Using Flexibility to Recruit Your Next Generation of Superstars

June 2016

Featuring — Kori Carew, Director of Strategic Diversity Initiatives, Shook, Hardy & Bacon & Kia Scipio, Associate Director, Georgetown University Law Center

We all know students are vying for jobs, but employers are just as competitive with each other to recruit top talent.  The needs and wants of this generation are vastly different than the typical recruit 5-10 years ago.  Research shows flexibility is a key consideration when students and lawyers are choosing their firms (and when they are deciding to leave).  If you don’t have a flex policy, you are missing an easy, effective, and inexpensive way to recruit great lawyers.   If you do have a flex policy, how is it being messaged and translated during the recruitment process (if at all)?  For CSO’s, how do you counsel students on navigating flexibility without stigma from a potential employer?  Hear from both perspectives of the recruitment process and learn how to use flexibility to recruit and retain your next generation of superstars!

Action Step – Teaching Flex Success™

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility.  Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center.

TEACHING FLEX SUCCESS™

Holding everyone within an organization accountable for its flexibility program is critical to its success. Individuals, however, must first know what is expected of them and have the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to carry out those expectations. This is why a robust flex education program for lawyers and other professionals working flexibly, those who supervise them, and all members of an organization is essential. The information conveyed in these programs should be tailored to the needs of each group, covering the following fundamentals…. Read more

How Does Your Flex Policy Stand Up to the Rest of the Industry?

Announcing the Third Annual Law Firm Flexibility Benchmarking Survey

As with any aspect of business, it’s important to track your firm’s progress and know where you stand in the industry when it comes to flexibility. Are you keeping up with your competitors’ flexible work policies?

To help law firms answer this question, the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance created a benchmarking survey two years ago which tracks the availability, usage, and support for flexible work in major law firms in the US. The Third Annual Law Firm Flexibility Benchmarking Survey is now available to law firms in the American Lawyer 200 (AmLaw 200), including Alliance members and non-members. Read more

Upcoming Event -Signature Seminar Series

Flexibility: A Simple But Essential Recruitment Tool

Flexible work options are important to all of us, but when it comes to millennials, flex is essential. In today’s recruitment process, law firms need to understand the importance of having a flex policy and of showing new recruits that flexibility is part of the firm’s culture. Research clearly shows that flexibility is a key consideration when students and lawyers are choosing their firms (and when deciding to leave). Keeping up with the flexibility demands of this generation of law school graduates is an effective and inexpensive way to recruit the best students. Read more

Asking for Flex: It’s a Business Negotiation Not a Personal Favor

Note: This post was first published on May 21, 2016 on Mindful Return‘s blog. Mindful Return helps women transition back to work after maternity leave. We are grateful to Lori Mihalich-Levin for asking us to write a guest blog post!

If you are considering asking your company for a flexible work schedule, it’s important to approach it as you would any other business negotiation.  Your reasons for asking for flex might be personal, but you’re not asking for a personal favor.  You are asking for a modification to your schedule that would ultimately benefit everyone – you, the company, the clients, and future business relationships.  Just like preparing for an important meeting, case or new business pitch, providing the rationale for a flexible work schedule takes research, strategic planning, and negotiation.
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Is Your Flex Policy Equal Opportunity?

We talk frequently in this blog about the myriad benefits of having a flexible work policy. It can be a win-win situation when attorneys gain some work-life control, clients maintain team consistency, and firms reduce attrition and thereby retain top talent and reduce recruitment and training costs. Law firm recruiters have traditionally tried to entice female law school grads with promises of flex schedules and family-life balance. It has been an assumption that women want flexible work schedules mostly so they can maintain their career while also having and raising children.
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