Building a strong, focused, and productive team is like tending to a garden. It takes planning, patience, and, above all, regular upkeep. Ignore your plants for too long and they’ll start to wilt; ignore your employees for too long and they’ll do the same or, worse, uproot and go elsewhere. What watering and weeding are to a garden, employee training is to a successful team—and, of course, the only way either works is if you are consistent.
Your 2023 Guide to Employee Training
The best employee development plans take a strategic, cumulative approach. They reflect thoughtfully on each team member and offer training in accordance with their evolving needs. You, the attorney in charge, are the only person equipped to do this…but that doesn’t mean you need to reinvent the wheel. A little structured guidance from a trusted expert is key to ensuring your plan is worth the time and effort you invest in its creation.
Here are five employee training goals to strive for in 2023:
- Effective Communication
You can’t figure out what an employee needs if you don’t talk. Open lines of communication are the lifeline of all successful employee development plans. This doesn’t just mean asking the right questions, however, but learning to listen and engage.
- Constructive Problem-Solving
As the manager or boss, your job is to identify problems and find solutions. The former may be easier but it’s the latter that really matters. Spotting that an employee is underperforming doesn’t get you anywhere, but figuring out why (and what you can do about it) does. Achieving this means addressing problems directly, and leaning on strong lines of communication to craft lasting solutions.
- Effective Law Firm Hiring (and Firing)
The buck may stop with you, but that doesn’t mean you’re single-handedly responsible for your team’s productivity. If you haven’t built a strong team, no amount of communication and problem-solving is going to get you results. That’s why talent acquisition (and its opposite) matters so much. Perhaps the single most important aspect of effective law firm hiring is prioritizing a candidate’s cultural fit over their on-paper skillset—and this, again, boils down to good communication and listening.
- All-Star Retention
Making a great hire doesn’t matter if they don’t stick around. Fifteen years ago, the fix may have been a competitive salary and solid benefits…but today’s job seekers want more (and are in a position to get it). Remote work is on the rise. Flexible scheduling is now the norm, not the exception. And standout growth and advancement opportunities are not sought but expected. If you want to hold on to top talent, you need to offer not just a job, but a dream.
- Consistent Upskilling
Humans are greedy, so it’s no shock that the number one thing people look for in a job is money. Number two might surprise you, though. No, it’s not benefits, balance, or even remote work opportunities. It’s growth, and—in a professional context—that means upskilling.
Effective employee training is an ever-shifting target and the only way to hit the mark is to plan, plan, and plan some more.
Hiring & Empowering Solutions is the industry leader in helping law firms do this successfully. To learn more schedule a free consultation today! We offer a wide range of services to support your law firm’s growth, ranging from law firm hiring and recruiting, legal consulting, and virtual training and development programs for your law firm admins.
