Hiring & Empowering Solutions

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Looking for a Traditional Law Firm Resume is Hurting Your Growth…and Here’s Why

law firm recruiting and hiring“This resume is totally unqualified, why are you sending me this candidate?” In our 20+ years in the legal recruiting and staffing industry, we’ve heard this question a lot—most recently about a week ago. The attorney we were working with wanted to hire a paralegal with estate planning and probate experience. Loads of it, to be exact. And trying to get this particular attorney to look beyond the words and qualifications listed on a resume was a bit of a challenge. But, we are hired to help law firms hire the right person for their open position, and so our response—as it always is—was, “Trust us. We are the experts. That’s why you hired us. Show up for the 1-hour interview, and if you’re not seeing what you want, let the candidate know you’ve seen everything you need to see and end the interview. We’ll take it from there.” The attorney begrudgingly agreed.

Part of our legal recruiting and hiring process is that we ask all candidates to call us immediately after their 1-hour interview. 3-hours after the interview was scheduled to end, she phoned. Our recruiter’s first response was, “You failed the test. You were supposed to call us as soon as the interview was over. You’ve lost some points…”

And the candidate excitedly interrupted to say that she had just left the interview. “It went amazing! We already started taking tasks off of his to-do list and putting them on mine. I have my top priorities all sorted out…I start tomorrow!”

Attorneys—and most business owners, really—are easily seduced by a rocking resume. We get emails from entrepreneurs all the time. What About This Resume? the subject line reads, and attached is a resume chock full of fascinating skill sets and experience that jumps off the page. Intrigued by our own process, we’ll give these candidates a spot test, jumping on a call with them for some simple research and development. Within four minutes, we’ll know if a candidate is all wrong. If they’re too arrogant, not vibrant enough, lacking empathy or compassion. If they have a mindset of victimization.

Yes, we can tell all of this within just four minutes. And we can determine if the candidate is a poor fit, without knowing what position they are being considered for, or the details of the job description.

Another recent example, we placed an absolute superstar candidate into a position at a boutique law firm in Maine. But initially, when we sent the resume to the attorney, the response was, “I don’t want to waste my time meeting with this candidate, her resume isn’t impressive and I have no idea how she even made the cut to get in front of me.”

“Trust the process,” we reassured.

After the interview, I received a phone call from the attorney. “I have no idea how this candidate made your cut, or why you would even call her solely based on her resume, but I must have her.” Our process had clearly worked. “She is now the standard for every employee I will ever hire going forward.”

It is now this candidate’s third year at the firm, and I still get emails from the attorney saying things like, “I still don’t know why you called her, but thank you. She is amazing! I finally feel like someone has my back, and I can let go and just focus on billable work and growing my firm!”

The point of all this is simple: the skills that are listed out on paper are irrelevant until you get clear on the human side of hiring.

Hiring your first employee is a huge leap of faith and one of the scariest things that an entrepreneur can do. You want a guarantee that this new hire will be a profitable asset and not a financially-draining liability. The problem is that new hires don’t come in a box with a guarantee on it. And what’s worse, more often than not, entrepreneurs don’t get the superstar employees they need, which pushes them to the mindset that “good people are hard to find.”

But you don’t want good people. You want GREAT people. Superstars. Rockstars. People who come “batteries included.” And there are hundreds…maybe even thousands…of really, really great people out there. And they’re waiting to work very, very intentionally for you. And the promising news is that these really, really great people are being overlooked by recruiters because their resumes aren’t flashy…

So, how do you find these people? If you are truly curious and want to learn:

1. How to write a compelling ad that attracts healthy candidates with the mindset, core values, and emotional intelligence you need—all while weeding out the weak;

2. What to look for in a resume that indicates that a candidate knows exactly how to do what you need them to, and eliminates the “I need a job and will be asking you for a raise before the end of the year” candidates;

3. How to conduct empowering face-to-face interviews that create the kind of dialogue that gets to the fundamentals of their motivating factors, mindset, missions and values…

Email [email protected] today. Let’s connect and discuss your firm’s recruiting and hiring challenges. Our process works—we’ve got it dialed in, and have been using it to help solopreneurs and boutique firms hire amazing people for over 20 years now. Your people should be your most profitable asset. We help make that happen.

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The Qualities You THINK You Need Probably Aren’t What You ACTUALLY Need

leadership qualitiesLaw firm leaders are tasked with the challenge of setting the direction of the entire organization. To be worthy of a leadership role, an individual must be respected and influential. They must be effective revenue generators with a long list of distinguished legal accomplishments. They must be able to attract and retain customers, and manage a large book of business. Right?

Not so much.

Respect and influence, the ability to generate revenue, praise-worthy accomplishments…sure, these are all impressive qualities. But which of them would enable a leader to engage and retain employees, propel organizational productivity, and drive customer satisfaction across the board? Which of these qualities will help them develop an effective marketing strategy, or make decisions about the firm’s long-term performance trajectory? None of them.

The problem, when law firm leaders run their organizations on respect, influence and authority alone, is that they never actually step up and lead. They make decisions in a vacuum, failing to keep what’s best for the firm in mind. Too often, leaders play rainmaker and bend over backwards to maintain client relationships…a great strategy for short-term sustainability. But when it comes to long-term sustainability, leaders need to develop their firms and their teams, making sure that employees are engaged, empowered, and properly trained. If leaders aren’t staying focused on these tasks, the firm is in serious trouble.

Likewise, if leaders aren’t focused on the right goals, the firm is bound to suffer. Performance metrics are great goals for attorneys. However, leaders must keep a keen eye on team and organizational goals, as well as on building relationships with team members and clients alike. On collaborating, and leveraging a diverse set of skills to solve problems and improve firm performance.

It’s time we say goodbye to the leadership ideal of respect, influence and authority, and start ushering in a new era of leaders who possess the following 7 leadership skills:

1. Has a firm handle on the firm’s long-term strategy and goals, and the ability to communicate that vision to team members in a way that excites and motivates them to perform

2. The ability to develop team members in a way that is aligned not only with the firm’s needs, but also with the individual’s career goals

3. Gets the job done and achieves positive results, against all odds

4. Collaborates rather than competes, and handles conflict quietly

5. Builds a professional network inside and outside of the firm

6. Is a social chameleon; can get along with a diverse group of team members, clients, and stakeholders

7. The adaptability to change demeanor as needed, based on the demands of whatever situation is arising

The challenge with these leadership skills is that they aren’t part of any law school’s curriculum. A leader must take it upon themselves to learn these skills, which means that, in addition to the 7 skills listed above, effective law firm leaders also need to have a learning mindset. But learning mindsets and egos oftentimes conflict, and convincing leaders to spend time perfecting skills that don’t directly generate revenue isn’t easy.

Leadership development programs designed specifically for law firms—like our Team Empowerment Academy—can be highly effective training and development tools, teaching leaders how to lead more effectively, and teaching team members the skills they need to support their leaders in a meaningful (and measurable) way. Our program generates real results in just 8 weeks, and it does that by taking into consideration the nuances of each leader or team member’s personality, determining their strengths and weaknesses, and figuring out how they can best work together for the benefit of the firm as a whole.

If you’re interested in empowering your team with the leadership skills you ACTUALLY NEED—not the leadership skills you THINK you need—email [email protected] or contact us using the form below to request a free 30-minute Discovery Session with our founder, Molly Hall.

Request a FREE 30-Minute Law Firm Discovery Session

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How Your Lack of Accountability & Tracking is Sabotaging Your Revenue

lack of accountability and tracking sabotaging revenuePeople call your law firm because they are ready to hire you. But time after time, when I speak with law firm leaders about their struggles, I hear the same old bologna: “They were unqualified leads.” “They were just shopping around; they weren’t ready to write a check.” “They weren’t a good fit for our firm.” “I don’t know what happened, I just never heard from them again…”

Bologna.

In many ways, the small law firm has the advantage over those big, corporate firms with hundreds of associates and dozens of partners. I don’t know about you, but I will always choose a more intimate “mom and pop” experience over being a faceless name in a sea of thousands of other faceless names on the client list of a massive corporation. But I’ve noticed something: for all the times I pick up the phone to call a small business, I rarely receive a follow-up phone call or email if I don’t make an immediate purchase. I—a qualified lead who is ready to make a purchase—am rarely nurtured through the sales funnel. And if we’re being honest, the only reason I failed to follow through and make a purchase in the first place is because I’m busy being an entrepreneur and a wife and a mom and probably got sidetracked somewhere in between client meetings and getting my kid to karate practice. Failure on the business’s behalf to follow-up with me sabotaged their sale…

…and it’s how your firm is sabotaging its own revenue.

The likely story is that the small business probably isn’t staffed enough to execute a regimented follow-up plan, and that’s the likely story for your firm, too. Who would be responsible for checking-in on leads consistently and strategically. Certainly not you. You’re busy doing what you have to do to keep your firm competitive, sustainable, and profitable.

But those lost leads are valuable, and they’re slipping further away with every day you fail to follow up with them. So, here’s how to follow-up for dollars and reclaim the revenue you’ve lost on account of your lack of accountability.

How to Follow-Up for Dollars

This is a simple “how to” system, designed to fill your calendar with appointments and your business account with money. It’s a tried, tested, and proven system for bringing old and prospective clients back to your firm…for $500/week or more.

Step 1: Hire
This is a receptionist caliber position; you could start out with a 20-hour/week or 3-day/week position, but we encourage you to hire someone full-time, since this system is ineffective if, when someone contacts your office, no one is there to answer their call and schedule an appointment. Take the leap of faith and hire someone full-time.

Choosing the right person for this position is crucial. Rely on “Kolbe” recommendations and follow best practices for hiring based on personality

Step 2: Create the Campaign
Identify a list of lost clients or prospects, organized by year, starting with the most recent year and working back to your firm’s inception. Include:

• Contacts who never took the next step
• Contacts who attended a workshop or joined a webinar, but didn’t move forward
• Cancelled appointments
• Maintenance clients who never renewed

Once you’ve compiled your contact lists, call them, send them an email, or mail them a letter of re-engagement. You may include a special offer in this letter, or you may just re-introduce your firm and the various services you offer.

Step 3: Call
This process takes, on average, 12 minutes. You make the phone call, send a follow-up email (step 4, below) and update your database. Your new hire should be able to make about 40 calls/day and, trust us, you WILL see a return on this position after one month.

The script for the phone call is below:

“Hello ___ ,

This is ___ calling from ___ Law Firm. Real quick, I am calling today to follow up with you regarding your ___ (call, workshop attendance, etc.) on ___. It has been ___(days/weeks/months) since we last spoke. We know how important it was to take the first step and contact our office and we want to make certain we have done everything to support your family’s needs and goals. We’d like to extend an offer to you to come in for a complimentary Vision Meeting with attorney___ , as I am certain a few things have changed in your family since ___. Would next ___ or ___ work better for you?

Step 4: Email
Send an email immediately following each unanswered phone call. Time-saving tip: save the email into a Word document or other text file and copy and paste it into the body of each email). The contents of the email should read:

“Hello ___,

I hope this message finds you better than well today. Real quick, I wanted to send you a quick email to let you know that I just left a message on your answering machine, as I was reaching out today to follow up with you regarding your _____ (call, workshop attendance, etc.) on ___. It has been ___(days/weeks/months) since we last spoke. We appreciate how significant it was to take the first step and contact our office and we want to ensure we have done everything to support your family’s needs and goals. We like to extend an offer to you to come in for a complimentary Vision Meeting with attorney ___, as I am certain a few things have changed in your family since ___. Would next ___ or ___ work better for you? Let me know what works best for you and I will be certain to get this reserved for you.

Step 5: Letter or Flier
The last step in this process, after the phone calls and emails have been made, is to send a letter via mail. These letters should be sent out every week (we suggest you send them every Friday). The letter should read:

“Hello ___,

I hope this finds you better than well today. I am reaching out to follow up with you regarding your ___ (call, workshop attendance, etc.) on ___. It has been ___(days/weeks/months) since we last spoke and I appreciate how significant it was to take the first step and contact our office. We want to ensure we have done everything to support your family’s needs and goals and extend an offer to you to come in for a complimentary Vision Meeting with attorney___ as I am certain a few things have changed in your family since ___. Would next ___ or ___ work better for you?
Let me know what works best for you and I will be certain to get this reserved for you.

Also including a flier for a new “Value Add” workshop, for example, a Social Media for Law Firms workshop, will drive even more engagement in your response.

There is no reason your law firm should be struggling to generate revenue—not with so many untapped resources just waiting for you to get back in touch! Everything you need to grow your law firm is already in place—you just need better tracking, better follow-up, and more accountability.

Ready to Hire that Rock Star Receptionist?

If you’re ready to get the RIGHT person in the door—and you’re ready to turn a rock star receptionist into revenue—contact us! Our Smart Hire Solution has been helping law firms find, recruit, hire, onboard and train amazing team members for over 20 years! We’ll save you time and money by hiring the right person, right out of the gates. Email [email protected] to learn more today!

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Getting Out of the Decision-Making Vacuum and 3 Ways to Make it Happen

employee engagementTrust us…we get it. It’s easy to pull the trigger and make decisions from the comfort of your own leadership vacuum. After all, you know your firm better than anyone, which means you know better than anyone what your firm needs to grow progressively and sustainably…right?

Maybe so. But there is another group of people who are huge stakeholders in the success of your firm—your team. And they also have a pretty good idea about what your firm might need. And they’ve got ideas—great ideas, in fact—that you won’t be able to hear from the confines of your vacuum.

A recent study of over 100,000 U.S. businesses confirms that there is a direct correlation between how involved employees are in corporate decision-making processes and their level of overall morale, motivation and job satisfaction.

Simply stated, keeping employees engaged and empowered results in more satisfied, “go-getter” type employees who can really step up and make a difference at your firm. The benefits of involving your team in decision-making processes include:

• Improved levels of effort and commitment. Being involved in making decisions for your firm makes employees feel valuable, and when they feel valuable, they’ll take more ownership of your firm’s performance.

• Better day-to-day decision-making. Understanding how decisions are being made at an executive level will help them make better decisions at a departmental or individual level. They’ll be better equipped to align their decisions with the direct of your firm.

• Stronger bonds of responsibility. When an employee has his or her say in making a decision, the outcome of that decision—in one way or another—reflects back on them. Employees do NOT want a negative outcome landing on their shoulders. The responsibility that comes with decision-making will keep team members at the top of their games.

• It takes the heat off of YOU! When you make a bad decision, it’s easy for employees to place 100% of the blame on you. However, when team members take an active role in the decision-making process, bad decisions will compel them to analyze what went wrong and make better decisions in the future.

• Employee morale and motivation will skyrocket. If employees have the authority to make decisions, or at least be an active part of the decision-making process, they’ll feel like they make a difference, which is directly related to their levels of motivation and overall job satisfaction.

• It frees up YOUR time to focus on future-oriented initiatives. Empowering your employees to make business decisions eliminates the need to micromanage. If you trust that your employees are capable of making good decisions about various aspects of your firm’s operations and systems, then you can take on those higher-level initiatives you just haven’t been able to find the time for…

Convincing law firm leaders to get their firm’s employees more involved in decision-making processes shouldn’t be that hard of a sell—the benefits are powerful, as you can clearly see. However, the actual process of stepping out of your leadership vacuum and into a more collaborative role isn’t always easy. Ease into the transition by implementing these three tactics:

1. Assemble committees of action teams to brainstorm solutions for specific problems.

2. Send out a survey and allow employees to vote on decisions that could impact the firm as a whole.

3. Make sure there are clear channels through which employees can provide feedback to managers and leaders. Informal face-to-face interactions (i.e. water cooler chats), or even a suggestion box will do the trick.

Law firm leadership development programs, like our Team Empowerment Academy, can add another dimension to your efforts to get your team members more involved in making decisions for your firm. Our Team Empowerment Academy equips law firm leaders and their teams with the tools and techniques they need to take tasks off their attorney’s plates and make decisions that benefit their firms. After just 8-weeks, your firm can expect real, measurable results. Your people are your greatest asset, and our program helps them become more resourceful, more efficient and more profitable.

Ready to Start Engaging Your Employees?

Send an email to [email protected] about the challenges you’re facing at your firm, and we’ll contact you to schedule a free discovery session to brainstorm solutions. Not quite ready to chat? Take advantage of the offer to download our best-selling book, Intrapreneurs in an Entrepreneur’s World: How to Empower Your Employees to Step Up and Lead…completely free!

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13 Reasons Why Lawyers Are So Stressed Out

business development for law firmsBeing a lawyer is reason enough to be stressed out, never mind when you factor in the adversarial nature of the profession, the views that society has about lawyers, and the increasing complexity of practicing law in today’s day and age.

Years ago, we attended a trade show where we received a copy of a flier titled, Why Are Lawyers So Stressed? It was published by The Complete Lawyer, a web-based magazine for attorneys. The flier shared information, amongst other topics, about the types of pressures that attorneys deal with on a daily basis.

22 years later, I still have that flier tacked to a vision board above my desk. It’s a constant reminder to stay focused on the value that Hiring & Empowering Solutions brings to its clients—simply put, we alleviate the pressures that lawyers and their teams face.

The factors outlined in the flier included the following:

1. Not enough time! Unforgiving time constraints make meeting deadlines a constant source of stress.
2. High stakes cases, in which the client’s property, freedom, or even life is dependent on the outcome.
3. The desire for unambiguous clarity where none exists, for example, when clients expect that an attorney possesses a certain level of expertise
4. Constantly feeling as though you’re being scrutinized by colleagues, judges and juries.
5. Being in a constant state of conflict with the opposing counsel and their desire to prove you wrong—whether now or later
6. Having to meticulously “cover your backside,” thanks to a persistent fear of malpractice claims and Murphy’s law
7. Taking on the burdens of your clients…on top of the burdens that go hand-in-hand with running a law firm, plus any personal burdens you’re carrying around
8. Professional cordiality has become a thing of the past, and the legal landscape is getting more hostile by the day
9. Balancing your personal style with your professional training; being aggressive, judgmental, intellectual, emotional, withdrawn…each of these styles may have practical value in the courtroom, but not so much in the office.
10. The mental and emotional cost of constant vigilance in a world where you are expected to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, all the time
11. The need to stay focused and on-task, even when you’re completely drained of your energy from meeting intense demands, day in and day out.
12. Leveraging your defense mechanisms too often; having to be rigid, compulsive or otherwise “perfect”
13. The need to bill, bill, bill—meeting billable hours expectations is NOT easy!

In my experience working with more than 300 law firms, I can absolutely confirm that attorneys are STILL dealing with these same stressors—23 years after the original article was published. Attorneys are STILL stressed and depressed and misunderstood by their employees and alienated from them (and the rest of the world) because of these pressures.

So…what can an attorney do about these pressures? How can they come to understand the true nature of the beast and put support mechanisms in place to keep these stressors at bay?

Well, empowering their teams is a good start.

An empowered team can be a HUGE help in reducing the stress that a solo practitioner or small firm attorney feels. Through our Team Empowerment Academy, we’ve been working with law firms and their teams for decades…teaching skills that help team members help their attorneys, and that turn “managers” into true leaders. Contact [email protected] to bring us up to speed on your pain points, and learn how we could help alleviate them.