SJ Berwin unveils plans to motivate disengaged workforce
SJ Berwin is planning to introduce widespread changes to improve staff and partner engagement after admitting that it has traditionally struggled to keep its workforce motivated.
The firm is set to get associates more involved in its sector approach, bring in better opportunities for promotions and make it easier for lawyers to undertake global travel and international secondments.
The initiatives were discussed at a wide-ranging strategy day for partners at the firm’s London headquarters last Saturday (6 October).
It follows a review by an outside consultancy, which confirmed the firm’s much-discussed reputation for poor workforce engagement. This reached a peak last year amid the backlash following the firm’s admission that a vacation scheme student had been asked to stay up until 5am to work on a mandate (26 July 2011).
A firm spokesperson said: “There was […] a big focus on our people [at the partners’ day]. As you know, we’ve historically had an issue with engaging our people, and we want to fix this and there’ll be a number of changes coming out of the meeting.”
In a related move, the firm is planning to revive its sector approach following a review by newly recruited business development head William Stancer, which came to the decision that the firm needed to re-energise this strategy. Stancer, who is heading the sector initiative, joined the firm from Chinese outsourcing provider Bleum in May.
The firm currently operates seven sector groups: real estate; private equity; TMT; consumer; financial institutions; energy and infrastructure; and lifesciences and healthcare.
The spokesperson added: “William Stancer, our new director of business development, presented his client development programme, which will have a renewed sector focus. This was followed by facilitated break-out sessions focused on how we can provide better service levels across the entire firm to help meet our client needs. We’re keen for associates to play a leading role in this.”
Separately, partners were also sounded out on the upcoming partnership board elections, which will be finalised this week. Applications for the three available positions – one German and two general – have been accepted by firm management ahead of an electronic vote, which lasts from today (15 October) to Wednesday, with the results set to be announced on Thursday.
The board was introduced last year by managing partner Rob Day, with eight partners voted in (20 January 2011).
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Readers' comments (12)
Curious | 15-Oct-2012 10:30 am
Of all the things to say about SJB, that 'it has traditionally struggled to keep its workforce motivated' is not one that usually springs to mind.
At least from the outside, the firm has always given the impression its lawyers are a bunch of fierce workaholics, not people who need love and care to get them to work harder.
If lawyers at SJB are 'disengaged' it may be more to do with the lack of interesting work, i.e. due to low levels of major PE deals and a lack of quality real estate work after four years of downturn.
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Anonymous | 15-Oct-2012 10:37 am
Sinking ship. Only a matter of time.
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Anonymous | 15-Oct-2012 10:41 am
Way to motivate a disengaged workforce: hold a strategy day in the office on a Saturday
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Bob Diamond | 15-Oct-2012 11:31 am
I am not an apologist for SJ Berwin, but the firm is damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Of course, the usual axe grinders are already out in force, but SJB is a firm, unlike many others in the City, that puts its hands up and admits that they have issues that need resolving and they go about trying to resolve them. Why is that a bad thing? I have never worked at the firm and never will before said axe grinders start accusing me of being in SJB’s HR/PR/BD/loo cleaning teams!!
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Anonymous | 15-Oct-2012 12:28 pm
I'm no apologist for "Bob Diamond" but his comments (above) are spot on! Ditto the bit about never having worked at the firm etc.
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Anonymous | 15-Oct-2012 12:53 pm
"The initiatives were discussed at a wide-ranging strategy day for partners at the firm’s London headquarters last SATURDAY". Enough said.
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Anonymous | 15-Oct-2012 1:02 pm
What strikes me most is the utter irony - "We need to motivate our workforce ... lets discuss how to do so on a SATURDAY". Management at SJB are utterly absurd!!!!!!
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Anonymous | 15-Oct-2012 2:20 pm
The firm has a fairly horrific reputation for the way it treats its associates. I would put in on a par with DLA, i.e. at the very bottom. Such reputations are not earned overnight but are developed though partners' slash and burn management over many years. Film flam such as this initiative is all well and good to keep the HR and PR people occupied but I prefer to judge firms by how they behave when there are serious decisions to be made, i.e. ones that cost the partners a bit of cash.
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Dragonfly | 16-Oct-2012 7:08 am
What a load of b*****cks spoken by people who clearly have no idea about business. Partners = owners = they can decide when and where they meet. If they met at the Savoy on a Wednesday, you would all be aghast at the thought of partners wasting money on a workday OMG! As to the point that good decisions are ones that cost owners money - go and join the communist party; good decisions are ones that increase profitability so that economic growth can take place leading to wealth creation. The owners who risk capital have every right share in the profit. At least SJB is honest to admit stuff that other just hide under the spin.
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Anonymous | 16-Oct-2012 9:49 am
The Lehman Brothers meltdown showed how destructive greed and mismanagement can be and I would expect SJ Berwin to go the same way. Associates would be well advised to jump ship before it's too late.
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