Reputations are made and lost in difficult times: how to go forwards not backwards

Now, more than ever, law firms need to press on with progress on diversity

It may not have exactly a meteoric rate of change, but over the last five years, most law firms have made steady progress on diversity and, in particular on having more women advance through to partner level. With General Counsels increasingly demanding more diversity from their law firms it seemed clear was a business imperative to do more. 

And then ….the world changed. COVID19 has put business as usual on hold. The future of the economy has never been more uncertain and, like most businesses, law firms are having to take measures that will ensure short term survival. Across the sector, we're seeing reductions in profit distributions to partners, cuts to associates' pay, reductions in working hours, deferred promotions and recruitment freezes.

Does diversity really matter in this context? We'd argue yes. More than ever. And for hard nosed, business reasons.  

The business case 

Does it really matter, in this situation, whether the profile of your workforce is diverse? Who cares whether your partners are predominantly male? Why bother if you’re not an attractive employment proposition for female associates when there will be no end of associates simply grateful to have a job?

In times of turbulence, the smartest leaders know that the world will change, that whatever becomes the new “normal” it will be different from the past. Their task is to make sure their organisations weather the storm and emerge stronger than ever.  

As David Morley, senior partner of Allen & Overy during the banking crisis put it recently:

“A myopic focus on the short term will mean missed opportunities when things improve.”

What do we know about the post COVID19 world?

Very little. And quite a lot.  

General Counsels will be focused more than ever on value for money. The alternative legal services providers will continue their efforts to grow their share of the legal market. Just this month, Barclays announced it is looking to appoint a new panel comprised entirely of alternative providers. Law firms will need to work out where and how they plan to compete. 

At the same time, the pressure from GCs on law firms to deliver a diverse team on assignments is not likely to abate. 

We also know that one of the reasons women have, in the past, left careers in private practice, is the reluctance of firms to enable them to adopt an agile, flexible working arrangement. Despite advances in technology and the huge cost of city office space, many law firms had very little precedent to enable or allow people to work from home, choose their own hours or work anything less than a full time, office based schedule. 

“It’s not possible do this job from home,” “That role can’t be done part time”

... are quotes I’ve heard so many times I couldn’t possibly attribute them. 

Now? Well, everyone is working from home. And not only that, the HR directors and partners I’ve spoken to are well aware that many associates, and partners, are having to fit the work in when they can, often around sorting out home-schooling for young children. They are logging in early, checking emails, before leaving to set up the schooling, logging back in for a few hours, then switching off at 3 to deal with other responsibilities before then logging in again in the evening. 

Everyone is finding their own pattern and trying their best to deliver. Not only can they be trusted, many are finding that their working hours may even be more productive. One HR leader told me that his long, unproductive and unpleasant commute has been replaced by an early morning dog walk. Returning to his (home) desk, he finds he is approaching the first couple of hours of his very busy and stressful day with newfound energy.

It’s likely that, in the future, the desire for more autonomy and more flexibility about where and when to work will be felt by both men and women. There is the opportunity here to create a more energetic, committed, diverse and flexible workforce which will in turn be more cost effective for the firm.  

Firms that can figure out how to offer different forms of working arrangements - which could include fixed term contracts, term time only working, annualised hours, flexible working, work from home patterns - will emerge ready to compete in what is likely to be a very different working world from the one we experienced pre COVID19.

What steps can firms take to ensure they go forwards not backwards

Whilst the business case is clear, leaders are facing unprecedented pressures to deal with the day to day.  

Actions on three levels* will ensure that firms go forwards and emerge stronger and more able to compete both for business and for talent in the new world. Actions at a leadership level; within practice groups and teams; and with individuals. 

At the Leadership Level

1. Create buy-in and understanding of the business case for maintaining progress on diversity
2. Target and measure where you want to be post COVID19 and track the make up of any promotions and lay offs
3. Ensure that any committee or team looking after decisions about promotions, lay-offs, is itself diverse
4. Communicate your intentions and commitments to the firm and to individuals

At the Practice group/Team level

1. Give a partner responsibility for work allocation to ensure that work is distributed fairly and not to the “usual suspects”
2. Proactively identify women who could retrain into “hot areas” (we know from research that women tend to be reluctant to apply for new roles unless they are 100% certain they can do them. The same is likely to be true for opportunities to pivot and retrain)
3. Give individual partners the responsibility for checking in with everyone in their teams and talking about their short and long term goals

At the Individual Level

1. Use any spare time available to build individuals’ business development and business winning skills
2. Gather feedback on what’s working with remote working and what would make it better in the future
3. Encourage people to extend their range and keep busy: knowledge management, precedent development, supporting PSLs 
4. Establish regular two way communications channels to manage expectations, explain plans, take questions and deal with concerns

*Our thanks to Caren Ulrich Stacey and Diversity Lab who generously invited us to a Zoom round table on this subject and who proposed three levels of action.

Be on the front foot

Reputations are made and lost in difficult times. To quote Warren Buffet:

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.”

As you grapple with the very real and very immediate crisis, have an eye on where you want to emerge. Don’t let the opportunity to move forwards, not backwards, pass you by.