Trends, Tactics & Triumphs | 2024

In Australia, the Business Development, Marketing, and Communications function has experienced a year of strategic restraint, with most firms adopting a “holding pattern” approach to team expansion - closely observing competitors and reviewing team structures before making any bold moves.

The ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, elections in the US and Australia, and uncertainty brought about by rising interest rates and cost of living expenses appear to have left firms somewhat uncertain about the direction of economic trends. Despite this cautious approach, we’ve seen notable investments in rebrands, websites, strategic account management and AI, signaling a commitment to enhancing client engagement. Encouragingly, after a slower start to the year, we’ve seen an uptick in recruitment activity in the last 3 months, particularly at the junior level, reflecting a renewed focus on nurturing foundational talent.

The result? An industry poised to thrive in 2025.

The following insights provide a closer look at the recruitment trends, tactics and triumphs that we have seen across Australian professional service firms in 2024.?

Hiring has returned to pre-pandemic levels: Although the legal sector has remained buoyant, a few of our clients in the engineering, property, and accounting sectors have had recruitment freezes to contend with. We expect this to ease once we have a better understanding of the outcome of the federal election and the impact that it has on the broader economy. ?

Continued adoption of layered leadership roles: This year we’ve seen the big firms continue to spread the load in terms of leadership, strategy, and direction - which has allowed for pillars of specialisation.? In the majority of cases, there tends to be a CMO, Executive Director, or even a Partner who holds ultimate accountability for the core function, and these resources are supported by ‘Heads of’, Leads, or Directors operating a ‘centre of excellence’ model. Some of these positions include Director of Clients & Sectors; Head of Market Growth; Head of BD – Practices / Sector; Head of Insights; Head of Client Development, and Head of Bids & Pursuits. These roles will have multiple direct and indirect reports and are often filled through internal promotion, rather than going externally to market.

Scarcity of senior level positions: There has only been a handful of Head of / Director/ CMO positions come to market this year, but there remains a significant number of candidates at this level who are either actively or passively looking for their next move. Given how tight the market has been, we have seen a few instances where experienced candidates, who have previously been operating at ‘Head of’ levels, have taken a step back in title, to get their foot in the door of a new opportunity. In most instances, this has been into a 'Senior Manager' position at larger more sophisticated firms, so whilst it might be a step back in title, it’s often proven to be a step sideways in responsibility and growth potential.

Increase in demand for entry and junior-level positions: The drive for strategic capability to pull firms out of their Covid slump, meant that there was a strong appetite for Manager and Senior Manager level candidates in 2022 and 2023. This year however, we have seen a shift in focus towards the junior end of the function, with firms preferring to hire at the Coordinator/ Executive / Advisor/ Senior Advisor level -craving more ‘foot soldiers’ to deliver on the executional and operational elements of the function. In some instances, departing Manager’s have been replaced by two Advisors. At the entry level (Assistant), firms have been appointing recent graduates or candidates with no prior professional services experience, which, with the right training and development, seems to be serving them well. The challenge of course will be in retaining them.

Pooled resources: Demand for candidates at the more junior end of the function has prompted some firms to adopt a ‘ticket-based', agency-like model within the BD & Marketing function, where resources are pooled across the firm, rather than being aligned to one particular practice, sector or client group.

Talent shortage at the junior level: As I write this, I’m aware of 5 live positions at the Advisor level at professional services firms in Sydney.? Part of the reason for the shortage is the lack of investment firms have placed in these positions over the last 2 years, meaning that fewer candidates are coming up through the ranks. This has, however, prompted many firms to think outside of the box and I’m proud to say that Ampersand has placed candidates from Technology, Property, Financial Services, and NFP backgrounds into the legal sector this year, which is refreshing when traditionally most firms have mandated the requirement for professional services experience at this level.

Increased appetite to sponsor at the junior level: Offering sponsorship to candidates in non-fee earning positions has historically been reserved for Manager levels and above - and even then it’s been seldom. Ampersand has placed 6 candidates this year at the Advisor/ Senior Advisor level who have been sponsored by their firms - again highlighting the shortage of talent at this level and the need for firms to think outside of the box.?

Nuances of position titles: There continues to be talk about the variances of position titles. The Executive and Advisor titles are no longer interchangeable between firms, like they once were and the quality of Manager and Senior Manager level candidates varies significantly from firm to firm. In a bid to attract and retain talent, many firms have replaced ‘Coordinator’ with ‘Executive’ titles, so responsibilities can, and do, vary between roles and firms. Interestingly, we have spoken to a few candidates this year who have assumed they are taking a step up in title and responsibility when in reality it's simply a title change and a small increment in salary.

Seniority matters, particularly to juniors. Firms that are in a position to preface their Coordinator, Executive, Advisor, and Manager titles with “Senior” tend to find their employees remain more ‘sticky’ as they have a clear roadmap for progression and promotion internally. In some instances, there is a huge capability and salary differential between the Advisor and Manager level internally, which may take years to crack. On occasions, this has promoted more ambitious candidates to look externally in pursuit of that ‘next step’ -even if it's not a whole lot different from what they are doing currently. Visibility on progression and growth, particularly for CV purposes remains a high priority for junior candidates. If it’s not already, long-term career opportunities should become a priority for leadership teams. Equally, candidates exploring new positions should ensure they have done full due diligence on what they are walking into, and away from.

Rebrand and refresh: This year, a few law firms have taken the opportunity to rebrand and revamp their websites, indicating a renewed focus on client engagement. By refreshing their visual identities and enhancing their digital presence, these firms are modernising their image, improving their client experience and demonstrating a commitment to staying relevant, accessible, and client-focused in what is an increasingly competitive market.

Centralised Bids & Pursuits functions: Ampersand has supported several law firms this year with Bids & Pursuits positions, at all levels. These functions are designed to deliver on high-profile, must-win client pursuits and panel bids, thus freeing up time from practice or sector-focused BD practitioners who often get weighed down on tenders and are unable to devote enough time to the strategic elements of the role. To support this shift, we have also seen an appetite from firms investing in technology to help streamline the bids function. Examples include Qorusdocs, Foleon, Templafy, and BigHand.

Continued adoption of AI: Some of the larger firms have innovation teams exploring how AI can help streamline the function, saving them time and money. Ashurst's partnership with Harvey, a legal AI platform, designed to support client work such as document reviews, drafting, and market research is a good example of what is possible. At smaller firms, employees are sometimes taking it upon themselves to research the market and look at ways of incorporating AI to enhance client engagement, improve product development, or assess trends in client feedback. Most firms have access to Microsoft Co-pilot, which allows them to do many things, such as recording transcripts from webinars to produce content for presentations, pitches or integrated marketing campaigns. Some firms have also invested in ‘prompt’ training for

employees to help get more value from the technology. There is still a long way to go relative to the financial services sector, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Specified work locations: Opportunities for remote work in the function continue to be incredibly scarce, but we have also noticed firms becoming more inflexible around the location of roles. Contrary to what we have seen over the last few years, when good talent was hard to come by and firms were receptive to having people located anywhere they had an office, this year we have seen a desire to have headcount in offices where key partners are based. This will be interesting to watch as candidates in cities such as Brisbane, where top talent had previously been overlooked, even for National roles, in favour of Sydney and Melbourne, have definitely benefited from a more flexible approach.

Hybrid work seems to be here to stay: Most firms are offering a split of 3 days in the office, ?2 from home each week, although there are nuances to this with some asking employees to be in the office for 50% of their time over a month. Others have set anchor day(s) each week, where teams are expected to be in - but that might only be once per week. Regardless, it’s evident that people still view hybrid working as a priority when exploring new opportunities. Interestingly, a few CMOs that I have met with this year have acknowledged that hybrid working has resulted in it becoming harder to build resilient and collaborative teams, reporting that many of their more junior staff feel somewhat disengaged by the lack of face time with other members of the function. The jury is still out on what a perfect solution might look like!

Salary increases have slowed: This year, when firms gave pay raises, they were typically between 2-4%. For those candidates making a move externally in the market, we saw an average increase of between 10%-15% in the total package - although it should be noted that some took sideways salary moves this year in favour of better cultures and future growth opportunities. In positive news, candidates seem to be more pragmatic when considering their salary expectations, understanding that there will likely be a trade-off for remuneration at the top end of the pay range and that almost always means hours akin to what you would expect from a lawyer and more time present in the office. For more information on salary ranges, please refer to the guide at the end of this document.

Drivers for change: Although salary remains significant in the thought process when considering new opportunities, people are no longer switching jobs solely for a pay rise. Other key drivers for change include a lack of career development or growth; limited flexibility; a new challenge – often at a more sophisticated firm or with a different mandate; burnout; and not feeling valued, which is often attributed to under-resourced teams. Interestingly, most people I interview feel like their team could benefit from additional resources. Much comes down to the leadership of the function and the Partnership as to whether they truly value the contribution of the BD & Marketing function.

Ratios | Partner to BD/Marketing/Communications: The bigger law firms in Australia typically have a ratio of between 2- 4 Partners to every BD, Marketing & Communications team member. This rises to between 5 – 8 Partners for mid-tier firms. This is a slight reduction in comparison to previous years, indicating tougher pressure on the business support functions.

Further investment in Employee Value Propositions (EVPs): Many of the larger firms are now offering benefits including 26 weeks paid parental leave, regardless of whether you are a primary or secondary carer, from the date you commence your employment; free gym membership; the opportunity to purchase additional leave and monetary allowances for technology / home office set up to support flexible working.

Training and development are high on the agenda: Candidates have been requesting additional training and upskilling, over and above their BAU responsibilities. Some have even self-funded these sessions. Popular development topics include AI and effective prompt writing, Data Analytics, and Strategic Account Management.

Bonuses: Sign-on bonuses were less prevalent this year, but Ampersand negotiated several ‘completion bonuses’ for contract roles, such as parental leave contracts. For those firms that paid annual discretionary bonuses, these averaged between 5%-10% of salary, and we expect this to continue into 2025.

Face-to-Face interviews: The return of interviews being done face-to-face this year has been refreshing. Whilst the first-round interview may be done virtually, visiting a prospective employer's office for a second-round meeting serves as an excellent opportunity to gauge culture and also demonstrates the employer's commitment to hiring. Although this can lengthen the recruitment process, candidates value the experience.

Fractional CMOs: There has been some interest this year in Fractional CMO positions – predominately from the national firms requiring strategic counsel on rebrands and project marketing campaigns. Budgetary constraints have meant that the volume of these positions has been down relative to last year, but it’s a concept that appeals to many CEOs and Managing Partners and so an exciting space to watch in 2025.

For further information on any of these points or to discuss the professional services market in more detail, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Will Dunn, Managing Director, [email protected]

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