What can your law firm do to solve the associate turnover quandary? Here are four effective associate retention strategies that will make your culture “stickier.”
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As 2024 turns the corner, firms across the country are still struggling with the war for talent. For small and midsize law firms, competing with inflated Biglaw salaries is challenging, and they must find better ways to prevent their best talent from leaving.
Law firms are sometimes hesitant to invest in their younger attorneys’ development due to fear of an attrition-driven mass exodus of clients. Once upon a time, training and coaching programs were seen as incredibly risky endeavors. After all, what was more dangerous to a firm’s bottom line than a newly confident attorney capable of bringing in and managing clients — on their own?
Ironically, this aversion to empowering the next generation of attorneys to advocate for themselves — to start thinking like partners before being invited to the table — was a driving factor behind the mass hemorrhaging of U.S. law firm talent over the past decade.
The truth is that associates want, need and expect investment from their firms, and they value this just as much — if not more — than an inflated salary or corner office.
Big Salaries Aren’t a Sustainable Solution to High Turnover
Now that we are a few years post-pandemic, the legal space has proven itself to be extremely resilient. Small to midsize firms have shown record profits. In fact, most have more work than they can handle, hence the current staffing crisis.
According to Thomson Reuter’s 2024 State of the Legal Market, midsize law firms are continuing to aggressively grow their associate ranks. Meantime, they have been able to watch from the sidelines as their Biglaw counterparts hire in bulk and then fire in the same fashion. The message is clear: Big salaries are no indication of loyalty or a commitment to long-term future leader development.
High salaries alone do not prevent employee turnover, which can be costly and disruptive to organizational success. The best associate retention strategy is to foster an inclusive culture, meet the younger workforce where they are, and focus on professional development.
Read: “Is Achieving Healthy Work-Life Balance Possible? A Guide for Lawyers and Law Firms.”
Four Employee Retention Strategies to Improve Associate Retention
So, what can a firm do to solve the associate retention quandary and make their culture “stickier”? A comprehensive employee retention program is crucial as it enhances employee motivation and reduces turnover. Here are four employee retention strategies.
1. Invest in People to Boost Employee Retention
The best way to engage associates and encourage them to stick around is to invest in their professional development. Law school does not teach leadership, client management or the business of law. Providing workshops, seminars and coaching programs are relatively inexpensive ways to invest in rising leaders. Developing essential skills such as time management, project management, case strategy and people management are critical to becoming a successful lawyer. The most profitable firms embrace their role of ensuring their legal talent has the right tools in place to prepare them to become the future leaders of the organization.
It then stands to reason that the more confident and adept your people become, the more loyal and vested they will be to the firm investing in them, significantly enhancing employee job satisfaction.
2. Buddy Up
In addition to professional development and the above-mentioned training, your millennial and Gen Z associates need an internal champion or sponsor to support them in their career paths at your firm. A champion is a partner who volunteers time to help the associate understand and identify their personal and professional goals and then supports them in their pursuits. This is a bit different from a mentor program because it is specifically focused on the associate’s path to success within the firm. A successful relationship will help the associate to feel more confident, become more focused and feel more supported within the firm.
If the younger lawyers feel like they have an advocate at the leadership level, they are more likely to feel invested in the firm. The more invested they are in the firm, the more likely they are to bring in clients … and the less likely they are to leave. Retaining valuable employees by creating a supportive work culture is crucial amid ongoing talent shortages.
3. Encourage Community for Employee Engagement
Everyone needs their “tribe,” and lawyers are no different. Consider the dynamics at a bar association event; members love to mingle over cocktails and spend time with peers. There is a sense of calm that comes from surrounding oneself with others who face similar pressures. Lawyers need to feel this sense of belonging and employee engagement in their firms as well. Hosting regular lunches for staff to break bread with firm leadership or sponsoring volunteer activities as an opportunity for the firm to bond as they “give back” to the community are two ways your firm can foster a culture of connection and improve associate retention.
One way your firm can do its part to address the high burnout, addiction and suicide rates that continue to plague the legal profession is to create a supportive and safe environment in which your professional staff can thrive.
4. Make a Plan for Professional Development
If you ask most attorneys to name their goals, you are likely to be met with a blank stare and a shoulder shrug. Setting personal or professional goals and then designing a plan to reach their mapped-out objectives is a foreign concept to many lawyers. Young lawyers especially are accustomed to their firms dictating their rates, hourly requirements, origination expectations and work styles.
The best way for attorneys to take more ownership of their roles as agents of growth within the firm is to help them define their own expectations and goals. Start by encouraging associates to write down their goals and share them with their supervisors and peers. Garnering support for meeting their own expectations — not just the firm’s — and marking each milestone together helps create connection. It can be highly motivating and significantly enhances job satisfaction.
To Keep Your Associates, Stick With These Retention Strategies
The current state of the legal marketplace favors the professional mobility of associate attorneys. When you focus on giving young lawyers what they need to achieve their career goals and maintain work-life balance, you can vastly improve your firm’s employee retention rate — as well as the health and well-being of your lawyers. Earning a reputation as a firm that invests in its lawyers’ development will complement your recruiting efforts as well, and is likely to attract a few alumni back to your firm.
Stick with it.
More Hiring and Retention Ideas from Attorney at Work
- Protecting Your Investment: How to Realize a Robust ROI From Associates
- Associates’ Success Is Not About Work Ethic: Common Concerns About New Lawyers
- Finding Your Law Firm’s Next Managing PartnerLegal Leadership: How to Future-Proof Your Law Firm
- It’s Time to Address and Eliminate Generational Friction in Your Law Firm
- The War for Talent: Great Expectations
- Want to Reduce Turnover and Secure Your Law Firm’s Legacy? Be More Transparent
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