires, expending time, money and essential resources on appointments that they hope will drive profitability. However, for such an important strategic decision, many firms remain entrenched in silos, making decisions based on short-term needs. Ian Reaves, partner in charge of business development at Hammonds, argues a practical case for business development through strategic recruitment.
It just can’t be done? Building a law firm from scratch
It is all very well discussing strategic HR within the context of a well-established firm that is looking for new ways to build profitability and growth. However, what part does it play in the bigger picture, in building a business from nothing to win a good reputation with clients and staff? Professor Lorne Crerar, managing partner of Harper Macleod, describes the development of the firm from its first days in a converted sandwich shop to double-award winner at the Scottish Legal Awards 2003.
The importance of knowledge management
Knowledge-management strategies are a natural partner to HR, especially as the term human capital has become more popular with its emphasis on firm-wide knowledge sharing and organisational learning. Karen Battersby, course leader of Nottingham Law School’s postgraduate diploma in knowledge management for legal practice, explores the components of a knowledge-management system and highlights the range of benefits knowledge sharing can have in UK law firms.
Regulars
How far is too far? Following the path of a mover and shaker
Nigel Knowles really doesn’t need to raise his profile. His reputation as managing partner of DLA precedes him as his firm marches on its seemingly never-ending expansion. Caroline Poynton, however, couldn’t resist trying to find out a little more about the man at the top of a firm that preaches values and vision and proclaims itself to be different.
It’s a people thing
A law firm provides a service that is dependent on its people, including their knowledge, client-relationship skills and practical experience. Five years ago, however, few would have known where to start with HR management. Caroline Poynton talks to HR directors at Clifford Chance, CMS Cameron McKenna and DLA, as well as Professor Philip Styles of the University of Cambridge, to see how far things have changed and why.
