Without a doubt, the single biggest complaint we get from lawyers is when they feel held hostage by employees who demand raises. The fear of losing a valuable employee cause the lawyer to give the raise. This is not the solution!

Unhappy employees who demand a raise are looking for positive affirmation they are doing a good job. Unhappy employees are unproductive employees. Unproductive employees affect the profit of the firm.

Negativity in a work place will stop a firm from growing. It causes stress on both the employer and the employee. When Catalyst comes into a firm to address working relationship issues, we have found common similarities between firms:

• Work is seldom praised or recognized
• Job security is lacking
• Conflicts exist between individuals
• There is poor supervision
• There is no opportunity for growth or advancement
• There is no trust between the lawyer and the employee
• Fear of change is high
• There is a me versus us atmosphere
• Ample resources are lacking
• Working conditions are poor

Negativity in a firm has serious consequences. It results in decreased work production, high employee turnover, loss of loyalty, and loss of creativity from the people on the front line. It also causes client complaints. It makes for an unhappy work environment.

Employees are looking to you to give them leadership. Leadership is not telling people what to do. Leadership is providing the right atmosphere that allows employees to grow and prosper within a firm so that the firm as a whole is better. Managing employees in a positive work culture boils down to four key elements: Expectations - Tools - Feedback - Accountability. These four key elements in employee management are the basis for a good firm manual and a firm without an employee manual is doomed to fail internally whether you have one employee or one hundred employees.

Expectations written down make employees effective and productive. Unless you are up front with your expectations, no employee can be a success for your firm. Every employee has the right to know three things:

• What is the work culture within your practice
• What is the job that is expected to be done
• What are the core values of the firm

Work Culture is the conditions under which you will expect your employees to conduct themselves. If you expect employees to treat each other respectfully, be client friendly, deliver error free work, be on time, etc. you must spell it out. Do not assume employees think as you do.

Job descriptions are critical to employees. There is no gray area when it comes to what you want them to do and what the position offers. A good job description will give the person a title and their authority level and who their supervisor will be. It will show the qualifications required to hold the position. The description will set out specifically what the job entails. It shows the bottom line or accountability factor for the job.

The values by which the firm conducts its business is the third part of expectations. Lawyers seldom take time to think about what their own personal value system. If a lawyer believes total honesty is a value in the firm then you would never have an employee tell a client you are not in the office when you are. Be up front about your bottom line value system and then put it in writing and require every employee to follow same. If you do hire someone who is in conflict with your values they will never last and they will destroy your firm. Simply put: you practice what you preach and make others do the same.

Tools are the means for an employee to accomplish his or her job. You cannot ask someone to do something and then not give them what they need to handle the job. We are both amazed and amused when we go into a law firm, see the lawyer with the fastest computer in the office, and the staff working on the slowest machines. Since they have to get the work done, give them the fastest machine.

Tools are more than just good equipment and work space. Tools also include the procedures and processes necessary to handle a case, training and education of your staff, adequate supplies, and resources to accomplish the task. When staff sees you provide the tools they need the more respect they have for you as a leader. You are trying to make them the best of the best and that is just as important to them as raise.

Feedback is a two way street. You must provide feedback (both positive and negative) so your staff can see whether or not they are meeting your expectations. You cannot complain about an employee's performance unless you have told them what is wrong. You cannot expect an employee to be a high producer for you if you do not tell them they are doing a good job.

Employees want to know when they are not meeting your expectations. When we come into a firm we talk to employees in confidence. Repeatedly employees tell us they have no idea what is expected of them. They try to figure it out based upon your reaction on any given day.

Employees know when praise is sincere. Unfortunately, when you are busy it is hard to remember to give someone a pat on the back. Some people just are not good at it. One lawyer we worked with simply could not verbally acknowledge his employees even though he wanted to. We bought him four stamps with positive remarks on them and he would stamp them on their work product. His staff cherished the stamped remarks because he gave them only when well deserved.

Written evaluations are one of the smartest forms of feedback anyone can provide an employee. Catalyst believes annual evaluations should never be tied to a raise. Give raises based on merit and performance when deserved and NEVER to satisfy an unhappy or unproductive employee.

Evaluations should have a rating system. There are many good evaluation forms available. Evaluations should explain where improvement is needed and why. They should also contain high praise where deserved. It should set out goals for the employee to meet over a period that allows them to grow and advance within the firm. Ask employees for input on how to make the firm better. Give them ownership in the work culture. Feedback is a two way street. Maintain a free and open atmosphere for discussion. Changes will occur when the employee feels their ideas have value. Be prepared to act upon good ideas.

If there is a serious situation where a problem is affecting the employee's performance act immediately. Do not allow a situation to deteriorate. When you ignore a problem, it gets worse. The employee would rather resolve the issue and you need to do it for your own piece of mind.

Never confront an employee when angry. If something has occurred or something needs changing simply step back and write it down on a piece of paper. Write down your solution. Set aside a good time for the employee to meet with you. Do not blindside them. Tell the employee what you see as the problem and ask them for a solution. Create an open atmosphere where you listen and they get to be involved. When done and the two of you have arrived at an agreed solution, again write it down. Make it clear what will occur if the problem is not resolved. Most importantly, do follow up and be prepared to take action.

Accountability is a lawyer's stock in trade. After all, isn't that what lawyers do - hold others accountable for their actions. Yet, when it comes to employees they do not want to do what they do best. Without accountability, there is no truly successful employee management. If there is any truth in anything we have learned, it is that employees will know if you will follow through with all of the above or you do not. We have yet to go into one law firm that employees have not told us they want boundaries, rules and want to know the consequences. This is because to live in a state of fear of not knowing is worse than knowing.

If employees know the boundaries, the rules and the consequences positive things occur. The employee no longer lives in fear of being wrong. They quit worrying about displeasing someone. It promotes fairness because everyone follows the rule and everyone is held accountable. There is no favoritism in a positive work culture.

We will tell you that accountability is tricky. Don't set a bottom line rule you can't follow. Pick and choose your battles wisely remembering it is possible to win the battle and lose the war.

Don't under estimate your employees. They know what works. Once you implement these four simple rules, the employees will implement their own in order to fall within these four rules. Insist any supervisor (lawyer or management) hold the line.

Lawyers, as a rule, want happy employees; however, they have failed to realize that their job is not to make people happy but rather to create and foster an environment that allows the firm to be successful and when the firm is successful, the employees are successful. Consistency coupled with fairness wins every time.

Most lawyers, in general, enjoy close relationships with their staff and it is hard to separate the boundary line between being personally close to an employee and being able to hold them at arms- length in order to achieve good employee production. Believe this - employees would rather have your respect than your friendship. The ability to do this translates into a good practice that is profitable and generates money for you. Good employees create other good employees. Get rid of the bad apple no matter how valuable you think they are. One bad apple will spoil the batch.

Non-lawyers today are among the best and the brightest we have seen in our many years of management. They work hard to get ahead and they have an unswerving loyalty to good employers. They will never leave you over money but they will leave you over unacceptable working conditions. They are balancing career with quality of life and those that have a passion for what they do never see their job as work. Egos have no place in a positive work culture and if it occurs in your firm from the lawyer supervisor to the non-lawyer professional get rid of it. Team play is the name of the game in today's law firm.

Lawyers must understand that good employee management is the key to a profitable law practice. By starting today with an employee makeover you will find your employees will respond in kind. You will discover you have bright and loyal employees who are willing to give you 110%, who will be the cornerstone of your practice, and create a firm that makes you can take pride in and one who allows you to be the lawyer that you have always wanted to be.

05/28/04

Catalyst is a managing, mentoring and marketing company for law firms. The principles of Catalyst have over 100 years experience in the law firm field. Cheryl J. Leone is the CEO of Catalyst and handles the management division of Catalyst. For further information on Catalyst go to www.catalystgroupinc.com or contact Ms. Leone at 1-800-892-0283