"Lawyer retention and hiring top talent in a competitive market is a major challenge for one in two legal professionals (50%)."
- Thomson Reuters Institute Tech and the Law 2022 Survey
Attracting talent within a competitive market is, at the best of times, a struggle. Attracting talent that ticks all the boxes of your position criteria is virtually impossible. In a job market where many firms are increasingly upping their financial offers to potential candidates, in an effort to outbid one another, it has become apparent how expensive it is to attract and retain talented professionals. Money however is not enough. What potential recruits are looking for goes beyond just what salary is on the table.
Where is the push for innovation coming from?
When it comes to retaining and attracting talent, lack of innovation plays a pivotal role. According to the Thomson Reuters Institute Tech and the Law 2022 Survey, 29% of lawyers said they would be prepared to leave their firm or legal practice for a more innovative firm.
This is an unsurprising statistic given the required adoption of technical innovations throughout the pandemic, and the increasingly younger skew within the industry. Since 2014 there has been a steady increase in solicitors aged 34 years or younger entering the profession, with this age bracket representing 35% of total solicitors. The 2022 National Profile of Solicitors showed that almost half of all solicitors within Australia were aged between 25 to 39 years (47%).
Of this growing segment of the legal population, The Queensland Law Society’s 2021 Innovation Committee Report states, “The next generation of legal practitioners and clients are ‘digital natives’. Members of this cohort are adept at navigating digital technologies and tend to preference service delivery and engagement through new forms of media (such as apps like Uber). Within the next five to ten years digital natives will comprise most of the workforce, and as this cohort becomes more prevalent, the legal profession may need to adapt to different service delivery models.”
The innovation gap
“From a talent perspective, companies are missing potential opportunities to engage their people and leaving themselves exposed. And where the gap lies is typically between senior executives and junior-level employees. Senior executives need to recognize that entry-level employees can play a major role in driving innovation, bringing new skills and ideas to the table. Otherwise, they run the risk of employees jumping ship.”
- Innovation Can Make Or Break Employee Retention, Forbes
Whilst there has always been a divide between those who are adept at using technical innovations and those who aren’t, it seems as though the gap is widening. However, the reason for slow adoption is not always clear cut. The Thomson Reuters Institute Tech and the Law 2022 Survey found that people experienced a number of challenges when it came to legal technology solutions:
- 48% Slow, cumbersome, or hard to use platforms.
- 44% Access issues when working remotely.
- 39% Lack of integration between technology platforms.
- 36% Training and upskilling colleagues on platforms.
- 28% Cyber security or compliance risks relation to technology.
- 15% Change management issues.
So, with these various challenges, how can firms best foster innovation to retain their workforce?
Implementing a culture of innovation
Innovation, especially when it comes to legal technology, can often feel like an unconquerable beast. With the leaps and bounds that innovation has made over the past ten years, it’s no wonder people feel that they, and subsequently their firm, have been unable to keep up with the changes occurring in this space. If you feel at a loss of where to begin, some considerations to keep in mind to attract and retain talent are:
- Connectivity and collaboration: in this modern age where everyone is digitally connected through a mobile device, employees value workplaces that offer flexible solutions that allow them to remain connected and enable them to collaborate anywhere they choose.
- Automation: Document automation solutions provide the greatest positive impact for over one in four (26%) on a person’s ability to succeed in their role. Whilst over four in five (81%) private practice professionals regard more efficient processes as their most valued way of working. Given these insights, it makes perfect sense to alleviate employees from having to complete mundane and unnecessary administrative tasks that can instead be automated.
- Data Analytics: data can be a powerful tool to assist in any day-to-day practice. But find solutions that harnessing that data in a palatable, easy to digest way that saves time and gets to the core of the specific information you need.
Just remember that innovation is constantly evolving, so approach it with an open mind – what might have previously not worked for you in the past will most likely have become more streamlined for a better user experience in the present. Taking the first step towards a culture of innovation can be the drawcard you need and provide you with a competitive edge in the war on talent.
