Closed Door Policies .....
Imagine giving a group of bright, talented twenty-something professionals in your firm the following test:
Question 1: Which statement most accurately represents you:
A. I am determined to grow my capabilities and skills as a professional and value mentoring and nurturing from senior members of my firm very highly.
B. I aim to grow as a professional and can tolerate an environment where I have to do so on my own, but if an opportunity for a more professionally nurturing environment presents itself, I’ll take it.
C. I am quite happy not to receive mentoring or nurturing input from experienced, senior professionals in my firm
Question 2: How important is ‘stretching’ yourself professionally by doing interesting and challenging work?
A. Absolutely critical
B. Important
C. Not very important
Question 3: How much would you value an environment where you know that you can have access to the partners in your firm, when you need it?
A. It is critical to me
B. I'd value it quite highly
C. I can live without it
Question 4: Do you function better in an open, communicative environment?
A. Of course. It's critical to me.
B. Yes, mostly
C. Don’t care / No, I prefer closed environments
Now, think to yourself, how would you like your firm’s partnership in future years to be populated with people that responded with “C’s?”
According to the article Firms Falter as Partners Enforce Closed Door Policy in Lawyers Weekly this week in Australia, this is exactly what is in danger of happening in a distressing number of law firms today. A problem, I would observe, that is limited to neither Australia nor law firms. A problem, I'd observe further, that is not going to go away anytime soon except in those firms that face up bravely to to the unpalatable truths in the article and take proactive steps to help their senior people change the way that they practice.
Anyone who knows anything about intergenerational theory will know that the best quality 'Generation Y's 'entering the professions right now simply won't tolerate the kinds of environment that the article describes. They will simply leave, taking their firms' investments in them with them. See more on this previously on this blog in The Entitlement Generation and Roots and Wings and Preparing for Generation M.