Steering the cause

The estimated cost of the loss of a mid-level lawyer is a staggering AU$450,000 per lawyer, and this cost only increases with seniority.

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.

The firm achieved its goal to have up to 20 per cent female partners in 2008, but in 2009 Freehills appointed us – Kathryn Everett and Jane Hodder – ‘Women at Freehills’ co-chairs to increase the visibility of the group, which is currently in the process of setting more ambitious targets to ensure that the initiative continues to grow and be successful into the future.

Both of us are partners with young families and have first-hand experience of the challenges, both of obtaining partnership and of maintaining a successful practice. Kathryn has worked a flexible four-day week for nearly eight years now, proving that flexible working practices are not incompatible with success or leadership roles at Freehills.

Pioneering spirit

Freehills has long pioneered the promotion of women within the legal industry. In 1978 the firm became the first major Australian law firm to have a single female partner. Then, for the past 15 years it has been running specific women’s initiatives such as the ‘Women in Business’ programme – aimed at fostering networks among women at all stages in their careers; and ‘Women at Freehills’ – an initiative that aims to attract, retain and develop the best female talent.

The foundation of the firm’s modern initiatives, Women in Business, was set up in 1994, and is a networking forum for women throughout corporate Australia. The brainchild of then partner Stephanie Pursley, it was the first group of its kind to be founded by an Australian law firm. Pursley was inspired by a visit to the Women’s Trade Forum in Singapore, to set up a forum in recognition of the importance of women building networks with peers and senior role models.

The programme, which continues to flourish to this day, aims to foster networks among women at all stages of their professional careers, by providing opportunities for senior businesswomen from diverse organisations and industries to meet one another and exchange views and experiences.

Then, in 2003, the first seeds of the current women’s initiative – Women at Freehills – were planted. It was instigated by a number of senior women partners who had come to the conclusion that if the firm did not alter its course operationally, it would become increasingly difficult for women to forge their careers at a senior level.

This core group realised the importance of partnership and management buy in. They had recognised that if treated as just another HR initiative, this would fail to engage the key stakeholders within the firm. They then approached the firm’s CEO, Peter Hay, to act as a champion of the initiative. He grasped the significance of the initiative when he realised that the firm had 60 per cent female graduate entrants, but that only 16 per cent of those women would make partnership level.

He and the firm’s executive recognised the huge loss of potential skill and identified it as a business-critical issue that had to be addressed to enable the firm to meet its objectives. It was then put on the agenda as the keynote speech for the next partners’ conference, and its aims became a key element in the firm’s strategic plan. This was a crucial point, engaging the entire partnership and refining the key messages of the initiative.

Commitment and clarity

This commitment to the initiative, the key performance indicators (KPIs) and its place on the firm’s strategic plan, continue under the current CEO, Gavin Bell, who also sits on the firm’s partner steering committee for this initiative.

In 2004 the Women at Freehills steering committee was set up to ensure that the initiative had consistent top-level support and backing. It consisted of 12 key individuals from within the partnership – both male and female – including the CEO, selected to represent a cross section of partners’ views and experiences from across the firm. They were also selected because they were influential members of the firm, and two human resources professionals also sit on the committee. A dedicated project team was assigned to support the committee and to implement and manage the policies and programmes.

The key aims of the initiative are twofold: to increase the retention of women lawyers by giving them full support and access to roles that meet their skills and expectations; and to increase the proportion of women partners at the firm.

First stage

Subsequent to forming the committee and setting the aims, there was a six to 12-month research and opinion-gathering period. The committee put together a long list of operational and procedural changes to address work-life balance (such as flexible-working policies) which, with full management buy in, were achieved fairly quickly and easily as early ‘wins’.

However, addressing the challenge of the number of female partners also instigated a deeper philosophical debate. Having studied what other major organisations were doing globally, the committee came to the conclusion that significant change was unlikely to happen without the setting of ambitious, but realistic, targets.

In 2005 the committee set itself the following targets:

• Attaining a proportion of 20 per cent females in the partnership;
• Retention of female associates equal to that of males; and
• Satisfaction levels among women and men to be equalised.

There are four key pillars supporting the core aims of the initiative and underpinning all strategies, policies, programmes and initiatives:

• Developing and showcasing exceptional role models;
• Building the capabilities of women lawyers to ensure their success;
• Challenging mindsets and assumptions about gender;
• Creating and maintaining a supportive working environment.

Following extensive internal research conducted with successful senior female partners, it became clear that the impact of a mentor was significant. As a result, best practices in mentoring were developed and mentors were paired with their mentees. These mentoring relationships hove been supported by tools and processes that clearly define the role and parameters of mentoring.

Each office of the firm also set up its own Women Lawyer Liaison Groups. These groups provide women lawyers, at all levels, with an opportunity to shape the agenda within the firm and input the strategies being developed by the partner steering committee. The ultimate aim of the programme is to assist in maximising the value of the time that is devoted to women lawyers’ careers, as well as the time devoted to their family.

Measuring success

Success is measured internally through exit surveys; engagement surveys; attrition data; incorporating KPIs into strategic plans and measuring against them, assessing practice group leaders and line partners on their performance against these KPIs, and upward assessment of all line partners. Progress made through these initiatives has been recognised with a number of recent awards, including EOWA ‘Employer of Choice for Women’, New South Wales Law Society ‘Special Award for Flexibility in the Workplace’, and ALB Magazine ‘Employer of Choice’.

Key challenges and lessons

The recently changed economic climate has seen declining attrition figures and an associated drop off in partner motivation.

The firm has therefore carried out research on the employer value proposition, showing the extent to which employees, candidates and clients alike appreciate the emphasis on diversity and individualism, which has become part of the Freehills identity.

The nature of the role of a partner in a large commercial law firm could be seen as inherently inimical to family life. This is an issue that requires innovative, risk-taking leadership, and the firm has been taking a collaborative approach working with other leading law firms and client organisations to discuss the nature of the role and the way in which it can be altered. For example, Freehills hosted roundtable discussions with a number of other law firms, with the purpose of being open with one anther about the problems faced, and to share their ideas and policies.

Freehills itself has had an ongoing commitment to trialling various forms of flexibility, and learnt some valuable lessons.

First, contrary to popular belief, it is possible to work flexibly in transactional areas. Job sharing is often the most effective way of doing so. From these experiences, Freehills has developed guides for partners and lawyers that support the effective establishment of flexibility. The firm has flexible working arrangements in every practice area in the firm, and has also built in additional flexible options that include purchasing additional annual leave, greater flexibility in taking leave of absence, and taking renewal and rest periods between busy periods.

It is also important to recognise that, for many lawyers, their peak work experiences are those when they were under extreme pressure and working in a team to meet deadlines. However, this is only sustainable if it is managed subtly and there is also room for breathing space around these times.

Celebrating success

Successful examples of women managing to balance life commitments with a demanding role are shared and celebrated internally. Showing that working part time is consistent with leadership roles is encouraging for other women and men in the firm.

The environment is one where all employees feel valued, appreciated and listened to.

Any changes are achieved through consultation and discussion. Members of the firm, both male and female, legal and non-legal staff, have the opportunity to put forward their views through a number of channels, and this ensures that changes made are delivered from the bottom up. Management support and buy in, meanwhile, ensures they are implemented from the top down.

Moving forwards, the firm and we current joint chairs are re-examining the business case and strategic plans, and will particularly focus on the areas of leadership, talent management, working with clients, and building flexibility into the way we work. Freehills will not be resting on its laurels, and will to continue to set the bar high.

Kathryn Everett and Jane Hodder are Freehills partners and co-chairs of Women at Freehills. They can be contacted at: jane.hodder@freehills.com and kathryn.everett@freehills.com