A common observation by administrative staff members new to law firms is how their firm culturally talks one game but walks another. There are certainly egregious examples of this in all sorts of areas, but one of the most obvious and interesting for new staff members is coping with the use of first names. During interviews it is common for a candidate to be told that “everyone is on a first name basis here.” Yet on the floor, there can be a wide diversity of practices. Most typically the default rule is “if they have a law degree, call them Mr. or Ms., otherwise use their first name.” Most people feel it’s better to be formal than sorry and during periods of rapid growth, especially through mergers, the result can be a subtle decrease in informality and collegiality.

 

This problem is not unique to law firms. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, much of the problem with first names in all forms of business organization is that there is not a person in the world that doesn’t enjoy the ego boost of being called sir or ma’am, and some bosses fail to correct their subordinates for using titles. Since the bosses set the etiquette, the cultural norm starts to erode.

 

The best means of assuring informality is making it formal, i.e., having a written policy that all personnel, from the managing partner to the mail room clerk, must be on a first name basis. United Parcel Service has had such a rule since its first policy manual in 1929.

 

There are difficulties. For firms with offices in countries with strict social strata such as China, Latin America and even Britain and Germany, American style informality can be uncomfortable. But, experience dictates that initial discomfort is quickly replaced with enjoyment and a form of attachment to the organization beyond the norm outside of the U.S.

Creating an associate or staff member opinion poll that is valid and functional can be a time consuming project for law firms. A new book provides access to 20 diagnostic employee questionnaires that measure such things as morale, engagement and commitment. The book, Employee Opinion Questionnaires: 20 Ready-to-Use Surveys That Work is authored by Paul M. Connolly, a professional test and survey designer (Pfeiffer/A Wiley Imprint, $95).   The book also contains norms for 30 of the most important and common employee survey questions based on a database of 80,000 responses in 170 organizations. The book comes with the surveys on CD.

It is common for the settlement of complaints involving sexual harassment or diversity problems that don’t rise to the severity of termination to involve mandatory training for the offending employees. A great source of such training is HR Classroom,a provider of online training services (www.hrclassroom.com). Participants can be training in interactive programs at their desktop or in groups, and the programs can be customized by the firm to include specific issues and firm branding.   Other programs involve Workplace Violence Prevention, FMLA, confidentiality, drug-free workplace, ergonomics and a variety of other topics.

One of the benefits offered by the Fortune Magazine, “Best Places to Work” companies is backup childcare. It is estimated that 80% of all workers need to work shortened workdays because their childcare or elder care arrangements fell through – costing employers billions of dollars per year in productivity losses. This is particularly a problem for law firms that are too small to offer the benefit but competing for employees with firms that do.

 

Starting today, a company called Workplace Options (www.workplaceoptions.com) now offers a backup care locator that allows participating employers to offer employees access to the largest online national database for childcare centers, adult day care centers, family day care homes and agencies that provide backup care. The database contains 20,000 providers. To access the service, participants contact the Workplace Options call center which is staffed 24/7.