How to Hire Great Law Talent for Your Law Firm in Today’s Market
Good help is hard to find.” That’s what we hear from law firm owners all across the country. If you are struggling to hire and retain good talent for your firm, you are not alone.
So, what is the SOLUTION?
While there’s no magic bullet to erase all your hiring woes, there is one great thing about being a business owner in 2022;
More and more Millennials and Gen Zs want to work remotely, which means your potential hiring pool has grown exponentially.
Studies have shown that many Millennials and Generation Z’s value “work-life” balance highly- sometimes ranking higher than salary, and other incentives. This was the trend even before Covid struck.
After COVID sent businesses scrambling to implement remote operations, many of these workforce demographics realized that working from home gave them significant built-in work-life balance. And so the hiring dynamic has shifted dramatically.
Employees forced to work remotely after COVID realized they liked it. They liked being able to ditch the lengthy commute. They liked the convenience of working in their sweats or pajamas. They liked saving money they’d previously spent on lunches, work wardrobes, and gasoline. They liked hanging out with their kids or pets. They liked the freedom to work from the mountains, the beach, or a cabin in the woods.
For whatever their reasons, the current stats show that many people appreciated the benefits of remote employment and don’t want to return to brick and mortar spaces.
It’s the same for many employers. Dell, for example, saves a whopping $12 million
dollars a year in office space expense by employing a remote workforce.
One Atlanta lawyer told me she closed up her brick-and-mortar office after the initial Covid shutdowns and refused to reopen the office space because her firm is operating quite successfully remotely. She is saving money and experiencing increased productivity. For her and many other business owners, going remote, or allowing employees to continue remote or semi-remote employment, has become a win-win.
While hiring staff or attorneys to work remotely was virtually unheard of before COVID, we’ve all seen that law firms can successfully operate remotely. Being cloud-based, having an effective case management system, phone system, as well as company-issued laptops and desktops – and using programs like docu-sign have enabled law firms to successfully represent clients, and sign new clients from remote spaces. The implementation of these innovations has changed the business world. For many companies remote or hybrid remote operations is the new normal.
Here are a few interesting statistics:
According to Upwork, by 2028 73% of all departments are expected to have remote employees.
According to Buffer, 99% of people surveyed would choose to work remotely for the rest of their life, even if it was just part-time.
77% of remote workers surveyed by Coso Cloud said they were more productive when working from home.
Better work-life balance is the main reason why people chose to work remotely, according to Owl Labs recent study.
A whopping 69% of millennials would forgo other work benefits in favor of flexibility working opportunities. (CBRE)
According to TECLA’s recent study, 6 out of 7 managers polled believe that hybrid teams of remote and in office employees will be the norm in the future.
64% of recruiters polled by IWG believed that being able to pitch a work from home policy helps them find high quality talent.
And here’s a BIG Statistic for RETENTION: According to Owl Labs’ recent study, 74% of workers say that being able to work remotely would make them less likely to leave a company.
Stanford University research in 2017, showed that the number of resignations dropped by 50% in companies that provided remote work opportunities.
And the last statistic: Based on research conducted by Global Workplace Analytics, since 2009 the number of people who work from home has risen by 159%. It’s a trend that is dramatically on the rise.
Why not use this workforce pivot to your firm’s advantage?
Instead of struggling to hire employees in your immediate market, you now have the opportunity to hire qualified candidates from anywhere on the globe for many of your current positions.