The Good Wife

There is a fairly well-known article from the 1950’s which advises wives on the various ways in which they can successfully look after her husband and be a good wife. You have probably seen it on email before your IT department started blocking these things. There are 14 points in all, but some of the more interesting include:-

• Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they get home and the prospect of a good meal is part of the warm welcome needed.
• Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you’ll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.
• During the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering to his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.
• Be happy to see him.
• Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first – remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.
• Don’t greet him with complaints and problems.
• Don’t complain if he’s late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.
• Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie him down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
• Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.
• Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.
• A good wife always knows her place.

  

Fortunately time moves on (for some of us) but whilst the ideas outlined above belong well in the past, the intention is as relevant today as it was in 1950, 1750 or 250BC; how to keep hold of someone you value.

 

Retention of staff may not be the focal point that it was three or four years ago, with press reports implying that for many firms the main consideration is finding the most economical and cost effective way of cutting headcount. However with improving economic figures in the UK implying that the darkest days are behind us there will be again a point where firms need to look at keeping their key staff happy and prevent them looking elsewhere. Departing partners who are key client relationship managers can directly impact turnover and PEP in a very short period of time.

 

The firms who have handled the recession and resultant downsizing poorly will find that their staff are susceptible to approaches about other opportunities, particularly as the market comes back. Having watched a number of their peers being let go and realising that one more set-back could yet see them moved out of the firm, a competitor who can offer a happy ship and work of a comparable or higher quality will seem an extremely tempting option.

 

So how do you avoid losing your staff as the market starts to recover? Well, let’s revert back to the 1950s:-

 

• Plan ahead:- Everyone needs to know that their organisation is being led by management with a clear vision of how to take the practice through economic turmoil and back to profitability.
• During the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Short of cranking the heating right up you may struggle to recreate that ‘fireside’ scenario or a “haven of rest and order”, but attempt to limit internal bickering. Make the firm a shelter from the storm, not the eye of it.
• Be happy to see him. Value your staff; pats on the back cost nothing but can mean the difference on a bad day.
• Listen to him. Listen to all of your staff; by adopting an ‘us’ mentality you are more likely to come through this as a stronger unit and be far harder to break up.
• Don’t greet him with complaints and problems. There’s a brilliant quote in Saving Private Ryan where Tom Hanks explains “There's a chain of command. Gripes go up, not down. Always up. You gripe to me, I gripe to my superior officer, so on, so on, and so on. I don't gripe to you. I don't gripe in front of you.” If you are unhappy with the decisions of the senior management at the firm tell them, not the trainees and assistants you are supervising.
• Don’t complain if he’s late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Your staff are out networking to bring in new business – leave them alone. In fact, you should have been out there too.
• Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice. That’s just silly. This isn’t all relevant you know. However if it is.........actually let's not go there.

 

Whilst it may seem like a long way off at the moment the fight for the best talent will sneak back up on us very soon and in a field such as law which is notoriously short of high calibre staff those who do not wish to have to pay through the nose to attract the ‘mercenary’ lawyer may need to look at what they are doing to keep the present incumbents happy.

 

 

 

To discuss keeping ways in which to improve your staff retention as the market improves call one of our specialist consultants at VG Charles & Co on 0121 233 5000 / 020 7649 9094

Opportunity Knocks

One of the purposes of these blogs has been to highlight changes in the legal market and as we are currently in one of the most changeable and evolving periods in the industry there has been more to write about than ever before! As well as the already-blogged-about reduction in partners seeking equity (http://vgcharles.blogspot.com/2010/07/pep-talk.html) and the increasing number of mergers (http://vgcharles.blogspot.com/2010/06/to-merge-or-not-to-merge.html), another noticeable factor has been the small but not insignificant number of firms which actually stand to come out of the recession in a better state than they entered it.


This is not to say that these practices have increased profits during a period of economic turmoil; firms which may have achieved this are very few and far between. Instead it is the firms which have chosen to ‘speculate to accumulate’, perhaps at a reduction in profits, and have brought in high calibre and disillusioned partners and fee-earners from so-called ‘better’ firms.


For example; let’s say you are a mid-sized practice based on the outskirts of a city in the north of England. You know that whilst you enjoy a reasonable quality of work and have some long-standing and loyal clients, those firms based in the city like Pinsent Masons, Hammonds and DLA can utilise huge resources and an international reputation to attract the best work around.


However what if the job security of the partners at the big firms is at risk? What if senior associates who both service the clients and have a following of their own now find that any route to partnership is blocked, as the firm cannot support further partners without risk of a team being top-heavy?


You on the other hand have a steady and well-run practice; profits may be down but due to some financial frugalness during the boom times you have a resource of cash at the bank with limited or no borrowings. Could you offer these individuals or teams a new challenge where they can bring this established and high calibre client base?


There are a number of firms who have utilised this period of uncertainty to draw talented lawyers out from the cities and main legal hubs which exist around the country. Through employing prudence when profits were high they now hold the additional capital required to invest, with the result that they can now offer a competitive and attractive option to those lawyers who are on the market.


Coupled with this the ‘speculate to accumulate’ model, the old ‘three times salary’ adage is being relaxed with a view to a long-term gain. If your new hire can bring a client which has always generated £x per annum but is now only producing 2/3rd of x, does it not still make a certain amount of sense to offer them the £1/3rd of x salary they are after on the basis that there is still a huge chunk of profit there, plus the potential to earn more when the market recovers? These ‘zero cost’ hires are becoming more and more common, and when coupled with a commission-based bonus there is a sharing of risk on both sides.


These are options which these firms are considering and which will lead to them coming out of the recession in a far stronger position; this can be in levels of turnover, calibre of client base, the calibre of lawyer servicing those clients and even moving up a tier or two in the Legal 500.


Not every firm is in a position to do this at present, but for those who can this is where the benefit of professional legal recruiters comes to the fore; representing a client which is on a sound financial footing is far more attractive and important than simply the highest bidder mentality which was previously so prevalent. Those firms which CAN invest are only too willing to tell us that they WILL invest and then it is for the recruiter to make sure that the opportunities are relayed to the candidates in a confidential manner, as this level of financial information is obviously not something firms seek to shout about from the rooftops.


As stated at the start of this blog the market is changing rapidly and by the time the dust settles your local legal market may well be dominated by some very different firms to those at the forefront five years ago.

To discuss opportunities with firms who are in a position to invest in you, or if you are a practice looking to find out where you can strategically strengthen and how, call one of our specialist consultants at VG Charles & Co on 0121 233 5000 / 020 7649 9094.

The Question of Retention

There are some things in life which just naturally follow on from others.

Summer follows spring.

Autumn precedes Winter.

A naff Bond film usually follows a good one.

Skin of the teeth promotion to the Premiership is followed by a whopping 4-0 win and topping the league for a few hours......sometimes.

Having worked within legal recruitment for a number of years you learn to recognise the cyclical nature of the industry. Market conditions replicate themselves every few years through boom and bust and it is not unusual for a recruiter to be able to predict how, where and when things are likely to pick up, albeit that the circumstances of the current economic climate are quite unique.

As September approaches the question arises over the number of NQs being offered opportunities at their training firm, and for those unable (or unwilling ) to remain this leads to whether there are sufficient other openings with other practices to satisfy those seeking a new role.

Whilst nowhere near as bad as last year the fact remains that most firms are unable to retain as many trainees as they would like to, as pressure to reduce overheads and lower volumes of work bites into the numbers of newly-qualifieds being retained. Whilst Magic Circle firms may point to significant volumes being kept on, with Linklaters for example retaining 87% of NQs, this is not a trend reflected the whole way through the market. Where NQs are offered roles these are largely into areas such as litigation with only a few qualifying into transactional fields, particularly at practices which may generally be considered second or third tier and lack the ability to support a fee-earner working at less than 75% capacity.

For those who have worked within the law (or legal recruitment) for any length of time there can be parallels drawn with similar instances in 2000 or the early 1990s, as recession and/or external market pressure forced firms to either dispense with NQs or offer them opportunities in the few disciplines which remained busy at the time.

The result? Well if you look at those qualifying following the burst of the dotcom bubble or in the immediate post 9/11 climate the lack of transactional work meant many NQs at these times moved into areas such as litigation, family, employment, etc. Fast forward 4 years and the demand for corporate or commercial property solicitors of circa 4yrs PQE led to demand far outstripping supply, with the consequence of salaries rising massively in these areas.

Ring any bells?

Despite fears of double-dip recessions and lack of growth in the property industry the market will eventually return, at which time firms will again be struggling to attract the talent necessary to service their clients. Consequently the firms who are currently retaining their trainees are the ones who are less likely to have to fight tooth and nail to get the numbers in to handle the increased flow of work. Similarly these are also going to be the firms who can still opt to recruit only who they need to and can be discerning in the market.

Admittedly these are also the practices who will also need to look after their staff to avoid them being tempted by other opportunities; but then that’s a different matter altogether.........

In The Summertime

In the immortal words of Mr Harry Webb, aka Cliff Richard:-

“We’re all going on a summer holiday
No more worries for a week or two
Fun and laughter on our summer holiday
No more worries for me or you
For a week or two”*

* Note:- you may wish to increase this to three or four weeks for certain partners out there – you know who they are.

Admittedly Cliff also gave us the profound “I like small speakers, I like tall speakers” so he’s not a total genius.

Coincidentally Tom Jones sung “Sexbomb sexbomb, you’re a sexbomb, uh-huh” but that’s not really relevant and probably should be ignored.

It’s probably worth starting off this blog by mentioning that I don’t tend to walk around quoting Cliff Richard lyrics, nor suffer from any form of Shadows-tourettes or anything of that nature. The reason for the injection of ‘Summer Holiday’ into the discussion is that we are obviously now well into the annual lull which strikes the whole of the country, as a large portion of the working population heads off for a couple of weeks of relaxation. Well that’s the plan anyway; whether the kids let you relax is another matter altogether! “No more worries for a week or two”? Yeah right Cliff. It’s well seeing you’re a Bachelor Boy.

The traditional ebb and flow of the legal recruitment market tells us that early September is one of the three main times of the year when employees consider making a move. This isn’t exclusive to the legal arena and is generally attributed to people returning from holiday, getting back to the office and deciding that the thought of spending another year there is too much to contemplate.

Although the economic downturn has seen a slight reduction in the volume of employed lawyers on the market over the last couple of years, those who practice within in-demand areas including those with tangible followings may see this as a good time to escape their present firm, knowing that they are likely to be in new surroundings by Christmas.

Whilst firms are initially unlikely to view the departure of valued members of staff as a positive it can force them to reassess the ‘fit’ of a team and whether there is a better way of structuring a department, potentially increasing the profitability of the firm. Additionally it may mean that the chance to join a particular firm is suddenly more attractive to someone working for a competitor if a key departure means a better opportunity for progression or seniority.

This is a trend which is unlikely to change any time soon, for as long as employees get disgruntled at employers the summer holiday respite is always going to allow time to re-evaluate options and to look at alternatives.

Oh, and for those who were wondering:- the other main surges in the market are around pay review time and also post-Christmas, so you can expect some “Mistletoe & Wine” lyrics in the festive blog. You lucky, lucky people.

To discuss post-summer opportunities in your local market or to speak to a specialist legal consultant about requirements to strengthen in Q3 & Q4 call VG Charles & Co on 0121 233 5000/020 7649 9094. To have an in-depth conversation on Cliff Richard, the man and the music please feel free to contact the author’s gran.

Follow The Leader

Often the summer slow-down is a useful point to both take stock of the year so far and also to re-evaluate where you have been successful (or otherwise!) It’s also a good time to try to fit in some of those non-fee earning duties which form a crucial yet hard to quantify part of any role, such as marketing and networking.

One of the interesting aspects of a legal recruiter’s role is building a comprehensive knowledge of the market and the manner in which various practices work and differ from each other; what they expect from their fee-earners in terms of billable hours, the culture that they have, and the client interface enjoyed by their non-partners.

Some firms will expect the rank and file to be out at events getting their faces known and talking about the brand which they represent; others are more reluctant to send their assistant solicitors out when they have designated business development executives, or where it viewed solely as being a partner’s responsibility. Interestingly there appears to be more of a tendency for the smaller firms to allow their assistants to attend networking events, with the larger practices being represented by non-lawyers, partners or not at all.

It’s fair to say that about 60-70% of the lawyers we meet are not huge fans of the marketing & networking side, preferring to allow others to undertake this where possible. This is understandable as the prospect of walking into a room of strangers with the ultimate aim of gaining instructions or referrals is not everyone’s idea of fun. What many don’t realise though is the manner in which they are potentially limiting their career prospects by avoiding business development opportunities, particularly if their peers are being more proactive in this area.

Essentially by the time lawyers reach the 3-4 year PQE level there can be a clear difference in terms of what they can bring to the table when looking at a new role, with this gap widening with subsequent years of PQE. Recently we have met with associates at top tier practices who are unable to offer any kind of following whatsoever, yet in contrast we have met others from smaller outfits who can bring an active client base which not only covers their basic salary costs but will also generate additional profits for a new practice. As an employer it’s a no-brainer as to which individual to meet, particularly as recent history has shown that business is fragile and a busy pipeline of work can quickly dry-up unless there is a flow of new instructions to supplement this.

In a thriving market there was little or no requirement for non-partners to bring work with them when making a move, particularly in the transactional areas, as the level of instructions remained high and the main requirement was for talented individuals who could cope with the already existing caseload. Consequently an associate at a top tier firm could expect to move to a competitor as a senior associate and thus the calibre of practice on a CV was often the most crucial aspect.

However now that the market has turned there are a number of very capable lawyers who are finding themselves trapped in a ‘dead man’s shoes’ situation, where they are waiting to make partner yet until such openings exist at their present firm they will be treading water where they are. These individuals are hamstrung by a combination of lack of opportunities with competitors and an inability to bring work with them which might tempt another firm to view them as an opportunist hire.

The lawyers who are able to make a move are the ones who can bring work with them; these individuals are now finding a range of opportunities which would perhaps have been closed to them before and are in fact overtaking others on the career ladder. Associates with followings are currently negotiating partner-level roles with other firms which are keen to bolster a particular area, whilst other associates at supposedly better practices are finding the offer of partnership a long way off.

The conclusion? Quite simply the requirement for solicitors to engage with clients from an early point in their career has never been more crucial, particularly for those with partnership in mind. If you build and retain a loyal client base you will be valued much more highly by your employer, who should recognise the contribution you make through higher salary and/or better career prospects and progression. If they don’t recognise this then you will also find that the opportunities for solicitors with followings are far greater and that you are a much more attractive and far less risky hire, perhaps even at a higher level than that which you currently enjoy.

If you’re interested in keeping your career within your own hands it’s time to get out there and get yourself known.

To discuss opportunities in your local market where your client following can make a difference call one of our specialist consultants at VG Charles & Co for career guidance on 0121 233 5000/020 7649 9094