Knowledge bank
Management -Trying to ask the right questions
Looking after staff morale is equally, if not more, important
than the work a firm does, writes Nigel McEwen.
What is more important to a law firm? Dealing with marketing techniques,
obtaining focus and a whole host of other strategic external issues, or
the question of how to build a healthy and positive internal culture in
which staff are encouraged to reach their true potential? If all the column
inches written in legal journals on these matters over recent years were
added up, the resulting figure would surely show that the external issues
would be the winners. After all, dealing with ‘staff issues’ is
not very sexy and anyway, isn’t that the job of the personnel departments/partners?
Many partners consider Eastern Europe to be a much livelier subject and
will point out that there are plenty of firms which generate large profits
while operating an internal atmosphere of conflict with a regular revolving-door
policy for staff.
However, consider the following:
* High staff turnover costs incalculable amounts of money — recruitment
agents’ fees, time spent recruiting and the lost investment in qualified
staff (it takes more than £100k to train a solicitor in the large
practices);
* Similarly impossible to calculate is the cost of time wasted in dealing
with personal tensions and conflict, some of which lead to valuable members
of staff leaving firms, or even the break up of firms;
* Motivation of staff has a clear effect on productivity, loyalty and
commitment, which many firms believe they can best, or even only, address
by raising salaries. This can lead to large increases in overheads, which
clients are increasingly unwilling to subsidise. Against this background,
my firm felt that continuing to motivate our staff was a crucial objective.
We consequently explored how the concepts of ‘emotional intelligence’ could
best be applied to our practice. Emotional intelligence refers to the
capacity for recognising our own feelings and those of others, for motivating
ourselves and for managing emotions in our working relationships. It describes
abilities as distinct from but complementary to, academic intelligence
as frequently measured by IQ, and has been widely applied in the US corporate
world. We found that emotional intelligence is particularly relevant in
helping to manage a law firm. Lawyers who typically deal in facts, logic
and reason need a counter balance by becoming more comfortable in dealing
with the everyday emotional aspects of life if they are to become good
managers. Many problems in law offices are ultimately due to an emotional
rather than an intellectual cause and are resolved best by someone who
can empathise and soothe — all emotionally intelligent traits.
Partners who are promoted to management positions are frequently those who have excelled at being lawyers or who are the highest fee earners. These criteria do not necessarily mean that the individuals concerned have the appropriate skills to act as leaders. Recent research at the University of California showed that 7% of corporate leadership success is attributable to intellect, whereas 93% results from other qualities such as trust, integrity, creativity, honesty and resilience. Working with emotional intelligence provides lawyers with insights that have not formed part of their professional lives and enables them to better perform the crucial internal task of coaching their fellow partners and other fee earners.
Nevertheless, adopting a more emotionally intelligent attitude within law firms is not an easy task. The process in its entirety does represent a non-hierarchical approach and actively encourages involvement from all members of staff. Partners must be prepared to develop and adopt a non-paternalistic approach and exercise good listening skills when hearing how their staff feel about their lives and careers. If firms consider that they do not need to improve their emotional competences to make staff more satisfied, acknowledged and supported (reasons enough I would have thought), then firms should consider the immense benefits of dealing with clients in an emotionally intelligent way.
Boosting practice development skills by encouraging staff to understand and identify with clients’ problems with the prospects of increased volumes of work is something that should be understood by all managers.
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