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Vol. 72, No. 6, June 1999 |
Managing Risk
Nine Tips for Keeping Top-notch Employees
Learn how to keep employees in this second part of a series
on recruiting and retaining support staff who act as your second
set of eyes and ears in reducing malpractice.
By Ann Massie Nelson
Every lawyer dreams of finding the ideal assistant -
someone with solid legal experience, superb organizational and
communication skills, who never panics under pressure and rarely
asks for time off - someone a lot like Walter "Radar"
O'Reilly of M*A*S*H* legend, whose uncanny ability to anticipate
the colonel's needs before he knew he had them averted countless
disasters.
Even if you could enlist someone with Radar's talents,
how do you retain her or him when the unemployment rate is the
lowest since 1970 and "raiding" for good employees
is not uncommon?
You may be surprised to learn that more money is not necessarily
the answer. According to results of AON Consulting's annual
study of workforce commitment, America @ Work 1999, management
recognition of the importance of employees' personal and
family life was the top driver of retaining employees, followed
by how well employers provide opportunities for personal growth,
satisfy customer needs, communicate about benefits, and ensure
that coworkers' skills are keeping pace with new responsibilities.
Consider the following tips for reducing staff turnover.
Help employees balance work with personal and family life.
One of the "carrots" in working for a sole practitioner
or small law firm is the flexibility that a smaller employer
can offer. Being flexible might mean letting voice mail answer
the telephone before 8:30 a.m. to allow a parent time to get
children off to school, suggesting a staff person combine a personal
errand with a trip to the post office, encouraging an employee
to take a family member along to a business seminar, or allowing
a staff member to occasionally work at home. Simple gestures
like these show that you recognize the individual has a life
outside of work and yield enormous returns in employee loyalty.
Make client satisfaction job one.
When you serve your clients well, your support staff looks
forward to coming to work. When you fail to return phone calls,
ignore client instructions, or send bills with little or no description
of services provided, your staff often bears the brunt of clients'
fury. Emphasize that client satisfaction is your top priority
and enlist your support staff's help in providing the best
legal representation possible. Encourage employees to report
early warning signs of client dissatisfaction to you, when you
might still be able to take remedial action. Under no circumstances
should you expect your support staff to cover for you or play
the scapegoat.
Give employees the tools they need to do a good job.
"One of the reasons staff people leave is that they are
under a lot of pressure and they don't have the tools they
need to get the work out. Invest some money in competency training,
as well as up-to-date computers and software," says Carole
Hahm of Carole Hahm & Co., consultants to the legal profession
based in Mequon. The most important tool your firm needs is an
integrated electronic calendar and case management system to
track statutes of limitation and other deadlines. Missed deadlines
are the source of almost 20 percent of malpractice claims.
Provide training and opportunities for professional development.
Staff members need both tools and training to excel in their
work. A starting point for staff training is review of a written
policy and procedures manual. "When I audit a law firm,
eight times out of 10 I find no documentation of firm procedures
or system for checks and balances," Hahm notes. She recommends
lawyers and staff members develop a checklist of tasks that need
to be performed weekly or monthly, such as statutes of limitation
reports for open files and trust account reconciliation. Knowing
what is expected and having the tools and training to meet those
expectations is a crucial determinant of job satisfaction.
Professional organizations provide opportunities for staff members
to network with their peers, receive relevant continuing education,
and develop leadership skills. By supporting membership (paying
dues and allowing time to participate) in professional groups,
your firm will benefit from new ideas and methods, and your staff
members will become more vested in their careers. (For information
about some law-related professional organizations, see page 622
of the 1999 Wisconsin Lawyer Directory.)
Include your support staff in decision-making, particularly
where it involves them.
If the lawyers in your firm believe that staff members should
be seen and not heard, you will soon be looking at a lot of empty
desks. Instead, create an atmosphere where ideas are welcomed
and valued, even if the speaker is not a lawyer or college graduate.
Taking a minute to ask "What do you think?" or "How
would you feel about that?" shows that you respect staff
people as individuals who have relevant experience and knowledge.
Be careful how you respond. If your natural inclination is
to poke holes in someone's theory or cross examine every
statement, you soon will find your conversations with staff members
are rather one-sided.
Involve staff members in solving clients' problems.
The interaction your staff person has with clients is qualitatively
different from yours. "Staff don't have the privilege
of knowing the client on the level you do. Sometimes that makes
it more difficult to be sensitive to the client's demands
and needs," says law firm office manager Monica Hansen of
Solheim Billing & Grimmer S.C., Madison.
When appropriate, include your support staff in planning strategy
and solving problems. Introduce your support person as a valuable
member of your team. Encourage clients to contact her or him
when they have questions or concerns. This way, your support
person gets to know the people behind the documents and your
clients recognize that two people are looking out for them.
Ann Massie Nelson is Communications Director at Wisconsin
Lawyers Mutual Insurance Co. |
Credit staff members for going the extra mile.
Be generous with your praise. Here is what you say: "Great
job," or "Thank you for coming in early to finish that,"
or "I appreciate your extra effort. What can I do to help
you?" or "That client wanted me to tell you how much
he appreciates your patience." You will be surprised how
effective an occasional "way to shine" can be.
Take pride in your office space.
Most people spend more waking hours at work than anywhere
else. "Create as nice a working environment as you can.
A clean, comfortable work area is important to employees,"
Hahm says. While corporate dress and office environments are
becoming more casual, employees still want a workplace they can
point to with pride. Like it or not, appearances matter -
to your employees and to your clients.
Learn to be a good business manager.
With the employee talent pool shrinking, law firms must compete
with other employers (not just other law firms) for skilled employees.
The allure of working in a law firm will quickly fade if the
business is not managed well. Law firm employers who can communicate
effectively, offer opportunities for growth and personal development,
and help employees balance work and personal demands will win
- and keep - the "Radars."
[Part one of this two-part series, "Hiring
a Law Firm Risk Manager," appeared in the March 1999
Wisconsin Lawyer.]
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