Employee survey reveals support staff dissatisfied
The ;Lawyer’s first employee engagement survey, conducted ;by YouGovCentaur, shows a chasm between lawyers and business services staff, with the latter feeling undervalued, underpaid and out of the loop.
An ;overwhelming majority of business support staff – 64 per cent – did not feel that non-fee-earning roles are valued at their firm.
Nick Woolf, a partner at headhunter Sainty Hird, who recruits lawyers and senior non-fee-earners, says: “It’s a shame, but I’m not surprised. Law firms are dominated by fee-earners. Unfortunately a lot of firms view support staff as just that – lackeys to support the real business of generating fees.”
Woolf’s view is shared by fee-earners. One senior non-fee-earner at a top 10 UK firm says: “There’s a fairly well-established ‘us and them’ divide. Support staff who are embedded in the practice areas rather than centrally have much less of an ‘us and them’ problem. It’s support staff based in central functions that are much more invisible to most lawyers.”
One City partner says: “Unfortunately, I don’t think many lawyers understand what these people do. I expect to see a rise in non-lawyer managers who might better understand these functions.”
Internal communication was identified as a critical area for improvement, with many business support staff seemingly unsure of their role within the firm.
Just 41 per cent of business services personnel agreed that the firm communicated how their role contributes to overall firm strategy. That makes fairly depressing reading, but even worse are the career development prospects.
Only 16 per cent of business services people felt that there are good opportunities for promotion within their department or practice area. And only 25 per cent of support staff believe that people are given clear messages about their future potential.
“There’s an increasing focus on career development – for example, some firms have four or five grades for secretaries – but it could be better. There’s a single ladder, and you either go up it or you don’t, or you leave,” says one business development manager.
Career development is also a crucial issue for lawyers. The employee engagement ;survey reinforces the findings of The Lawyer’s January 2007 YouGov survey, which revealed that only 64 per cent of assistant solicitors across the profession were aiming for partnership. That figure slumped to just 37 per cent among firms with more than £250m turnovers, which is roughly equivalent to the top 10 firms in the UK.
If anything things are getting worse. The employee engagement survey revealed that only 46 per cent of fee-earners were aiming for partnership in their own firm and only 40 per cent believed it was an achievable aim. ;Despite ;gloomy ;partnership prospects and a rise in alternative career paths at some firms, only 28 per cent of fee-earners agreed that their firm ;provides a good alternative to partnership.
“But that’s right, isn’t it?” comments Woolf. “Not everyone ;becomes ;a millionaire. The best will get partnership. It can only be for those of the very highest calibre.”
Analysis of the statistics reveals four critical areas where improvement is needed for fee-earners: career development and career structures, partnership opportunities, work-life balance and reward.
Despite ;spiralling salaries in recent years, only ;48 ;per ;cent ;of respondents are satisfied with their basic salaries; only 32 per cent are satisfied with their bonuses; and a shockingly low 21 per cent believe that bonuses are ;calculated ;fairly throughout their firm.
These figures are boosted by fee-earners, who feel much more fairly rewarded for the work they do than business support staff. Fifty-four per cent of business support staff said pay would be the most likely reason for them to leave. Among fee-earners the biggest single factor was work-life balance, with 42 per cent saying that this would be a reason to leave. Of all employees, 41 per cent are less than satisfied with their work-life balance.
The survey is the first census of the UK legal sector to cover all employees, including fee-earners and all business support functions, such as HR, business development, secretarial, IT and communications.
Employee engagement sits at an average of 62 per cent for fee-earners across all firms taking part in the survey, but less than 49 per cent of support staff are fully engaged.
Employee engagement surveys have replaced old-fashioned job satisfaction surveys because research suggested ;that ;job satisfaction is a passive measurement and did not translate to profitability.
“There’s a much stronger link between engagement and productivity. If you have engaged employees, they’re likely to be more profitable to the firm,” says YouGov associate director Matt Roddan.
More ;than ;4,000 employees at 11 firms were surveyed, providing a range of responses across the legal market. The 11 firms represent a cross-section of the market, ranging from international giants to smaller regional firms.
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Readers' comments (41)
Ex senior support manager | 1-Sep-2008 12:21 pm
Support Roles and Engagement...
Very good to see a survey including all members of firms (legal and non-legal) and to see the differences...
Two of the biggest issues surrounding non-legal / support staff engagement are; Firstly, engagement from the top partnership is usually only ever via the absolute head of support functions (directors/heads of) etc - other senior managers, the ones who often do the actual work, are often ignored and under valued/paid and end up leaving.
Secondly, strategic planning between support functions is often not joined up - whilst such teams work together on actual work, too often planning is done vertically in isolation, leading to politics, duplication and lack of efficiency and engagement. And too often it's the same 'absolute heads' who are the ones playing politics.
Another crucial issue is the way many firms treat the overhead model of support teams i.e. they are an expense and a cost to the firm.
However because such overheads are not re-charged to legal teams in many firms, the work of support functions (even discrete projects) is seen as 'zero cost' and there is a grab for support resource by legal teams.
This leads to static/reduced budget but increased demand, a situation that leads to de-moralised support staff.
Until partners can understand the difference between true operational overhead and projects which are investments, and can demonstrate ROI then this situation will continue.
There are many, many senior support people who are as professional as lawyers (and as qualified as such), but whom are not respected merely because they are not lawyers and because they are not 'top of the tree' in a particular support function.
For such professionals to not be engaged with due respect for their expertise in their own fields must surely be one of the main causes for the feelings of undervaluation.
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Anon. | 1-Sep-2008 6:20 pm
Come on...
With a few significant exceptions, support staff have no less respect than they deserve, and it is only due to the generosity of firms in the first place by giving them such big salaries relative to their merits that they get ideas above their station.
HR is NOT a profession like being a lawyer, an architect or a doctor, and though people in HR might call themselves professionals, it's frankly a bit of a joke.
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Anonymous | 1-Sep-2008 8:13 pm
Anon - where are you?
Many of us would be grateful if Anon would tell us which firm he works at (I bet it's a 'he'), so that we can avoid it like the plague.
Whilst his pre-historic attitudes are fading (particularly in the bigger firms) there are two many like him about. Many HR people I've worked with in law firms (no, I don't work in HR) are first rate managers - and add far more value to the business than partners who believe they are superiour. Come the revolution......
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Anonymous | 2-Sep-2008 8:26 am
Anon - uninsightful much?
Comment directed to Anon - that was the most uninsightful comment in relation to HR professionals, I am almost embarrassed for you - do you have an inferiority complex?
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ST | 2-Sep-2008 8:41 am
Support roles and engagement
Do we know of many other business sectors that would pay 'such big salaries relative to their merits' and then be so utterly contemptuous of their investment?
Surely Anons policy is to hire support staff because of a perceived business requirement. Any well-run business operates based on a structure, which utilises skills that are seen to add value, skills that the Fee Earning element may not possess.
Many firms, particularly the smaller ones, have fairly rudimentary measures where the bottom line fees are all important. Analysing the costs associated with generating these fees is rarely given anything like as much attention.
Many support staff find that leadership and direction are lacking and have little idea how they contribute to the overall plan, often leaving them bemused as they watch what is going on around them. So, the survey does not make for pleasant reading for some Managing Partners.
The worrying thing is that to some these findings will come as a surprise.
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Rosie Smith | 2-Sep-2008 9:11 am
Value
First of all to the shallow self conceited lawyer 'Anon' (1st comment) you clearly have no understanding whatever what support staff do. how do you think financial statements get published at month end or year end or even closer to home how you would get paid every month if someone didnt sit down to process the payroll!! i think most lawyers need a reall business education
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Happy non-partner | 2-Sep-2008 9:31 am
Call this a survey?
Oh come on...11 firms are hardly representative of the legal profession as a whole. How many hundred of firms are there? And to say "The best will get partnership. It can only be for those of the very highest calibre.” misses the point that a vast number of lawyers don't want partnership at all.
Money isn't all in life regardless of what partners think...at the end of the day, you can't take it with you and you can't get back time you DIDN'T spend with friends, family and enjoying the one life you get!
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Anonymous | 2-Sep-2008 9:46 am
Anon is wrong
Anon - as an ex-lawyer from a top 10 firm who now works in HR I can assure you that many of the people I have worked with in HR are a lot more professional than some of the lawyers I dealt with.
Indeed, much of the work that gets done in HR is more challenging and stressful than that on the fee earning side. Your view is both outdated and inaccurate - get over yourself!
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Anonymous | 2-Sep-2008 9:58 am
Dark ages
I am disappointed but not surprised that the last comment was posted. It is indicative of the mentality that prevails in law firms no matter what the website puff says.
The fact that it is easier than ever now to become a lawyer makes a mockery of the 'profession' point - it is not the elitist career most within it think. Most 'lawyers' would struggle to tie their own shoelaces, let alone qualify as a doctor. In fact, without the HR professionals and support staff most lawyers would have been sued or worse due to dubious or non-existant people management skills.
Whatever is said discrimination is still rife within the industry, and the last rather bigoted post proves that.
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Michaela | 2-Sep-2008 10:22 am
Tuppence worth
HR people: you might have a point about the comment below, but the really basic spelling and grammatical mistakes in your posts do slightly undermine your point about being highly skilled professionals.
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