Effective talent management is the key to creating a successful law firm, and gives firms the chance to differentiate themselves from their competitors, a report has claimed.

Lawyers and human resources (HR) personnel at 37 of the top 200 firms who responded to management consultancy Getfeedback’s third Talent in Law Benchmark survey rated talent management and flexible working as the key criteria that separated visionary from less visionary firms.


The respondents ranked DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, Linklaters, Clifford Chance, Wragge & Co, Slaughter and May and Allen & Overy as the most visionary firms.


To attract, retain and get the best from its lawyers, firms require both the right climate for talent to prosper and the right tools to give talent development structure and clarity, the report found.


It showed firms that recorded the highest levels of satisfaction with talent management had a clearly differentiated vision, fostered a climate of open and honest two-way communication and feedback, and encouraged new, flexible methods of working. These firms also invested highly in leadership development and measures to ensure their partners were effective coaches for junior lawyers.


Wendy Morrison, director of professional development at Wragge & Co, said: ‘The most important thing firms need to do is align their training and development with the firm’s overall business strategy and objectives wherever possible. A collaborative approach that involves people in the design and development of training methods is vital.’


As part of this process, Wragge & Co runs executive coaching for all partners and associates, and is in the process of rolling out coaching development for its partners. The senior and managing partners also take part in a quarterly on-line chat, in which all members can raise issues.


Caroline Rawes, head of HR at Linklaters in London, agreed that alignment of training with the firm’s objectives is essential. She said: ‘We have a clear strategy that people are very “bought into”, which makes the case easily in terms of managing talent. We almost don’t have to make the case; it’s accepted that we can’t achieve our objectives without managing our people and retaining them.’


Robert Halton, HR director at DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, meanwhile warned that if firms fail to invest in people, then their staff will go elsewhere. On flexibility, he said everyone would like greater flexibility and a better work/life balance, but it had to be borne in mind that firms needed to be able to respond to the needs of their clients.


‘We need to look at innovative ways of being flexible, but we also need a bit of a reality check – people have chosen to do this work and know what it demands.’