Talent management is an important aspect of implementing strategic change. It creates competitive advantage by strengthening individual commitment with the firm’s objectives, improving lawyer engagement, enhancing performance and increasing retention.
We help our clients design tailored strategies to attract, develop and retain the talent that they need to support the achievement of strategic goals and business performance.
More than just an annual performance review, performance management is the process by which the leadership, partners and associates work together to plan, monitor and review individual and team work, objectives and overall contributions to the firm.
We design and implement innovative performance management systems that are continuous processes setting out objectives, focusing on real time, individualised feedback, coaching and mentoring to ensure that lawyers are meeting their objectives and career goals. Our approach, which is based on best practice, creates agile systems for partners and for HR to manage and encourage the right behaviours.
The ability for leaders to make and execute decisions with speed and precision, within their busy working lives, is vital to the achievement of any firm’s strategy. It is also vital to the success of complex change processes.
We advise on developing governance structures and systems that provide the best balance between stability, transparency and predictability on one hand, with the ability to move decisively when this is necessary on the other. More generally, we also help clients to identify the best structures, systems and technological solutions with which to govern and manage their organisations and to optimise their long-term economic performance and competitiveness.
Strategic succession planning is at the core of successful strategy execution. Growing the next generation of leaders in the firm is achieved by fostering an environment that facilitates the development and emergence of talented partners that will form a pool of successors. Without a rigorous and solid succession planning process, firms end up lacking the necessary competence to implement the chosen strategy.
We analyze human capital data in order to identify crucial workflow processes and assess their adequacy. We advise clients on measures to mitigate gaps and we advise on the design and implementation of strategic succession planning strategies.
There can be few more contentious initiatives upon which a law firm can embark than changing the manner in which its partners allocate profits amongst themselves. Yet where misalignments exist between partner behaviour and the achievement of the firm’s agreed strategic objectives, changing the partner compensation system is frequently the most effective way to restore that alignment.
We have extensive experience in advising law firms in this difficult area. Our experience includes the full range of systems from locksteps (both rigid and modified), to performance-based and “eat-what-you-kill” systems. We have also helped firms develop a wide range of processes by which to govern the compensation system. We recognize that the means by which partners share profits is deeply embedded in each firm’s strategy, governance principles and culture. Our consulting process involves careful consideration of these points, clear articulation of the objectives that the change seeks to achieve, and transparency and sensitivity in engaging in the necessary partner discussions. Sometimes, an examination of a firm’s compensation system leads to a re-assessment of its strategy, rather than a change to its system. It takes a great deal of experience and wisdom to recognize where this is necessary.
