The Lawyer's Office

If you missed the recent ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference, or were unable to attend the session on managing employees and reducing the risk of ethical violations, I felt the topic was important enough to reiterate the high points in this issue of the Bar News.

As the manager of a law firm, I wear many hats: facilities, technology, accounting, record keeping, cash flow management, billing, collection, and compliance with federal and state regulations.

Without question, my biggest headaches day in and day out for the past 20 years have the been human resources issues – dealing with employees. The problems include staffing levels, performance problems' adequate coverage during vacations and illnesses, and unforeseen problems to keeping motivated loyal employees.

I've learned that employees can make you or break you.

Good employees make you more productive; they are reliable assistants for the attorneys, and they keep the workflow moving efficiently.

Unfortunately, we've also had to deal with conflicts among employees that can infect the office, some with poor work ethics, and occasionally those who lack the proper skills. Part of being a good manager and turning poor employees into good ones requires ongoing training and communication.

The perfect employee is the one who shows up for work everyday, has a professional appearance, works diligently, and suggests, anticipates and participates. The perfect employee doesn't complain or gossip, and puts the interests of the employer first.

I refer to these employees as “untouchables,” or franchise employees. I'm proud to say that our firm has several of these perfect individuals.

I firmly believe it's because we've created an environment or a culture in which our employees feel they have value, their ideas are encouraged, they are informed on the firm's status, goals and plans, and they are treated as professionals.

Perfect employees are highly motivated and seldom change jobs because they really enjoy what they do. High turnover has a negative effect on any organization. It creates increased direct cost, loss of critical knowledge and reduced productivity, and it opens the door of increased risk of ethical violations.

The areas most vulnerable to ethical violations when staff are involved are confidentiality, trust accounts, conflicts of interest, critical dates and missed deadlines, and record keeping.

These areas become more of a risk when high turnover exists. New employees may not be trained properly on the procedures and policies, or the lawyers just assume things are getting done properly when they aren't.

The session at the Solo and Small Firm Conference covered in some detail each of the particular areas that are vulnerable and provided ideas on how to prevent problems.

Proper training really does equal prevention. In addition to a new employee orientation, ongoing training should be part of a firm's commitment to employee development. Proper documentation of policies and procedures is a must. Having an employee agree to a code of conduct that defines expectations is not an unreasonable request.

Most importantly, putting in place mechanisms that recognize mistakes will be made, and allowing for a rapid “no fault” reporting of circumstances, creates an environment where problems are solved before they become crises.

The conference session explained how to cultivate the perfect employee. It all starts with hiring right the first time and then creating an environment the employee can thrive in. Communicating regularly and immediately dealing with performance issues is all part of an ideal workplace.

Employees go to work because they need the money to support themselves and their families, or to supplement the family income. It doesn't take long, however, for more important factors to begin shaping an employee's attitude and commitment level to the employer.

We recently polled our employees and asked them what they felt would be the perfect workplace for them. Appreciation, trust, value, respect, loyalty and professionalism were the key words in nearly every phrase we received.

Salaries, vacations, benefits and other items are seldom mentioned in any survey as the main reasons someone ranks an employer as a great place to work.

Perhaps the biggest rebuttal I hear when talking with lawyers about giving recognition to employees is: I don't believe in rewarding people for just doing their jobs. My response is this: Recognition is acknowledgment that you've noticed somebody doing good work.

It's a tool for reinforcing the type of behavior you want to see repeated. Recognition is a motivator, and it doesn't cost you anything.

But it must be sincere. Although it may seem it can be done too often, employees learn to expect it. When they receive it regularly, they stay at your place, instead of moving, and become motivated perfect employees.

If you're facing high turnover or are continually dealing with unmotivated employees, give some of these ideas a try. It might let you spend more time with your clients and less time motivating employees or trying to find replacements.

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