Eversheds to pay staff for top BD ideas
Staff at Eversheds are being given the chance to win a £20,000 cash prize for coming up with a pioneering business idea.
Bryan Hughes
The firm has created an innovation forum, which encourages everyone from support staff to senior partners to submit their business ideas to a judging panel that will select a winning proposal each month for a cash prize of £500.
At the end of the year the person who came up with the best overall idea will be awarded £20,000.
HR director Angus MacGregor, who sits on the judging panel with chief executive Bryan Hughes and three other partners, said: “We wanted to push this because Eversheds is about innovation and so far there’s been a tremendous amount of ideas that have come out of it. People are starting to look at things differently to enhance the way we work as a firm.”
MacGregor added that the scheme was about creating a platform for “creative business thinking”.
There have been four winning ideas since the new scheme was first introduced in January including a new consultancy programme called Eversheds Align, which offers in-house legal teams advice on effective management structures.
Another winning idea has been to develop a business development database, which allows lawyers at the firm to pool all their client information together in one place.
Readers' comments (12)
Rival Lawyer | 26-May-2010 5:52 pm
Wow - what a breakthrough! A business Development Database! If this is the sort of thing Eversheds are not already doing they really need some innovation. Let me guess, next month's winner will be the person who suggests installing some flushing toilets!
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David Ufuoma Omamogho | 26-May-2010 6:57 pm
A CREATIVE MINDSET IS A WEALTHY MINDSET AND ONCE THE SEED HAS BEEN SOWN, THE HARVEST IS SURE;
EVERSHEDS ARE ON THE PATH OF CONTINUAL WELATH CREATION;
IT IS A GOOD ATTRIBUTE FOR EVERY LAWYER WHICH I ADOPT MYSELF AS AN INVENTOR BY NATURE AND GIFTING.
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Anonymous | 27-May-2010 9:44 am
David Ufuoma Omamogho, an inspirational BD idea but you used all caps, so you don't get £500. Sorry.
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Gary Wheat | 27-May-2010 10:40 am
David,
Here is an inspirational idea- go to the left of your keyboard, above the shift key and below the tab key you will see a key with a big arrow pointing ahead. If you depress this key it will enable you to write lower case letters as well as your favoured upper case.
This will make it look like you aren't dead angry about stuff.
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bob | 27-May-2010 10:59 am
This has got to be a wind-up:
"Another winning idea has been to develop a business development database, which allows lawyers at the firm to pool all their client information together in one place."
Corinne - I suggest you take a more sceptical approach to the Eversheds puff machine.
Law firm CRM systems have been around for years, and there are specialist technology vendors and executives who devote their lives to this stuff. They will be spitting out their cornflakes reading this.
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Anonymous | 27-May-2010 11:17 am
ONE MIGHT ALSO SAY THAT WRITING EVERYTHING IN CAPS RUNS THE RISK OF MAKING PEOPLE THINK YOU'RE A LITTLE BIT OFF YOUR ROCKER.
WIBBLE, WIBBLE.
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Lord Sugar | 27-May-2010 1:50 pm
Anyone who sells an idea which could earn a small fortune for £20k is a dumbass. Personally, I’d keep these ideas for my own future firm. Alternatively, if there was a short-term quick buck to be made which could not be utilised in said future firm, I’d look to negotiate a cut of the profits generated by my idea.
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Anonymous | 27-May-2010 3:03 pm
I have lots of good ideas, if someone gives me a job i'll share them for free!
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Anonymous | 27-May-2010 3:53 pm
Garden sheds that last forever. You could call them "Eversheds". Please post the cheque to…
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Anonymous | 28-May-2010 1:04 pm
Doesn't say much for their own BD team if the judging panel is made up of HR Director + partners...
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Anonymous | 2-Jun-2010 2:58 pm
If they hadn't slashed their marketing team by half, they may have gotten plenty of good BD ideas and someone to implement them too!
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Anonymous | 5-Jun-2010 10:04 am
Wow, what innovation! Whoever suggested Eversheds Align made the easiest £500 ever - it's a complete rip off from Addleshaw's Client Development Centre.
And while we are on the subject, just remind me why the (successfully managed) corporate sector would take any advice from the managerially disfunctional legal sector.
I can't believe The Lawyer prints this rubbish.
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