Hiring, managing, and leading - Legal Partners setting the standard
A recent analysis of the legal market in Australia revealed that law firm partners had contributed a higher percentage of billable hours than previous years and indicated that job satisfaction amongst partners is suffering as a result. The 2022: State of the Legal Market Report by Thomson Reuters noted that whilst many partners experienced increased billables throughout the past financial year they also had to spend a greater proportion of time recruiting and onboarding new staff, adding to existing time pressures. With billable hours for partners seeing consistent increases in the recent financial years, it’s clear that law firms are still recovering from the effects of the pandemic on their industry.
Amidst the challenges facing partners to balance increasing client workloads and the usual day-to-day, how can firm leaders ensure they are cultivating a positive workplace culture and effectively managing their team to success? Lawyers Weekly Partner of the Year award recipient, Hugh Griffin, outlined what leadership qualities he embraces as the Managing Partner and co-founder of boutique law firm, Hazelbrook Legal:
“Leadership is all about people – and people management is all about setting the right example. Having started my career at top tier firms, and now having co-founded a boutique firm, I have clear views about the characteristics of "good leaders" - but there is no single formula for effective leadership. Good leaders should, and do, develop their own style of effective leadership. Genuineness, compassion, and integrity are central tenants to my leadership style, as well as an understanding that it's how I act, rather than just what I say, that is most important - deeds not words.”
As Millennials now make up most of the workforce, firms need to engage and develop their teams in meaningful ways
With 50% of firms stating that recruitment and retention is one of the biggest challenges in 2022, it is likely that the national labour shortage and retention of current staff has commanded more of a senior partner’s time constraints of late.
As Millennials are now tied with Boomers for the highest percentage spread in the Australian population, it is in the interest of organisations to cultivate a workplace that promotes the values this generation is seeking from their employer. A global survey of Millennial and Gen Z’s from Deloitte revealed that this workforce place high value in organisations that foster an inclusive workplace culture, where everyone is provided with equal opportunities to develop their skills, form connections and advance their careers should they choose to.
Hugh and the senior leadership team at Hazelbrook Legal have been highly successful in combatting the talent shortage facing many industries throughout the nation, by providing their team with valuable opportunities that the younger workforce is seeking from employers. Not only have they provided their junior team members with invaluable experiences to develop their skills as lawyers, but they also facilitate opportunities to prepare the Hazelbrook team for the rapidly evolving landscape of the legal industry.
“Being a young and innovative firm, our young lawyers are exposed to client interactions from early on and are given the opportunity to work across a broad range of matters. We want our junior lawyers to become “generalists” and be able to talk across a comprehensive range of subjects within the corporate and commercial spheres, to become truly trusted advisors to our clients. As their careers develop, we encourage our lawyers to then build an area of specialty in a subject area of interest.
At Hazelbrook, we foster a passion for commerciality and our juniors are brought into commercial and strategic discussions from the very start. We believe that only lawyers who have genuine commerciality can provide truly commercial advice. We also have a clear and transparent framework and pathway for training, development and progression which has been drawn from our collective knowledge and experience.
We also believe that communication is key, and this includes being a good listener, and bringing them along for the journey as early as possible. In this way, and also by virtue of being small and nimble, we can respond more quickly to the needs of our juniors and encourage their development as mentors.”
‘Workplace culture’ are no longer just buzz words for HR teams
It’s no surprise that work life balance and culture within the legal profession are often on the receiving end of less than positive reviews when considering the demanding nature of the industry. Although firms have seen great progress to improve workplace culture with the adoption of automation technologies post-pandemic and leaders embracing a more humanistic style of leadership, the Australian law sector still has a way to go towards improving employee wellbeing. A recent report from the Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner uncovered that overall, 75% of law professionals reported that workplace culture contributed positively overall to their well-being. However, when those numbers were examined further, they revealed that a significant proportion of female (29%) and junior practitioners felt that their workplace culture contributed negatively to their experience. The findings are indicative that, although there may have been improvements since 2020, there is still room for progress within the legal industry.
For Griffin’s team however, their passion for employee wellbeing and firm culture remains at the heart of their operations and has given the boutique firm an attractive edge to candidates in a cut-throat talent market. Hugh notes that unsustainable expectations can come at a cost to firms: “Many law firms are high performance and can produce high quality output, however this often comes at the expense of the culture. Our dedication and persistence to build and maintain our culture, has been a huge differentiator for us and the reason we’ve been able to attract and retain top tier talent, even in a very challenging labour market.”
Hazelbrook Legal leading the charge with happy and skilled practitioners
For the trailblazing team at Hazelbrook Legal, their Managing Partner believes it all comes back to the culture they are creating for their team: “Hazelbrook was founded on some fundamental but basic principles based around the creation of a high performing AND high functioning team, and we’re staunchly proud of these principles. This, in turn, has allowed us to “outperform” our peers and win work and clients that would typically be going to the top tiers, as well as bring together a team of ex-top tier lawyers and extremely high performing graduates. We are fiercely proud of our culture and values – we are a high-performance workplace with a great culture – it is extremely difficult, and vanishingly rare, to have those two things at once. I have done this through a fearless dedication to living and breathing our values. I communicate clearly and regularly about our values and strategy with regular whole firm sessions, empowering the team to buy into these values, so they are strong guardians of our culture into the future.”
As described by Hugh, Hazelbrook Legal have found their niche as a boutique firm, being able to thrive, retain talent, and future proof their business. This balance and their genuine approach to everything they do, has assured their success and industry recognition.
