Staff Appreciation What started as “take your secretary to lunch” day became the more inclusive Staff Appreciation Day and, in some firms, much more. Now, for many firms the event is too big for just one day and has become “Staff Appreciation Week.” Not surprisingly there are a number of opinions from HR Directors as to how a firm should go about appreciating its staff.
Many firms like to create “culture building” events. A favorite is a pancake breakfast served by members of the management committee, the firm administrator and staff department heads. Similar events include build your own hamburgers cooked by partners (“boss burgers”) or elaborate salad bars for lunch. Advice from one administrator – “don’t do sushi…big mistake.” Another popular event is afternoon treats. Ideas include renting a Good Humor ice cream push cart and traveling the office giving out ice cream, a frozen margarita machine in the break room (alcohol free), a dim sung cart and, in one particularly wacky firm, the managing partner dressed as Santa handing out Popsicles.
Gifts have also taken on a life of their own with the most elaborate involving a new gift every day of staff appreciation week. The most common is gift certificates to creative places like spas, bed and bath stores and candle stores. Gift certificates to Starbucks are very popular. Other firms opt for merchandise with the firm’s logo on it.
What we hear from HR Directors and Office Administrators is that Staff Appreciation is getting out of hand with each year having to be more elaborate than the last. Some administrators report real resistance (perhaps jealousy?) from partners, particularly at budget time. One firm surveyed its staff for the favorite staff appreciate gift. The overwhelming winner (from secretaries) was a lingering lunch with their attorneys in an elaborate restaurant or club.
Background Checks In the past two months we have heard of five firms who suffered embarrassment by hiring employees in responsible positions who were convicted felons, porn stars, pedophiles or did not have the degrees or work experience claimed on their resumes. The following are five things your firm should be doing as a minimum due diligence with every new hire.
1. Google Search. In three out of the five situations mentioned above, a simple Google search of the person’s name in quotation marks would have clearly alerted the firm about the embarrassing information. Google searching requires no permission from candidates and should be an automatic first step even before an interview.
2. Attest Accuracy. Create a brief form advising candidates that all facts appearing on a resume will be verified by the firm and asking to attest the accuracy of their resume by signing the form. When inaccuracies are found on resumes it is very common for employees to say that they though exaggerations on resumes was a normal and accepted part of the recruiting process. Make it clear that inaccuracies are not acceptable.
3. Check Personal References. Request and contact at least three personal references for each candidate. Ask probing questions such as “are you aware of this person ever doing anything dishonest” or “why did they leave their last job.” Most people want to help their friends but not to the point of lying. Ask softball questions and you get fluff answers.
4. Check Work Experience With People Not Departments. If you call the HR Department of another law firm for a reference all you will receive a confirmation of employment. Contact the candidate’s supervisor and be relentless in getting through. Ask hardball questions about the key concerns you have about the candidate. Don’t have a recruiter check references for you. The cost of a bad hire can be staggering.
5. Fact Check. A study of applicants to the Federal government found that 74 percent of candidates had at least one significant distortion or unreasonable exaggeration on their resume. Almost 90 percent of candidates with one distortion had multiple distortions. At a minimum, seek exact dates of employment, verify college attendance and degrees conferred and carefully verify all professional licenses.
Lateral Hiring Despite a lot of talk by law firms of dumping their summer programs and focusing greater resources on laterals, firms continue to have a heavy focus on law school recruiting. In fact, NALP reports a small decrease in lateral hiring in all firms. Not surprisingly, under 100 lawyer firms hire 1.09 laterals for each law school hire while large firms (over 500 attorneys) hire .75 laterals for each law school hire.
Legal Resource Group LLC specializes in serving the executive and administrative recruiting needs of law firms. We maintain the largest data base of law firm executive and Administrative staff in the world. This allows us to immediately identify the very best candidates. We find the best people, complete searches faster and have extremely reasonable fees. For further information, visit our website at www.LRGLLC.com , contact us by e-mail at inquiries@LRGLLC.com or by phone at 1-800-688-4147.
