The Lawyers Weekly - January 15, 2010

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY
January 15, 2010 | 25

BUSINESS
CAREERS

Keep talented workers engaged, connected

Recruitment
Continued From Page 23

developing and using an EVP to attract the brightest talent involves four key elements:

Don’t hide behind HR

Provide candidates with the opportunity to meet real practitioners at all levels of the firm and build one-on-one relationships at every stage of the recruiting process. Invite partners and associates to information sessions, interviews and social get-togethers with candidates so they can mingle with their future colleagues. Candidates appreciate meeting key individuals within the

“What will really make people want to stay in your firm is to feel connected with their colleagues. Whether fostering camaraderie through internal blogs, Twitter, other web-based applications or social gatherings at a local hangout, employees want and need to connect with their peers.

firm so they can gain a more realistic impression of what a career at the firm is like. This approach allows both the employer and candidates to assess whether they are the right “fit” for one another and can build a firm’s reputation within various university, professional and social circles.

Look beyond the concrete jungle

Giving back to the community through
sustainability initiatives or pro-bono work is
becoming increasingly important to prospec-
tive and existing employees. People want to
be part of a firm that acknowledges and acts
on the potential it has to help others; and
appreciate the opportunity to participate in
facilitated initiatives beyond the office walls.
They want to make a difference to their com-
munities, and value an employer who helps
them do so.

Create opportunities that matter

Now, more than ever, current and prospective employees value the promise of career progression, and a variety of diverse learning experiences that will help them grow as professionals, and as people. Are there international secondment opportunities? Is there a natural, clear career path? Will the scope of their work be broad enough to keep them stimulated? What opportunities exist for cross-functional learning? These types of opportunities should be at the forefront of all recruiting communications. Furthermore, existing employees should always be aware of available learning and development opportunities. Introducing and actively encouraging career-enhancement opportunities can exponentially increase loyalty and retention rates.

Encourage connections

Providing various opportunities for social networking and hosting activities that bring people together both in and out of the office is a huge attraction and retention tool for many firms. What will really make people want to stay in your firm is to feel connected with their colleagues. Whether fostering camaraderie through internal blogs, Twitter, other web-based applications or social gatherings at a local hangout, employees want and need to connect with their peers.

Developing and communicating your firm’s employee value proposition is an important investment not only for attracting top talent but for ensuring that your current talent stays. As the number of senior practitioners heading into retirement continues to grow, and loyalty becomes increasingly harder to instill with the next generation of candidates, the onus is on firms to bring a value proposition to the table that will resonate with employees and encourage a long-term outlook. ;

Richard Lee is a partner and Sara Arnstein is a manager in Deloitte’s Human Capital practice, based in Toronto. Deloitte’s Human Capital practice helps organizations to develop and implement effective talent management strategies.

Firms must monitor costs more closely

Fees
Continued From Page 22

to growing their revenue principally by encouraging the continuous generation of more hours at higher rates. That simply won’t work in a fixed-fee environment. Firms must learn to monitor and precisely calculate their internal costs of doing business and find ways to reduce those costs by sourcing their work more efficiently.

Fixed fees don’t look like a fad — more
clients expect to know (within reason) the
price of a given legal task when they hire a
lawyer. Lawyers, in turn, cannot make a
profit in a fixed-fee system with the tradi-
tional business model. Get ready for the
fixed-price era of legal services, and get
ready to overhaul your business practices
to survive it. ;

Jordan Furlong is a partner with Edge International who specializes in analyzing the extraordinary changes now underway in the legal profession worldwide. He is also a senior consultant with Stem Legal and head of its Media Strategy Service. He authors the award-winning blog Law21: Dispatches from a Legal Profession on the Brink, http://law21.ca.

Toronto

Congratulations to our newest Partner

We are pleased to welcome Jim Rossiter as a Partner to the Baker & McKenzie Toronto Of;ce.

Jim is a highly regarded practitioner with many years of experience structuring and implementing complex business and tax transactions, with a particular emphasis on cross-border transactions in-bound into Canada.

Jim has acted for US private equity ;rms, private investor groups from the US, Hong Kong and Europe and US ;nancial institutions such as CIT, Citibank, SG and Lehman Brothers. Representative transactions include the acquisition and ;nancing of hotels, of;ce towers, NHL hockey teams and arenas, aviation logistics businesses, manufacturers and distributors of plastics and paper products, airline catering companies, cosmetics companies and pharma companies.

Jim has completed deals in Quebec, Alberta and Ontario; in New York, Arizona, California, Missouri, New Jersey, and Florida; in Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Dubai, Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Ivory Coast and the Sudan.