Attention Headhunters : An Alternative to the Higher Apes
Posted By Rob Millard - 0 Comments -
With headhunters now so hard pressed in some jurisdictions to keep feeding their clients the talent that they need, that they're probably considering expanding the search into the realms of the higher apes, it is way past time to look again at a vastly underutilized resource. That of mothers with children who would love to resume their careers were it not for the fact that they would have to abdicate their diurnal maternal role entirely to another person.
Imagine what you could achieve in your firm if you had a few more highly talented, motivated fee-earners?
When our first child Shannon was born, my wife was a high powered mainframe computer programmer at one of the major insurance companies. She approached her firm with a proposed work arrangement, whereby she would come into the office several days a week but otherwise program from home. Apparently this was perfectly feasible from a technical perspective , but it was "not in line with company policy." So the company lost a programmer that they had invested a fair amount of money in, and who had skills that were difficult to replace. And Creena hides it well but even a decade later occasionally lets slip that she would have far preferred to have been able to find an arrangement that allowed her to continue her career without having to make the sacrifices that her erstwhile employer required.
Technology has evolved enormously since 1996, to the extent where there is no longer any real IT barrier to firms being able to accommodate this. Indeed, several firms already are. Of course there are other obstacles. Fragmentation of the firm's culture and issues of quality, for instance, are often held forth by naysayers.
But it seems that several aims could be achieved simultaneously by evolving a firm's culture, systems and structures in directions that are more amenable to virtual work. These could include:
1.Being able to access a larger pool of talent, with the inclusion of the mothers that are otherwise lost to the firm.
2.Meeting the increasing pressure from new entrants to the profession (so-called Gen Y / Millennial) for better work/life balance. (See my previous postings The Dangers of Multitasking, Motivating the Next Generation of Leaders and The Entitlement Generation.)
3.Getting better at virtual work generally, which would make virtual teams (across the country/globe?) and even between remote offices more effective.
4.Helping increase firm diversity.
5.Driving IT innovation in the firm, which could in turn have many ancillary benefits.
According to an article Finding a Way Back to the Law in the New York Times of 26 May, the ABA has started a pilot program to assist with this. Called Back to Business Law, the program will provide periodic continuing legal education programs and informal networking opportunities for attorneys who temporarily leave active practice in law firms or corporate settings (including women who leave for a period of months or years in order to care for children) but remain interested and engaged in business law issues.
The ABA web site for the program may be found here. Comments, as always, are most welcome and may be posted below.
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