Building a Healthy Firm Culture

An underperforming staff is especially costly in the legal industry with its heavy human capital investment. “Law firms have huge personnel costs,” says Phil Geldart, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Eagle’s Flight, a company focused on improving individual and team productivity. “But they are not getting the best return value, because they are not tapping into the full potential of their workforce.”

Workplaces with healthy cultures, on the other hand, create positive vibes that encourage initiative and productive risk taking. Moreover, they tend to keep their “A players” and attract new ones — characteristics that can help bolster the bottom line.

“A healthy workplace culture can improve a law firm’s retention of both staff and attorneys,” says Cynthia Thomas, Regional Administrative Manager at Offit Kurman, Los Angeles, and a member of ALA’s Professional Development Advisory Committee. “The more people are engaged, motivated and happy, the more likely they are to stay. We all know the high costs of turnover. And a law firm located in a tight market area can go months before finding a suitable replacement when someone leaves.”

Plus, a healthy culture can be of major help when it comes to hiring. “Top talent wants to join a firm that has a good reputation,” says Thomas. “That’s especially important to many younger professionals who want a sense of identity attached to their employment. They expect their law firm to be the place they want to get up and go to in the morning.”

ENCOURAGE ENGAGEMENT

But how can a law firm create a healthy workplace culture? The first step is to recognize the potential for improvement. “Almost without exception, every individual comes to work wanting to give the very best and most they can,” says Geldart. “The average person really wants to do their best to excel. And furthermore, they have amazing potential.”

It’s up to the firm leadership to bring out that potential. The body, after all, follows the head. “A healthy culture needs to be a top-down initiative,” says Thomas. “Management has to lead the charge. Top shareholders, managing principals and every other member of senior management needs to be involved.”

And to get back to the survey results that opened this article: Fear must be eliminated as a motivating force. “Too often new leaders feel that their new title and authority gives them the right to dominate,” says Geldart. “But what it really gives them is the responsibility to deliver.”

OPEN COMMUNICATION

Rather than motivate through fear, effective leaders encourage their staff to participate in the operations of the firm to the best of their abilities. The key word here is engagement, and the pathway to success is open communication: The tearing down of the walls that too often inhibit the very sharing of important information that can diminish the incidence of organizational dysfunction.

“You have to understand that the people that you are leading can contribute more. Too often, though, poor leaders don’t listen to staff. As a result, people withhold their ideas. And the opportunity is lost to make the culture more productive.”

“Too often, the legal profession has promoted an us-versus-them dynamic,” says Thomas. “The division between attorneys and non-attorneys is something that doesn’t exist in other fields. There are no non-accountants, non-CPAs, or non-doctors, for example. It would really help if the legal field would move away from that dichotomy. And having open communication across the organization can go a long way toward bringing that about.”

Personal, face-to-face contact is an essential part of open communication. “Too often the temptation is to rely on emails and Teams messaging, so that there’s no personality coming through,” says Thomas. “It’s really important for the firm to create an open-door environment that encourages people to chat with others on a personal level. Personalizing the interactions makes people want to do things for you.”

CHANGING GEARS

Geldart notes that great leaders create personal connections with people, then utilize the resulting dynamic as a springboard for enhanced communication throughout the firm’s activities. “By getting input from the people to whom you’re about to assign work, you immediately get their engagement, their heart and their practical insight.”

Not only does enhanced communication lead to better decision-making, but it encourages a sense of engagement by the staff that is part and parcel of a healthy workplace culture. Before assigning a project to an individual or a team, for example, the effective leader will ask questions such as: What do you think? What’s possible here? What can we do? What can get in the way of success? What are some of the hurdles you see to our success?

“Some leaders think they need to have all the answers because they have been put in charge. But good leaders concentrate more on getting results. And the way to get results is to get input from the people who actually have to do the work.” 

This kind of bottoms-up feedback and project engagement can require a management mind-shift. “Some leaders think they need to have all the answers because they have been put in charge,” says Geldart. “But good leaders concentrate more on getting results. And the way to get results is to get input from the people who actually have to do the work. If you get enough input, you know everything you need to know before you make decisions. People do a better job, and you get better outcomes.”

REQUESTING FEEDBACK

Every law firm has a unique set of dynamics. Initiatives that create a healthy workplace at one law firm may not be right for another. How can your own organization select the right internal programs? Thomas suggests going to the source: Ask the people for suggestions on improvements. “We created an anonymous survey with questions such as ‘What is it about the firm you like?’ and ‘What can be improved?’” says Thomas. “We got a lot of useful feedback.”

One requested change was for flexible start times. “We now have a window that allows people to arrive at work between 7:30 and 9 a.m. This can be an especially valuable policy in some areas because of crowded roads or the way the transit system works.”

“A healthy culture needs to be a top-down initiative. Management has to lead the charge. Top shareholders, managing principals and every other member of senior management needs to be involved.”

Other initiatives sparked by the survey were new ideas for staff appreciation days and team-building activities that involved the local community. “We are located in the downtown area, so we have a large homeless population,” says Thomas. “We got involved by participating with a local organization’s holiday coat drive.”

It’s important to take action on the survey results in a timely manner, notes Thomas. Her law firm conducted its survey in the summer of 2023 and within a couple of months had already held an in-office staff event. Flexible start times were introduced shortly thereafter.

With the right bottom-up input, law firm leadership can start transforming its workplace culture in a way that encourages staff engagement and productivity. All it takes is a determined mindset.

“You have to understand that the people that you are leading can contribute more,” says Geldart. “Too often, though, poor leaders don’t listen to staff. As a result, people withhold their ideas. And the opportunity is lost to make the culture more productive.”

Regardless of your position in your firm, you deal with multiple personalities, wear numerous hats, work under difficult individuals and go through management changes regularly. To be successful, you must be able to adapt to an ever-changing firm culture. Join Laura L. York, Firm Administrator, Gladstone, Weissman, Hirschberg & Schneider, P.A., as she discusses how to identify and deal with different employee personalities while changing the many hats you wear throughout the day. Register today: alaannualconf.org.