Its Not Just About The Money
Posted By Rob Millard - 0 Comments -
Today's New York Times (Saturday 1 December) has a great article on what some of the top US firms are doing to make the lives of their lawyers (especially associates) more convenient, happy, balanced and, above all, productive. With workdays routinely stretching into the evenings and weekends and the war for top quality talent intense, offering market competitive salaries is just the starting point in attracting and retaining that talent.
The article, For Lawyers, Perks to Fit a Lifestyle, lists a whole host of different ideas. (Click here for a PDF if you have trouble with the hyperlink.) Any group of professionals could brainstorm dozens more without even working up a sweat. The possibilities are endless. But why bother with these "soft" issues? Do they really drive profitability, or are they in reality unnecessary luxuries?
The perks seem to fit into three major categories:
1. Those aimed at improving productivity. These include concierge services; premier quality dinners delivered to the offices; naps rooms, well equipped gymnasiums, and arranging nanny services, to free up lawyers' time as they bill up to 60 hours per week and beyond. Blackberries, laptops and other "productivity aids" that are now de rigueur in many firms also fall into this category.
2. Those aimed at improving lifestyle. These include sabbaticals to pursue diverse interests; guarantees for home mortgages; gestures like DLA Piper reimbursing employees $2,000 when they buy a hybrid car that acknowledge greater environmental awareness amongst today's young professionals; anything from coaches and psychotherapists to masseuses to provide help in combatting stress, burn-out, depression. Also in the category are improving the quality of firm functions (better quality food and premier wines, for instance.)
3. Those aimed at simply making people feel appreciated. In the frenetic, stressful and intense work environment that characterizes a premier commercial law firm today, it is easy for people to feel under-appreciated. This has led to some firms tackling the issue of making people feel appreciated (a spokesperson for Seattle based Perkins Coie talks of "random acts of kindness") that are executed in a deliberate rather than random fashion. These vary from financial bonuses to something as mundane as unexpected milkshakes appearing on desks.
All this serves to create a culture of: professional excellence ... mentoring and training ... high performance ... collegiality ... concern for individuals ... balancing work and lifestyle. It binds talent to the firm and makes lawyers more productive and enthusiastic about their work.
As such, these measures are worthy of very, very serious consideration indeed.
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Stark County Law Library Blog -
December 4, 2007 3:18 PM
Posted by Rob Millard: ?oday's New York Times (Saturday 1 December) has a great article on what some of the
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