December 1, 2005
Holiday Stress
January is, for most law firms, the month with the highest attrition for administrative staff. Waiting until bonuses are paid is the often assumed reason, but some psychologists believe that an equal culprit may be holiday stress. Gift shopping, greeting cards and putting up decorations - combined with sad memories and alcohol consumption - can impact stress levels and add to job dissatisfaction, even if the stress has nothing directly to do with the job. Some law firms, where the time demands of the practice decline during the holiday season, help employees avoid stress by giving time off during the day for shopping or other personal tasks. A Chicago firm, whose corporate financial practice heats up at year end, provides special support by making a personal shopper available (through an arrangement with a local department store), and less restrictive rules on the use of after-hours cab vouchers for employees who want to stay downtown to do shopping. For those required to log in extra time during the busy season, making sure that employees know that the time has been noted goes a long way toward creating a sense of value that can relieve some of the stress. Staff Salary Increases for 2006 Budgeted at 4 ½ Percent
We did a quickie survey of large law firms around the country as to what they were budgeting for staff salary increases in their U.S. offices for next year. The answers ranged from a high of 6 percent to a low of 3 ½ percent but the strong median hovered around 4 ½ percent. This response was pretty consistent around the country. A number of firms mentioned that the increase was smaller than anticipated in recognition of the increased cost of health insurance. Several firms mentioned that increases in foreign offices were substantially higher than in the U.S. Around-the-Clock Operations
As law firms’ international client bases expand, so does the demand for around-the-clock operations. To keep in sync with international client needs and level work flow demands, East and West coast firms are taking advantage of the time-zone differences to cover their peak workload periods immediately before and after the working day. A Boston firm taps into its Los Angeles staff after secretaries have gone home. In return, the Boston office handles left over work from the night before in the morning hours before Los Angeles secretaries come in.
As more firms become more global in their operations, staffing offices with second- and third-shift personnel presents special challenges for HR professionals. Generally, night-owl employees require the same services as their daylight counterparts with some changes in emphasis. Office security becomes a larger issue including the need to get people to and from work after hours. Putting a security guard at the reception desk is a common feature, and one New York firm runs vans from heavily lighted 24-hour restaurant parking lots in suburban locations where they have made arrangements for employees to park. In addition to security and making sure at least one person who knows how to brew a pot of coffee, HR may also find itself on-call 24-hours a day to provide the same benefit and employee assistance services the day shift workers receive. Most firms pay a premium (ranging from 25 cents per hour to as much as $50 per week) for staff members working irregular hours. Generally, the more isolated the work situation, the higher the premium.
An increasingly attractive alternative is off-hour work from home secretaries. With high-speed internet access and electronic dictation that can be sent as email attachments, firms are finding themselves able to provide after hours services with a minimum of infrastructure overhead. Lessons From Katrina
With a record-breaking – and heart-breaking - hurricane season officially behind us, HR professionals find themselves at the forefront of law firms revisiting their disaster plans. But, no matter how well thought out preparedness plans were, law firms watched the previously untested plans collapse like a house of cards when Katrina and Wilma struck. We are still months (maybe years) away from a full debriefing on law firms’ preparedness but we are benefiting from the immediate feedback coming from affected firms.
While the immediate focus was on survival and life-saving efforts, within a few days client concerns began to emerge for lawyers who either lived in areas that were less affected or had successfully relocated themselves. Finding and keeping track of employees who relocated all over the country, many of whom had critical client information, was almost impossible. Having a central point of contact is of vital importance for firms attempting to convey important information such as health insurance claims, pay checks, access to pension funds and credit unions. Some immediate lessons learned:
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Create and accurately maintain a list of attorney and staff cell phone numbers. It is especially important to have the numbers of HR, IT and Finance staff members.
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In advance of need, create a website on a server with an ISP in a different geographical area. Use the site as an online bulletin board for communications to and from attorneys and staff.
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Set up an 800 number hotline for those who cannot access the internet.
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Give attorneys and staff members a laminated card with website and 800 numbers plus any other emergency instructions. The back of employee ID cards or door access key cards is ideal.
Sick Leave
Traditionally, law firms have focused on programs designed to encourage staff members to limit their use of sick leave. Several firms use a quarterly drawing for prizes such as a use of the firm’s seats for sporting events and concerts, in which only employees with no sick leave usage may participate. With greater flu concerns, some managers fear that the programs have been too successful. According to a recent survey, 80% of office workers say they frequently show up for work when they are feeling sick. In fact, only eight percent say they never come to work sick. Telecommuting
While the definitions of Generation X vary, most demographers see them as being in their 30’s (born from 1965 to 1975). This, of course, is the prime recruiting area for most law firm professional and staff positions. It is, therefore, interesting to note that, according to Entrepreneur Magazine more than half of all Generation Xers would quit their job if approached by another employer who offered a chance to telecommute. Inducing Labor?
With a majority of law students and almost half of law firm associates being female, diversity initiatives are an essential element of any large law firm’s HR program. Behind the scenes, however, managing partners and CFOs sometimes grumble that female associates work hard for eight years to become highly valuable lawyers and earn a partnership and then leave to start their families – just when they are at the peak of their profitability for the firm. Alternatively, women fear that a mid-associate pregnancy leave may jeopardize their ability to attract top work assignments and, eventually, their partnership chances.
In response to this dilemma, firms are creating flexible paths to partnership that adjust the criteria and partnership track to accommodate maternity leaves and periods of reduced hours. The economic rationalization is that it not only increases retention of female associates but, from a macro perspective, supports their option to begin families earlier in their associateship when their work is more easily transferable to other associates and they have fewer client management responsibilities.
Firms are also finding ways of encouraging women to return to their practices after giving birth. One of the keys seems to be keeping the associate involved in the firm by permitting them to practice on an extremely part-time basis during their maternity leave, encouraging them to participate in practice group meetings through audio or video conferencing from their homes, and creating special programs such as firm-sponsored book club discussion threads on the firm’s extranet. Fragrance-Free Workplace
The empowerment of individuals with a special situation continues. The most recent example seems to be law firms being asked by allergic staff members to control the amount of perfume and other scents their employees wear. A few firms have declared themselves to be Fragrance Free Zones and prohibit the wearing of any scents. Anyone who has ever ridden in a crowed elevator with an overly perfumed or after-shaved man or woman may think this is a wonderful idea. But, implementation is more difficult that might be initially imagined. A recent ALA discussion thread tells of the spread of the ban to hair spray, deodorant, hand lotion and the soap in wash rooms. Counterbalancing arguments are heard from individuals needing fragrances to cover excessive body odor caused by several forms of disease or menopause which, of course, gives rise to possible coverage under the American’s With Disabilities Act.
Law firms can learn a lot from the experience of hospitals who, for obvious reasons have dealt with issues like this for a longer time. Hospital administrators and HR Directors recommend considering the following issues in deciding the appropriateness of workplace limitations:
1. How widespread is the cause of the allergy? If it would debilitate those who are allergic in almost any setting, a workplace ban may not positively affect their situation.
2. How severe is the effect of a ban on non-suffering personnel? Businesses were quick to ban peanut products from vending machines because the impact was not consequential.
3. Would the ban adversely impact the delivery of the firm’s core services? A law firm could not effectively function without printers and copiers to accommodate someone allergic to graphite based products.
Is there an alternative that would resolve the sufferer’s complaint with a lesser firm-wide impact than a banLegal 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.
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