Effective hiring and management of staff is so important for law firm profitability. When there is the responsibility of conducting important legal tasks lying on the shoulders of the staff, the organization does not want to be caught up with ethical difficulties or client disputes as a result of a poor ineffective team. The staff you hire has an undeniable effect on the firm’s effectiveness.
Pre-hiring
Part of this effect is to ensure that the firm’s internal process is properly organized and workflow internally is efficient. A new staff member will just add to a disrupted office rather than add any value to it. Take a step back and thoroughly review how things are being processed currently in the organization, and how adding this new staff member in the mix will add value to the functioning of your entire team and law firm profitability. Delegate tasks in a planned fashion with easy measures in place to follow up on staff performance and deadlines. Adding logic and efficiency throughout the organization will attract better applications for the position in questions.
Consider investing in some legal project management tools to help ensure that everything is running smoothly. Getting the best tools to help your staff perform their best is a worthwhile investment, and the return of these tools will be evident in the profitability of the firm. If you want to hire effective people you need to have up to date technological tools for them to work with, to make your staff’s tasks easier.
Invest
Hiring talented staff members requires investments. If you want to attract the best applications, you need to consider what methods will expand your client base. The answer lies in the focus of good branding and marketing strategies. This will build a reputation for your firm and as a result, attract highly skilled staff to apply for the job. The promotion of a great firm with great work will be needed to achieve this.
Another investment is providing a good starting salary with added compensation benefits such as offering remote work (with the added benefit of better work-life balance) and flexible vacation times. Such compensation values can actually allow you to increase your competition by not only offering a great salary but also offering attractive compensation, ultimately gearing your business towards greater law firm profitability.
Training
When hiring always consider that staff members can be trained to hone on their skills and widen their platforms. A training environment in your law office will show your employees you are invested in their long term success and it will also be an investment in the performance of your own organization. Give enough time to staff to properly absorb the whole training process and provide the best training resources. Training is a gradual and timely process but it will allow your employees to become more skilled in their workplace and allow them to feel valued in the firm if they feel like they are worth being invested in.
Training also allows your staff to gain wider skill sets so that they can easily take ownership of various tasks as the business expands. Eventually you can even train staff to the point where you no longer need to invest in training courses as such for new members, instead, your own trained staff can educate them for you.
Expanding business requires skilled and efficient team members to help adequately manage the business. The staff that feels invested in will feel more protective over the organization and will work diligently to help your law firm profitability. It’s all about valuing the employees to ensure they are on your side and have your back.
