Accounting for people: City firm among the first to follow task force guidelines on human capital management

City firm CMS Cameron McKenna has just completed its first People Report – a 23-page document that assessed people performance within the firm and its contribution to business success.


It became one of the first law firms to produce a report using guidelines established by the Department for Trade and Industry’s accounting for people task force, which was set up in 2003 under the leadership of one-time City solicitor Denise Kingsmill, the former deputy chairwoman of the Competition Commission.


The report summarises Cameron McKenna’s approach to human capital management – which was defined by the Kingsmill Review as ‘a strategic approach to people management that focuses on the issues that are critical to an organisation’s success’ – and analyses its initiatives in recruitment, learning and development, performance management, engagement and well-being.


Keith Pearse, director of people and development at the firm, said: ‘Conventionally, law firms have measured and reported on financial aspects. We have taken what would be applied to financial measures and applied them to people.’


The firm employs 1,047 staff in the UK at offices in London, Aberdeen, Bristol and Edinburgh. Of these, 135 have flexible working arrangements, 71 work part-time, 20 share jobs and 12 work from home.


Performance management initiatives cited in the report include the firm’s ‘Taking Stock’ surveys of employees. These measure whether staff believe Cameron McKenna is a good place to work, and whether they are proud of the firm and understand its vision, values and strategy.


The report also details the success of measures the firm has taken to tackle levels of sickness and absence, such as the establishment of active management of sickness, return-to- work interviews, and on-site occupational health and physiotherapy.


These have combined to halve the average number of days sick per UK legal secretary from more than 14 in 1999 to 6.6 in 2004. The figures for UK legal employees have also been reduced from an average 4.1 in 1999 to 2.9 in 2004.


All employees now go through structured career development programmes, including annual appraisals and mentoring, and take part in internal and external courses.


Health, safety and well-being issues are addressed by well-person screening and health assessments, a lunch and learn programme of presentations offers information on topics such as sleep, stress and nutrition, and the ‘bumps club’ offers workshops to support expectant mothers.


The firm’s recruitment policies, meanwhile, include a bounty scheme that rewards current employees up to £5,000 for introducing new talent into the firm. The report also measures acceptance rates for the different types of employees recruited.


Dick Tyler, Cameron McKenna’s managing partner, said: ‘Our people are the key to the achievement of our strategic goals. They are at the very centre of our business and are core to our strategy for competing effectively in the legal market.’