Shaping Your Company Culture to Attract Top Legal Talent

An attractive company culture doesn’t happen on its own. Just like a business plan, a company culture that invites and keeps top talent takes lots of time and attention to get right

Your firm’s work culture matters. Washington State University research showed that organizations with a weak work culture see a 48.4% turnover rate, while those with a strong work culture only see 13.9%.

What’s more, those just entering the workforce out of college said they’d take 7% less pay to work for a company that they felt shared their values. Forbes said that they found workers in the “baby boomer” generation to be 20% more likely to put company culture above other considerations when thinking about leaving a position.

When you’re seeking top talent, remember that experienced candidates will want to work somewhere that they truly fit in; it’s not always about the highest salary.

Start focusing on building an attractive company atmosphere. Here’s a deeper look at how to shape the right culture for your company or firm.

Focus on communication, openness, and collaboration

A great place to start the reshaping process is creating an environment where people will feel comfortable to share. Gone are the days when workers conform to every company expectation and idea without an opinion. Modern employees want to be a part of the action and decision-making process, no matter how far down the food chain they are.

Make it clear that workers at any level can always provide feedback, and encourage individual teams to involve everyone in decisions. A high-level employee would be smart to seek feedback from those who’ve just begun their career, and vice versa.

This kind of openness acknowledges that every voice matters to the company. And when employees feel heard, they’re more likely to feel valued and needed.

Flexibility

With the gig economy ramping up, where workers across industries are taking on side gigs or going off on their own, flexibility and a good work-life balance are both hot topics in human resources. The Right Management Global Career Aspiration Survey showed that 45% of respondents rank work-life balance a higher priority than their work performance.

Often the right balance means allowing telecommuting from home or working non-standard hours each day. Alternate work arrangements could allow parents to attend afternoon soccer games or stay home with a sick child, or those suffering from mental health issues to receive more understanding when they have to miss or leave work.

Whatever flexibility looks like, it’s time to give it more thought to attract top candidates. Start offering these simple ways to help employees manage their work-life balance. Doing so will create a satisfied and happier team, which can then lead to more long-term employees.

Be consistent in your message

A big part of appealing to candidates is enacting what you promise. If your company’s values are integrity and compassion, for instance, but the work conditions and pay you offer employees are extremely poor, this does not follow through on those lofty values.

Make sure values align across the board. When creating a hiring strategy and overall work culture for your team, integrate these base company values. Ask teams to contribute ideas on what they think the company’s values are, or should be.

A good place to start is making sure you’re treating employees the way you’d like you clients treated. If something seems unreasonable for a client-facing relationship, it probably is for your employee relationships, too.

Show your staff that you care about their wishes by incorporating and establishing company values that include them. Make sure you’re following up on promises, like bonuses, raises, or work parties. Pay attention to and acknowledge employee successes, and always be encouraging.

Gallup says that companies that foster a strong work culture create employees who are brand ambassadors. This can’t be done without aligning company values to the way you approach work culture.

Revamp your hiring process

Lastly, recognize that the hiring process is your time to boast a stellar company culture. Discuss all of the above aspects that you’ve been working so hard to build. Discuss flexibility options and company values.

This is the time that you can really attract top talent by showing proof that you are willing to focus on, adapt, and revisit company culture regularly.

The bottom line across these strategies is simple: those in leadership roles need to show employees and candidates that they care. As a company leader, just paying attention to this article is the first step toward fostering an open, friendly, consistent, and flexible company culture will attract top candidates.

Allow Carrington Legal Search to be your trusted candidate search advisors. Carrie Trabue is President of Carrington Legal Search and has 20 years of experience in attorney search. Her clients range from Fortune 100 companies to venture funded startup companies.