Major Legal Services®: Employers: Job Satisfaction and Employee Retention

In the course of discussing with clients our recruiting firm’s “guarantee period” for persons we recruit to law firms and corporations, we occasionally debate the question of retention. We certainly do everything in our power to discover, with employer and employee, if an employment arrangement between them appears to be a good, long-term fit: We have meetings with the client, candidate interviews at our office, reference checks, testing and competency screening, candidate interviews with the client, discussions with the candidate regarding the company and opportunity, more candidate interviews with the client, et cetera. Yet once the person has been working with the new employer for a reasonable period of time, the responsibility of retaining that employee shifts to the employer.

In this marketplace of increasingly frequent lateral movement, many employers would do well to evaluate their current methods of orientation, management, expectations, development, performance reviews, and rewards. The cost of losing an employee is high -- some estimates reach the equivalent to between a half and a full year’s salary, benefits and overhead of that employee. Managers sometimes lose sight of their investment in bringing an employee up to a level of optimum orientation into their firm and maximum productivity within their work environment. They not only lose that investment in the departing employee, but they must pay it again with the incoming replacement!

So what can employers do to increase their employee job satisfaction and retention?

Establish a Solid Orientation Program
The employer-company should have a documented plan for orienting new employees. The plan should include the expectations of work performed, how work is delegated, who to see when there is a problem with work delegation, the work delegated, or any other issue affecting their employment.

The orientation should cover benefits, timekeeping or record keeping if applicable (including what activities to bill, how to bill, billable hour expectations, etc.). The new employee should be aware from the outset of the criteria upon which performance, salaries and bonuses are based.

Orientation should include how to utilize clerical and secretarial support, as well as other company resources, such as the law library and samples of firm style for creating certain pleadings and other documents.

Even if the employee has used the software which is the basis for your firms automated production, he or she should nonetheless be given a thorough instruction of how your company utilizes each computer application and company expectations regarding computer use and care.

Have Reasonable and Competitive Expectations for Billable Hours
Few things will cause employees to move to another work environment than unrealistic expectations for the work that they must accomplish on a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis. While most people expect to work overtime occasionally, few can tolerate excessive overtime over the long haul. Some policy-making managers believe that, although they expect long hours consistently, they adequately reward their employees with generous bonuses and/or overtime pay. However, a growing number of employees in the legal profession value their time outside of work more than the additional monetary rewards.

Provide Appropriate Facilities and Support
Not every attorney or paralegal needs a secretary, but many need at least shared support. Both paralegals and attorneys should have a private office or work area that is free from distractions.

Create a Structure for Advancement
Most firms have partnership track, and the expectations for this process should be communicated clearly and completely before the attorney is hired.

A management and advancement structure for paralegals can also be implemented -- even in firms with only a few paralegals. Experience has proven that companies who create some type of hierarchy of paralegal staff have higher retention rates than those comparably sized firms who do not.

One of the problems inherent in the paralegal profession is that “there is nowhere to go from here but law school.” Paralegals who have goals to work toward, or levels to attain within their workplace will be less likely to reach a perceived “dead-end” and look elsewhere for new challenges. Goals can be in the form of learning new skills (see “Cross-Train When Possible” and “Continuing Education”, below). Some of the levels and titles utilized in our marketplace for paralegals include: Case Assistant, Paralegal, Senior Paralegal, Paralegal Supervisor or Coordinator (by department or practice area), and Paralegal Manager (firm-wide manager),

Assign Substantive Work
A rule of thumb for cost-efficient delegation is “assign work to the most competent, least expensive employee.” Assigning work to attorneys and paralegals that is well below their capabilities is not only unproductive and cost-inefficient for the company, but is one of the leading causes of job dissatisfaction.

Cross-train When Possible
Offering training for attorneys and paralegals in more than one practice area can help maintain their interest level. Cross-training also attracts bright and productive professionals who like the idea of learning a new practice area. The firm or corporation also benefits in that people can be moved to fill needs as peaks and valleys in workload change within the various practice areas.

Have Mental Health Meetings
Everyone needs to know that he or she is a valued contributor. A meeting with the employee every four-to-six months to leisurely discuss how things are going -- problems, concerns, suggestions for improving operations -- can go far in helping the employee feel they are needed, that the company cares about them and their contributions, and can help prevent problems from developing.

Provide or Support Continuing Education
I don’t recall where I first heard about the “Peter and Mary Principles”, but they certainly apply in our profession: Peter - “Individuals in an organization who once functioned at their level of competence often become incompetent as they become uneducated for that level.” Mary - “If many individuals remain too long at their level of incompetence, they will destroy the organization because their presence demonstrates to others that competence is not a prerequisite for success.”

I am a firm believer that support for continuing education is a smart investment for the company. It pays off by satisfying the needs of employees to learn new things, and therefore grow and advance in their profession. It also benefits the company by enhancing the employee’s ability to better serve the needs of the company with new or updated strategies and methods.

Companies that provide in-house continuing education for their attorneys should invite their paralegals, or provide similar continuing education that target paralegal competencies.

While attorneys have many options available in the community for continuing education, some employers are unaware of similar resources for their paralegals. Companies that do not have the capability to provide in-house training have many outside resources to tap for continuing education of paralegals. They include: Classes available through local paralegal programs which may be attended by currently employed paralegals, and which do not require enrollment in the degree or certificate program; seminars offered by paralegal associations; seminars offered by bar associations to attorneys (most, if not all, allow paralegal attendance).

Firms and corporations that develop the kind of practice where every person feels as though they are an important part of the team, and each person is given the opportunity, tools, training and support to contribute optimally to that team, are well on their way toward high levels of employee job satisfaction and retention.