Opinion: Thought leader

By Sasha Scott, managing director, Inclusive Diversity Ltd

My opening question when training lawyers on diversity is ‘what does diversity mean to your firm?’ Just a year ago I would have expected a look of mystification from my audience. Many lawyers questioned the relevance of the issue to them and why they needed training at all.

When I ask the question today I am more encouraged. At least lawyers seem to have grasped the point that diversity is a major issue. Firms know they need to address it, but can be unsure how.

From experience I have found that fee-earners seem to be more aware than partners. This may be age-related – younger employees tend to be more in tune with the zeitgeist – but largely I think it is because clients are driving the push for diversity. Major names in business are leading the way, with Barclays the first big player to demand diversity information from its legal service providers. Only last month Microsoft UK terminated a supplier that had a poor diversity policy. If this is a trend, law firms will have no option but to respond.

Increasingly clients ask for information about a firm’s diversity initiatives during a pitch. The fee-earner unable to explain articulately why their firm has a Women’s Network will look foolish if his competitor can respond persuasively and refer to the firm’s global head of diversity and inclusion.

But diversity is so much more than policy. It is an appreciation of difference and turning that difference into a competitive advantage. I encourage clients to look beyond visual diversity and stereotypical assumptions on this subject. Every employee is unique, whether in terms of work style, culture, socio-economic background, class, lifestyle or even personality type. We encourage people managers, partners and senior associates to explore why they are so often biased towards working with mirror images of themselves.

We encourage delegates to recognise that working with people they perceive as ‘different’ can be a strength rather than a threat. Respectful interaction supports and increases performance. With retention rates among fee-earners in some firms alarming, firms could do worse than explore what it is about their culture that does not foster the desire to stay.

There is still a great deal of work to be done, but firms have come a long way. Diversity training programmes have moved on from tick-box ‘respect at work’ programmes to cognitive training techniques that go deeper into the firm’s fabric. The positive thing is that the move towards a real commitment to diversity and inclusion is underway and detractors have to reconsider.

Sasha Scott is managing director of Inclusive Diversity Ltd. She can be contacted at sasha@inclusivediversity.co.uk