How to improve performance within a law firm?

Attracting the desired clients and associates and keeping those engaged can be quite challenging. What used to work no longer seems to work. At first glance that might appear to be a coincidence, however more often that is not the case.  A lot of money is invested in marketing and branding, while the essence is all too often overlooked. 

Decades of empirical research have established links between organisational culture and organisational performance.[1] Nevertheless too many organisations still think of culture as a way to make people feel good about where they work and not as a way to help its members perform better.[2]

In order to achieve the dynamics needed to establish a culture suited for success, certain business concepts, such as a mission, vision, purpose, values and leadership become quite relevant. 

The adage amongst lawyers still seems to be that a law firm does not need those, since it’s an intellectual profession. Although the latter is true, that does not imply that one does not need a vision. These false depositions indicate that there still exist a lot of biases and assumptions regarding the usefulness of those concepts in law. So how do they relate to the legal industry?

The basics of some key concepts.

“Staying the course can be challenging. Even more so if one never mapped a course to begin with.”[3]

Let us first define the key concepts that will help us on our journey:

A mission of the organisation is a clear and compelling goal that serves to unify an organisation’s effort.[4]

The purpose is the reason the organisation exists, the so-called ‘why’.

A vision is what the organisation wants to become, setting out the direction of the firm.

A strategy refers to how the organisation intends to get there. The degree to which your strategy fulfils it’s purpose is the measure of its effectiveness.[5]

The values of the organisation are the core ethics and beliefs which the company will abide by and guide everything one does within an organisation. 

Central to those concepts is leadership.

“Leading is inherently about shaping the future and not about managing the present.”. [6]

Alignment is where all those elements come together and are arranged in such a way to best support the fulfilment of the organisation’s vision. What matters for performance is how all links are aligned to support the purpose overall.[7] It speaks for itself that if one of those concepts is lacking or unclear, alignment cannot be achieved. 

Why is all this relevant?

“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” [8]

The aforementioned concepts are the foundation of the firm and determine its direction. Nevertheless most law firms have neither or if anything, a mission statement and/or strategy purely focusing on business development. All this results in a missed opportunity since their relevance has a much broader scope and impact. Even the best strategy is useless unless its supported by appropriate organisational capabilities.

To successfully navigate both the constant internal and external pressures, one needs a clear and compelling vision with values defining the behaviours needed to support the firm’s strategy.[9] This is the starting point in order to attract the desired clients, associates and to guide its direction. A vision is the foundation for the energy within an organisation.[10]

By lack thereof, it’s much too easy to get bogged down in day-to-day business, resulting in losing direction and consequently not achieving the desired outcome. It’s like a ship without a rudder, at the mercy of an unpredictable sea. However having these in place, might be the difference between surviving and thriving.

If the vision of an organisation is successful it can accomplish several things such as:[11]

-         Serve as a motivator;

-         Create a sense of belonging and meaning;

-         Establish a standard of excellence;

-         Provide a link between the present and the future. 

If one looks at these outcomes, it will instantly become clear that these impact the organisational culture and performance within the organisation. John Coleman identified a vision, mission and values as components of strong organisational cultures.[12]

Organisational culture?

“Culture is what happens when nobody is paying attention.”[13]

Culture is a complex issue that essentially includes the group’s shared values, attitudes, beliefs, assumptions, artefacts and behaviours.[14] An organisational culture is the outcome of the behavioural norms of an organisation, which exist both explicitly and implicitly.

Simply put, how would people fit in is the most tell-tale sign of a culture.

Culture is unique to each organisation. The established patterns are persistent over time, communicated and transferred to newcomers through socialisation, and become entrenched in the company through its processes and reward systems.[15] Culture is broad and deep in that it guides individual actions even to the extent that members are not even aware they are influenced by it.[16]

An organisational culture determines the type of environment that prevails and consequently influences the relationship between its members. To understand a culture, one needs to look beyond the surface and face its challenges. The importance of ‘lead by example’ refers to the need of alignment between both explicit and implicit values. Inconsistencies are daily practice and should be avoided. 

Regarding law firms, the nature of the job makes all this even more challenging. After all, the conflict model and quite often operating in an atmosphere of distrust, will inevitably impact the organisational culture and team dynamics. In order to establish a well performing team, trust is crucial. If one takes this discrepancy into account, it becomes quite evident how easy misalignment can arise.

When the organisational culture is aligned with the values, vision and purpose of an organisation, it will improve performance of its members considerable.[17] However, when there is no alignment or one of the concepts is lacking, performance and motivation will dramatically decrease. This results in people not being engaged in their job which has a detrimental effect on their mental well-being and the performance of an organisation.

For culture to have a positive impact on performance and provide an organisation with an edge over its competitors, it must be explicitly linked to organisational performance and strategies.[18]

The link between organisational culture on one hand and performance and motivation on the other is significant and not to be underestimated. 

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“The best way to lead people towards a future is by connecting them within the present”.[19]

Considering the above, a vision, mission, strategy, values and leadership are important for all organisations, including law firms. Those are crucial for the organisational identity and consequently its competitive advantage, direction and performance. All this is even more true for law firms, since those operate in a conflict model which in itself impact the organisational culture.

In the end it all boils down to bringing people together, motivating people, building commitment and coordinating people’s activities so they can achieve success. Essentially, having a compelling vision is a prerequisite for any organisation, including law firms to excel in modern times. 

Those concepts by itself might not be enough to achieve alignment in the law firm as a whole. Nevertheless, these pillars will be the building blocks to bring transformational change within the firm.

[1] Tharpe, B.M. Four organizational culture types, 2019, July 1; Quinn, R.E. & Rohrbaugh, J. 1983, A spatial model of effectiveness criteria: towards a competing values approach to organizational analysis, Management Science, 29 (3), 363)377.

[2] Mankins, M. 2013, The defining elements of a winning culture. Harvard Business Review, 19 December.

[3] Tharpe B.M., o.c..

[4] Collins, D. 1998, Organisational change: sociological perspectives, London, Routledge, 1998, 214. 

[5] Trevor, J., Align. A leadership blueprint for aligning enterprise purpose, strategy and organisation, Bloomsburg Business, London, 2019, 256.

[6] Nanus, B., Visionary leadership: creating a compelling sense of direction for your organization, San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1992, 275.

[7] Trevor J., o.c., 256.

[8] Hamilton, A.

[9] Tharpe, B.M., o.c., 2019, July.

[10] Lencioni, P.M., Make your values mean something. Harvard Business Review, 2002, July.

[11] Friedman S.D., Define your personal leadership vision, Harvard Business Review, 2008, August.

[12] Coleman, J., Six components of a great corporate culture, Harvard Business Review, 2013, May.

[13] Armstrong, C.

[14] Tharpe, B.M., o.c., 2019.

[15] McGregor, L. and Doshi, N. 2015; How company cultures shapes employee motivation, Harvard Business Review, 2015, November; Moorman J. and Grau, C., Impact of organizational culture on business process performance: an investigation in the financial service industry, Advances in Social Science, Education, and Humanities Research, 2017, 68.

[16] Tharp B.M., o.c. 2019. 

[17] Trevor, J. , o.c., 2020.

[18] Mankins, M., The defining elements of a winning culture. Harvard Business Review, 2013, December.

[19] Kouzes, J.M. and Posner, B., To lead, create a shared vision, Harvard Business Review, 2009, January.