CASE STUDY: Midlands firm Nelsons


Traditionally a slow-moving division of UK plc, the legal sector is experiencing seismic change, with the historic equity partnership model being replaced with a leaner, corporate future in which cost control is as important as boosting profit per equity partner. This corporate leanness, where legal products remain much the same but efficiency becomes vital, has led to the introduction of business process management into the profession.



The first stage of a BPM exercise is to look at how a firm works structurally. Here, especially with staffing, it pays to live by the pyramid principle &150; building structures for each business area in which each 'level' of the pyramid is peopled appropriately. This can take a long time to achieve, especially with firms that have grown both organically and by acquisition, but it is essential for the long-term health of the business.



Getting these structures right is vital groundwork for the next stage, which is a root and branch review of how and where the firm spends and makes money. Keeping control of fixed costs is essential, especially for firms that are located where overheads are naturally high.



Here it helps to examine business processes in detail. When a letter drops into the company letterbox, how many hands does it pass through before it reaches the addressee's desk? If a fee earner dictates a letter on Monday, how long does it typically take for it to be transcribed, and by whom? These are just two examples.



Though conducting these reviews requires time, effort and expertise that might (at least temporarily) take managerial focus away from day-to-day business, this is no reason not to do something - if outsourcing or automating a business process has potential benefits, then it pays to consider it.



This is what we at Nelsons did when, as part of an ongoing efficiency and staff de-duplication drive, we looked at how we produced and managed documents. A digital dictation system proved to be a great help, as it allowed us to share transcription work among support staff more evenly and identify areas where we might have surplus resource. This then allowed us to 'think twice' before replacing any secretaries leaving the firm. Instead, we shared their organisational tasks among remaining staff.



Realising this would, however, create a situation where surplus work arose, we decided to outsource this surplus to Voicepath, a specialist third-party company. This meant that we could not only reduce our overall headcount over time, but also cope with peaks in activity without the expense and trouble of temporary support staff.



Our initial projections estimated that this new process could shave a third off what we then spent on our secretarial pool, providing we were able to keep control of how much individual fee-earners used the outsourced service. To achieve this, we rationed the service, giving each fee-earner access to a package of dictation time equivalent to what the departing secretary had undertaken.



In practice, we discovered that the cost of outsourcing dictation was less than half the previous cost, as the tendency has been for more work to be absorbed in-house by retained staff. In effect, outsourcing routine work while giving more complex and organisational tasks to in-house staff has exposed greater capacity for work.



What began as an experiment is now helping us strategically, helping us to knit 'efficiency' into the company's culture. This extends well beyond transcription into other areas. For example, we are preparing to roll out a document scanning system across our four offices. This will significantly reduce the time it takes for vital documents to make it on to desks and into our record-keeping systems.



Making a success of business process change involves building strong partnerships, both internally with staff and externally with companies to which you are entrusting part of your operations. Change is always daunting, but even if you do not change, chances are your competitors will.



Tim Hastings is chief executive of Nelsons