Branding from the inside out

Brand differentiation in the legal profession is notoriously difficult but, by linking brand values to people management, firms may succeed in making their brand promises a reality – which will positively impact client perception.

By Beverly Landais, director of marketing and business development, Baker & McKenzie LLP

Branding to create a clear point of difference between law firms has never been more difficult. Recent client research conducted by First Counsel Consulting indicates that 70 per cent of those interviewed think law firms are poorly differentiated from one another¹.

Indeed, at a glance, many law-firm websites reveal similar claims of internationalism, superior expertise, technical excellence, depth of industry sector knowledge and focus on client service. Marketing campaigns proliferate and client-relationship management (CRM) is the mantra of the moment. Yet the commoditisation of legal services has never been more evident. So how can a law firm stand out from the crowd?

A brand is not simply a logo or advertising tagline; it is a promise to perform. The most successful brands deliver consistently what the marketing promises it will do. If one takes the view that a law-firm brand is an intangible asset that exists purely in the minds of clients, it follows that a firm’s brand can be damaged or enhanced by the reality of the service delivered and experienced by the client. The research by First Counsel Consulting also reveals that satisfaction is no longer enough; service that is merely ‘good’ is no longer a guarantee of client loyalty. A score of eight points out of ten has become the service-level ‘norm’, the minimum expectation. The secret to developing a distinctive law-firm brand, therefore, appears to be to focus on service.

But what does this mean in reality? To live and nurture a service brand requires an infrastructure, well-structured training and working practices that encourage behaviour that builds and supports the promises a firm makes about its ability to perform. At Baker & McKenzie we are building our reputation for delivering great client service by providing our people with a ‘development framework’ that enables them to understand what high performance and superb service looks like in our firm.

The development framework establishes the standards, behaviours and skills required of our people in a client-centric culture. It provides the practical tools and support that enables each to be successful in what they do, whatever their job. It also creates a common language for discussing achievement and defining the necessary steps to attain it. Ultimately, it provides a blueprint for our people to do what it takes to deliver on our promise of great service to clients.

The Baker & McKenzie way

The genesis of the development framework was when the results of the 2001 and 2002 associate surveys came in from Baker & McKenzie’s 69 offices in 38 countries. The marked consistency of the findings meant that it was clearly important to address the matters raised.

Similar to those under discussion in other large international law firms, the areas of concern included the need for a clear career path, good quality feedback, the setting of expectations and a development support system.

The Baker & McKenzie executive committee recognised the business sense in taking action to meet these requirements. “The most successful businesses listen to their people, spend time to understand their views and take action on the issues raised,” says executive committee member Russell Lewin. “Not only is this necessary in order to retain the employees in whom a substantial investment has been made, but there is also a well-documented link between employee satisfaction, client satisfaction and the success of a business. Quite simply, employee motivation has a direct impact on the service that clients receive and their experience – good or bad – goes straight to the bottom line.”

The beginnings – how and why?

Around this time, Daljit Singh and David Coleman joined the firm as directors of learning and development from similar roles at KPMG and PwC respectively.

Located on opposite sides of the globe (Sydney and London), they were tasked with finding a response to the issues raised by the survey. The need for a platform that would work across the firm meant that Singh and Coleman worked to produce a fully integrated solution.

The resulting firm-wide development framework brings together a number of people-related areas, including training and personal development, performance reviews, recruitment and selection, and other related HR processes.

“Our fundamental objectives were to put in place a framework which would drive the development of our lawyers and improve the quality and consistency of their performance and thus drive up client satisfaction,” explains Coleman. The starting point was to identify Baker & McKenzie best practice, as well as those individuals who were achieving it. Of utmost importance was development and testing at a global level.

Over 40 offices contributed to the creation of the framework, thus ensuring that the framework was based on findings from within the firm rather than being imposed from a single location or from generic research not specifically tailored to Baker & McKenzie’s own culture.

Use of consultants

To gain the necessary insight into the skills and behaviours of Baker & McKenzie’s most successful lawyers, occupational psychologists were engaged to identify the drivers of high performance in the firm. A number of offices were asked to nominate their high-flyers, resulting in a group of partners and associates who were interviewed by the psychologists. The outcome of these interviews was a list of personal qualities (PQs) that are highly personal to and highly resonant with the firm. Some of the PQs, such as ‘intellect’ and ‘dedication’, would be expected of lawyers at any top law firm. However, some of the qualities identified and the overall mix are undoubtedly unique to the firm and reflective of its culture.

Programme details

The development framework is a fully supported programme that contains all the tools, guidance and procedures to help Baker & McKenzie lawyers succeed.

It sets out the requirements at every level of career progression, as well as practical ways to reach the next step and improve performance. This is not about developing trainees through to qualification or associates into partners: it is a route map that provides clear, objective standards at all levels.

When it comes to annual evaluation, staff are now asked to assess themselves against five client-focused key-performance areas (KPAs), which is leading to better quality discussions in the review meetings. As well as a Baker & McKenzie-specific definition for each KPA, specific, measurable examples as to what this means at each job level are also provided. Thus those involved in the performance review can use the common language provided.

“The implementation of the development framework in performance reviews has made us all consider aspects of performance that, previously, may well have been overlooked,” says corporate partner James Burdett.

“In doing so, we find that we naturally develop a more rounded view of an individual’s performance. But it’s by no means a one-way street and the development framework has, without doubt, made me appreciate the need to be more disciplined and structured in the way I give feedback, not only in the formal performance reviews but throughout the year as well. The framework is not just about appraisals and feedback either; skills training has also become an integral part of the process now.”

A comprehensive learning resources database features recommended books and articles, on-the-job tips, e-learning programmes, team-based activities and instructor-led courses. As this is web-based, all associates and partners, no matter where they are based, have equal access to these resources.

Other aspects of people management are gradually being included within the scope of the development framework. “We have started to use the framework in the partnership-assessment process. Recruitment and selection is also on the agenda for the near future,” says Coleman.

Addressing the subject of whether this is liable to produce a firm of Baker & McKenzie clones, Coleman adds, “It’s important to recognise the extent of flexibility offered by the framework, which I believe to be one of the most sophisticated currently operating in the legal profession. If we take just one simple performance expectation, such as ‘building profile’, this will be demonstrated in different ways for each individual according to their practice group, office and job level.”

Monitoring success

Maintaining a flexible approach is vital to the long-term success of the development framework. “The framework is intended as a working tool and its performance needs to be continually monitored. It comes alive when put into practice, but this will only carry on while it meets the needs of the firm,” says Singh.

The scale of the programme means that it requires a firm grip from different angles to keep it on track, particularly in the critical early stages. Commitment to the programme from the partnership was demonstrated when professional-development partners from across the Baker & McKenzie network met recently at the firm’s annual meeting in Singapore to share experiences and make recommendations for future developments. A working group is to be established by the end of the year to draw upon the expertise of the HR professionals across the firm. The external consultants will also be revisiting the scheme to ensure it is fostering the qualities that they had identified.

“The Baker & McKenzie development framework provides us with the unique capability of uniformly driving high quality performance for all our lawyers across the firm. It reflects the reality of our international culture and our global approach to client service and the practice of law,” says Nicholas Coward, executive committee member and chairman of the knowledge and professional development committee.

Aligning organisational behaviour with the external brand promise

To be successful, law firm brands must be nurtured and managed from the inside out. A classic mistake is to pour money into cosmetic image makeovers and expensive marketing campaigns without appropriate attention being paid to doing what it takes to actually deliver the promise made. Yet this is not to say communication isn’t important. It is. You won’t win with a brand if nobody knows about it and what it offers. And having a consistent visual identity and joined-up approach to marketing and promotion is an important step to developing profile. However, investing in image without equal effort being placed on continuously improving the service that is offered is a mistake. A brand strategy that focuses first on the importance of aligning organisational attitude and behaviour with the external brand promise can and will result in successful business development.

At Baker & McKenzie we believe that the development framework is a key component to our strategy of branding from the inside out. However, it is the beginning not the end of the process of striving for continuous improvement and we are honing our approach as we gather feedback from our people and clients.

Reference:

1. First Counsel consulting, face-to-face interviews with 70 clients, November 2005

Beverly Landais is director of marketing and business development at Baker & McKenzie LLP. She has recently been appointed to the editorial board of Ark Group’s new publication, Legal Marketing. She can be contacted at beverly.landais@bakernet.com