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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Why in the World Would an Attorney Want an “Empowered” Employee?

employee empowerment leadership developmentLast week, Hiring & Empowering Solutions was featured on a national podcast. The focus of our feature was to discuss the value of employee empowerment—how to develop their skill sets and keep them engaged and motivated, all while leveraging their strengths for the benefit of your firm. Immediately after the podcast, we received this phone call from an attorney who had been listening:

“Why in the world would any attorney want an empowered employee? I don’t want my employees lining up outside my office door asking for raises, or refusing to perform such and such task because it’s not listed on their job description. I don’t need a bunch of entitled, “empowered” employees…”

And you know what? We get that. The word “empowerment” itself is a loaded one. It gets thrown around social media—blasted on news channels, on the radio…it’s everywhere, and when it lands, it sounds a lot like, “HEAR ME ROAR” But the truth is…

…nothing could be further from the truth.

Back in 2000, when Laney and I spoke at a national legal conference, The Attorney Team Mindset: 8 Keys to an Empowering Conversation in the Workplace, the 1,500+ law firms in attendance went nuts! For the rest of the conference, we literally couldn’t make it to the bathroom without getting stopped. How do we clone you? How can we get empowered employees like you?”

So, what is an empowered employee and why would an attorney want one? Because they exhibit these 5 behaviors…

1. They think, talk, and act like a business owner. The come to you with solutions…not problems.You can trust that these employees can problem solve without your approval. Not having to seek out your approval saves your employee’s time, your time, and gets the job done much faster.

2. They protect your time and have your back. They fully appreciate that, as an attorney entrepreneur, you have the weight of the world on your back: client complaints, employee drama, cash flow crises, and family members who are hurt and upset because you didn’t get home until late at night…again. An empowered employee understand this, and takes the burden of operational responsibilities off your back as often as they can. When you have an empowered employee in your corner, you can start using the word “no” a little more, and reclaim your happiness, sanity, and peace of mind knowing that your employee has your back.

3. They provide “white glove” client service and experience. When you hear an employee use a phrase like “our clients,” you know you’ve crossed the threshold of having employees who are just there to make a paycheck and employees who care as much about the business as you do. They come in early, they stay late, they lose sleep over clients, money, calendar, systems…

4. They are accountable and act like a CEO…a.k.a. a professional nag. Empowered employees are capable of making decisions that get things done in a way that honors your judgement and your law firm’s standards. When an employee feels empowered, they feel trusted—and they are honored to be trusted! Your trust makes them feel more accountable—they want to manage your firm’s money, time and calendar in a way that fosters your trust and confidence in their skills.

5. They protect & nurture your personal relationships. They know your family promises and obligations are a priority…and they make sure you’re able to get to that band concert, actually enjoy time spent on family vacations, and otherwise prevent you from letting your family and loved ones down.

Being “empowered” doesn’t mean your employee is going to start making brash financial demands or putting their foot down about tasks that fall outside the scope of their role. It means they’re going to help free up your time—they’re going to take tasks off of your plate—and you’re going to trust that these tasks are getting done to your standards, however high they may be.

The value of employee empowerment is massive, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Relinquishing control is never easy for entrepreneurs in any industry, but especially at law firms. Our Team Empowerment Academy is a nationally-recognized leadership development and employee empowerment program that guides law firms through the process of developing and empowering their teams, and is proven to generate real results after only 8-weeks. Want to learn more? Click the button below!

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What Every Attorney Business Owner is So Desperate to Hear

what all attorney business owners want to hearWe talk to attorneys all day, every day. We typically start the conversation off with, “What are you not seeing that you really need and want to?” It starts with what’s not working, what is working and what they so desperately wish they could find time to work on, but can’t because they’re not confident that anyone has their back while they step away from the business.

“So, what I’m hearing is your desperate to know someone in your firm has your back. To know that someone’s got yours (the business owner) and the firm’s (reputation) and the client’s (why we all still have jobs) back?

Every attorney is desperate to hear, “I got your back!” and then see consistent evidence that their employees know what this means.

There is no lonelier feeling than being a business owner. You start off as a solopreneur, practicing law independently. You’re good at what you do, and business is coming in. You soon recognized the need to hire a few people, start growing your team. You got juuuust the right people in place—in your mind, they were going to dive in head-first, clear your plate of the day-to-day operational tasks, and completely free you up to keep growing your business.

But somewhere between your new employees diving in head-first and you being able to focus on growing your business, you get that gut feeling that you need to start paying closer attention. Turns out that people are a lot of work. They require training. They need to be developed into the type of employees who can step up, suit up, and start taking over the tasks that you simply don’t have time for if you really want to focus on building a successful and sustainable business. They need to be taught how to be their own leaders…and unfortunately, that just doesn’t happen overnight.

If you’re feeling frustrated with your team—if you’re sick of balls dropping, office drama, details slipping through the cracks, etc.—chances are your team is feeling just as frustrated. They probably want to help, but are struggling with where to start. They are just as desperate to get you out of the day to day. They want to take the management tasks off your plate, how to stand in for you at that industry event, how to problem solve without asking for your input every 5 minutes…

But training and development alone won’t turn your team into effective leaders—you have to be willing to hand over some ownership. Teach them how to do what you do, and hand over your responsibilities—along with the authority to make decisions without your approval. Not only is this huge for improving employee engagement and loyalty, but it’s what will ultimately free you up to focus on growing your firm.

You also need to let your team members get connected with each other, and with other industry colleagues. It’s no secret that powerful leaders are skilled networkers. Learning from you is great—learning from other industry leaders, too…now that’s a truly valuable experience…for your team member and your firm.

Employee development isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it deal. As your employees progress and really start to stand into their roles as leaders, it’s important that you continue to mentor them. Meeting with your team members one-on-one, whether to discuss new ideas, brainstorm solutions to problems they may be struggling with, or to open up a dialogue about a work-related book or article you both read, is key to keeping the lines of communication open, and making sure your insight and appreciation is evident, always.

We get it, it is a big investment. Not just financially, but time-wise, too. Developing your team members into leaders, hearing “I got you and I got this firm” and having confidence that is finally true, is scary. But Investing in the right people now will reap huge dividends later.

If your team is good, but you’re ready to make them “I got your back” great, schedule a call and we can strategize mastering your next move.

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If Bosses & Employees Both Know That the Boss Doesn’t Have ALL the Answers, Then Why Do We Keep Continuing On As If They Do?

bosses don't have all the answersIt probably won’t come as a surprise that bosses don’t have all the answers. If you’re a boss, you’re probably nodding your head, thinking, No kidding, that’s why I keep asking for help! And if you’re an employee, you’re also nodding your head, thinking, No kidding, that’s why I keep offering to help.

But if leaders and employees both know that the boss doesn’t have all the answers, then why do we keep continuing on as if they do?

I can remember, like yesterday, when our business was starting to grow, and I recognized that some of workflow processes just weren’t working. Not only were they not working, but their inefficiencies seemed to be coming to a head. I knew we could no longer tolerate these weaknesses, but somehow we kept limping along. And nothing changes if nothing changes.

A key employee emailed me about two of the most glaring issues. Without thinking too much about it, I responded with a series of suggestions about how we could resolve the issues. I didn’t suggest any follow-up actions, or concrete plans about how to implement my suggestions, so it’s no surprise that, two days later, I got frustrated with the lack of resolution and started to type up the usual “boss email.” You know the one: overflowing with frustration and rambling on about all of the things “we” need to fix. No clear directions or solutions, just verbal vomit.

It struck me sometime around midnight, as I was typing up bullet point #23, that the email, well, it was completely pointless. I paused for a minute and tried to sit in her seat. I realized I was trying to have a strategy meeting via email, addressing issues that she had been trying to bring to my attention for months. Sending this email would only add to her already growing list of “still no answers,” and the truth of the matter was that I didn’t have all the answers. I needed input from her and the rest of my team about how to actually fix these issues. I need KPI’s, cost analyses, and input from our outsourced vendors. Sending a hastily-written email in the middle of the night would only exacerbate the issues we were struggling with. It would leave my key employee feeling as though she needed to respond to all 23 of my bullet points, while leaving my entire team concerned that their leader was burning out, preparing to shut the business down, wanting to fire people, etc. That’s the dark place employees go to when the leader is not leading.

In that moment I realized that bosses do this…a lot. We feel the need to respond immediately to every problem: client complaints, process issues, cash flow issues and employee frustrations. The problem is that, when we jump the gun and respond without stopping to think, we forget to include important information, such as a plan for follow-up, a road map for implementation, or how to gauge the effectiveness of our suggestions in the long-term. And forgetting this information just makes us look flaky and inconsistent to our team. And honestly, email communication ping pong is not an effective platform from which to master your next moves.

How many times have you had to send a follow-up email to that big, long, hasty, frustrated “boss email?” It usually starts something like, “You know, I thought more about this and…”

I know I’ve sent quite a few of those emails.

What if instead of shooting off shotgun suggestions to solve complex operational problems we learned to step back and respond with, “I need to think about this. Let me get back to you tomorrow with some thoughts, add it to our daily huddle list.” Let’s learn to acknowledge a problem, and let our team members know that finding a solution is a priority…without making shoot-from-the-hip suggestions that don’t actually solve anything in the long run. Let’s start having well-prepared, thought-out discussions about how to fix our problems, get feedback from relevant team members, and make an informed decision that comes complete with an action plan with deadlines and accountability.

If you aren’t sure how to lead a conversation like this, about improving inefficient processes—or creating new processes—at your firm, download our e-book, “Intrapreneurs in an Entrepreneur’s World: How to Empower Your Employees to Step Up and Lead!” You’ll learn how to effectively connect and communicate with your team members in a way that not only leads to effective problem-solving for your firm or business, but that also drives employee retention and loyalty!

 

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Hold Your Team Members Accountable…to Each Other

micromanagement and accountabilityIf you are micromanaging your employees, please stop! Now. It is literally debilitating to your law firm or business. Micromanagement prevents your business from evolving with the times. It thwarts innovation. It pushes strong team members out the door, hinders workflow, disempowers staff, closes communication channels, and turns “teamwork” into a four letter word.

Shall we continue?

Micromanagement could be the biggest nail in your firm or business’s coffin. Do you find it difficult to delegate responsibility to team members, taking an if-you-want-something-done-right-you-gotta-do-it-yourself approach instead? Do you have high employee turnover, or do you get the feeling that your team members are walking on eggshells around you? Are you the only person at your business responsible for making decisions? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, well, we’re sorry to say it, but…you might be a micromanager.

But there is hope! Many a micromanager has been able to turn their leadership technique around and create a workplace environment rich with empowerment. Here’s how:

1. Hire the right people. The #1 reason why leaders micromanage is because they don’t trust their team members. Hiring quality people who you truly believe are capable of delivering the caliber of work you expect will reduce the need to micromanage them. One of the best pieces of advice we were ever given was this: hire people who are better than you. Put your ego aside and think about that for a minute. Hiring people who are better than you only stands to benefit your firm in the long run.

2. Hold your team members accountable…to each other. Nothing ensures quality control more so than peer pressure. Allowing your staff to provide anonymous feedback about the performance of other team members and departments will create a sense of ownership, and can help you implement systems that keep your team satisfied and productive.

3. Be clear about what you expect. If your staff doesn’t know what you expect, then how can they work towards it? So many times we see micromanagement emerge as a response to poorly communicated expectations. Be clear, give your team specific benchmarks and objectives, and eliminate the need to micromanage them!

4. Empower your employees. Providing your team members with the freedom to engage—meaningfully—in decision-making processes will help them “own their role” at your firm. They’ll be willing to go above and beyond because they know you won’t be sweeping up behind them, changing everything that they’ve done. They’ll be excited about their job, and will take the success (or failure) of your business personally.

5. Recognize your own bad behavior. So the saying goes, the first step is admitting. Once you recognize your own micromanaging tendencies, you can begin to change them. Working with a management consultant or executive coach can be a huge help for those with the tendency to micromanage.

No matter how you look at it, micromanagement is a huge problem that needs to be stopped before it destroys your firm. You want—no, you need—empowered employees who aren’t afraid to step up and lead. Forget about the robots who need to be told what to do, and how to do it. Hire cream-of-the crop-employees, empower them, and you’ll find there is no need to micromanage anything (or anyone) anymore.

Schedule a FREE Discovery Session

Is your firm or business struggling with micromanagement? Are you confident that you have hired amazing people? Are you confident that you have communicated your process for holding your team accountable…to each other? Maybe it’s time to hire your next (or first) superstar hire and empower them to take ownership of your business. Hiring & Empowering Solutions specializes in legal staffing, and offers the only Team Empowerment Academy (TM) in the country. Schedule a 30-minute discovery session with our co-founder, Molly Hall, today. Find out how we can support the evolution of your firm, and ensure its viability today and tomorrow.

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