denotes premium content | Jul 31 2010 Current issue
Volume 2 Issue 4
Features
Feature - Working outside the box
A critical first step to developing an effective strategy for creating and working an alternative schedule is deciding, and clearly defining, your goals. Do you want to leave earlier every day to spend after-school hours with your children or do you want to work one less day a week so you can pursue an advanced degree? Is your goal to lower your annual billable hour requirement or better define the hours in which you are expected to be in the office? Working an alternative schedule can mean different things to different people.
Feature - Steering the cause
In 2003 Australia-based international law firm Freehills found it had a high percentage of female graduate entrants and yet only a small percentage made partnership level. Not only was this a huge loss of potential, it was also a financial cost to the firm. Coupled with the fact that a clear link exists between employee engagement and organisational performance, the firm developed a sophisticated programme to address issues faced by female employees, with aims to decrease this loss of talent.
Comment - Who needs golf
I fully appreciate why men focus on networking, particularly with other men. When all the stars align it can substantially further your career. Women need to make more of an attempt to seize on such opportunities. While it is certainly a salutary goal to network with everyone, however, women should take advantage of the fact that women are often eager to help other women. Not to sound sexist, but there is a sort of ‘sisterhood’, which - if you are in it - can be quite empowering.
Feature - Working the room
Lawyers are frequently inundated with invitations to seminars, conferences, charity events and family/personal gatherings. Reactions to these, dare we say ‘opportunities’, vary, based on personality, comfort level and time constraints. Reactions we hear from our clients run the gamut from; “I hate these things, it’s sheer torture…” to “It’s tolerable, but seems like a waste of time …” to “I like to meet new people, but I have enough friends, what I need is more new business prospects!” No matter where you land on the spectrum, however, there is an opportunity to maximise the value of these events and leverage your attendance when you know how to “Engage the Room YOUR Way™”.
Thought leader - A matter of perception
For young women in the audience, the admiration and praise also included the following unspoken words: “To be highly regarded in this profession requires superhuman behaviour. Women who do more than the expected norm are lauded for doing so; women who act consistent with their role may not be on the path for key leadership roles.” For more senior individuals in the room, the message was somewhat different. They heard a validation of their own work ethic and a view of the legal profession as a place that requires a 24/7 commitment. In that perspective, new babies should be a momentary interruption in a life of dedication to work. Even voluntary organisations are included within that ethos.
Feature - Service with a smile
Law firms invest huge amounts of money in recruitment and training and provide generous benefits packages, but, on the whole, they expect their partners and staff to be responsible for their own health and well-being. Working for a law firm can be demanding, involving long hours and tight deadlines, and although firms may offer much support, people are often too busy to take advantage of it. Ill health can create a real financial challenge for law firms. Not only do they have to pay for sick leave, but there is also significant cost through loss of resource when people cannot work.
Feature - Mind the gap
The 29th May 2010 marked the 40th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act. Hailed as groundbreaking legislation in 1970, the Act enshrines the right of women, and men, to equal pay for equal work, acknowledging the imperative to remedy what was then, for the Dagenham machinists, a 15 per cent pay gap between women and men.
Equal pay for work of equal value – regardless of gender – is the longstanding signifier issue for women’s equality. Celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act are marred by slow progress to remedy a now stagnant gender pay gap.
Feature - Inspirational women
It has been more than clear throughout this recession that when there’s a limited amount of work, people protect their own. So in this male-dominated industry it can be hard to survive as a woman. If the people in power are only of a certain background, they will extend opportunities to those of similar backgrounds. The old boys’ network is certainly alive and well – no doubt about it.
Most firms are attuned to the idea that we need a diverse workplace but intentions are one thing, reality is another. One of the biggest challenges in this recession environment is how we encourage people up the ranks to act as mentors when the pressure to perform is so great that it leaves little time for anything else. Law firms need to formalise a mentor system.
Special focus - Driving diversity across the globe
The development of professional-services firms over the last 50 years has mirrored fundamental changes in society including increased globalisation and social mobility, changes in values as a result of generational shifts, and changing views about traditional gender roles. At Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Freshfields) we are undertaking various initiatives to address the issue of gender diversity across our international network. An essential element of our business strategy is the attraction, retention and development of talent.
SPECIAL FOCUS: DIVERSITY IN THE RECESSION - Tomorrow’s rainmakers
Because women lawyers have been disproportionately affected by the recession, they should even more actively seek to bolster their relationships with fellow female lawyers and lead by example through active mentoring, say Marianne Trost and Cheryl Tama Oblander.
