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Action Step – Affinity Groups: Building Community, Development & Advocacy

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.

Organizations are rethinking how they approach work, talent and social justice – many are implementing hybrid and flexible work environments, adding resources to recruit and retain a diverse workforce, and focusing on ways to foster employee engagement, inclusion and productivity. Organizations need to undergo a culture shift in order to truly embrace hybrid/flexible work, diversity and inclusion, and talent development and retention. Affinity groups are a great way to foster this culture shift, as these groups promote community, development, and advocacy. Organizations should pay close attention to creating, structuring, and revamping their affinity groups properly in order for these groups to have the greatest positive effects.

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People)

2022 Signature Seminar

Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People)

Featuring Amy E. Gallo

September 29, 2022 | 1:00pm – 2:00pm EST

When we’re dealing with difficult people, our creativity, productivity, and engagement suffer. Conflict and stress compromise our ability to think clearly and make sound decisions. In this webinar based on her upcoming book, Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People), workplace expert Amy Gallo provides a research-based, practical guide for how to handle difficult people at work and building interpersonal resilience in the process.

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Action Step: The Power of Stay Interviews

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.

As businesses are increasingly focused on recruiting and retaining employees, we recommend that they align their principles, purpose, practices, policies, and people to create a culture of inclusion. To confirm that colleagues appreciate and flourish in your workplace, it is critical to regularly seek their views and feedback. Organizations often gather information regarding culture from new hires as they join the firm, 360-degree evaluations of supervisors, engagement surveys, focus groups to understand specific challenges/successes, and exit interviews. However, more organizations should conduct stay interviews, one-on-one conversations with employees intended to understand what factors are leading them to stay at the organization. Stay interviews demonstrate to colleagues that you care about their opinions, are interested in addressing learning, work assignment/client responsibilities, and want to replicate positive experiences to stave off preventable departures.

We recommend these four strategies for successfully incorporating stay interviews into your workplace:

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

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Action Step: Flexibility As A Business Imperative Must Be the Focus of Your Business Case

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.

Over the last few months, organizations faced the Great Resignation, involving a war for top talent leading many organizations to implement policies, practices and benefits focused on recruitment and retention. In conjunction, many organizations began implementing hybrid and flexible work environments as a way to attract/retain employees. However, as the job market seems to be taking a downward turn, some organizational leaders have been questioning whether hybrid and flexible work will continue to stick as the exodus of employees may decrease. We strongly recommend that organizations continue offering hybrid and flexible work due to productivity, business continuity, engagement, recruiting and retention benefits. However, as the job market will continuously change, we strongly suggest developing a business case for flexibility that is anchored around the many business benefits. This way, flexibility and hybrid work will not whimsically be added and removed based on the job market and you can make sure it is structured in a way to achieve the most bang for your buck. Here are our suggestions:

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

Leading Inclusively in a Hybrid Environment

2022 Signature Seminar

Leading Inclusively in a Hybrid Environment

Featuring Manar Morales

July 21, 2022 | 1:00pm – 2:00pm EST

One of the biggest fears that people have with a hybrid working environment is that those working virtually will be disadvantaged. To avoid this issue, it’s critical for organizations to integrate their hybrid and DEI strategies.

Join Alliance President & CEO, Manar Morales in exploring the impact that flexibility has on DEI and key practical strategies on the organizational and individual levels to create a more successful and inclusive hybrid environment. Manar will share strategies that organizations – as well as individual leaders – can implement to foster connection and collaboration and minimize bias in a hybrid workforce.

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2022 Law Firm Flexibility Benchmarking Survey

The Alliance invites you to participate in our 2022 Law Firm Flexibility Benchmarking Survey, which examines the types of workplace flexibility, hybrid and leave policies that law firms have implemented for employees and the types of support available for those who work flexibly/hybrid.

The survey responses will be analyzed and aggregated, and responses will be kept confidential. A report will be published for Alliance members and survey participants containing industry trends, best practices and insights learned, which organizations can leverage to make meaningful changes and publicize their successes.

Survey participants may be considered for publicly-awarded recognitions based upon Alliance best practices in the areas of parental leave and workplace flexibility. Law firm participants eligible for these recognitions will be notified first and publicly honored, with their permission; there will be no ranking associated with these recognitions.

Please complete this survey by Friday, October 21, 2022, in order to be considered for the public recognitions in the areas of parental leave and workplace flexibility, and receive the report on this survey.

Please contact Sejal Shah, Manager of Leadership Initiatives, if you need any assistance or have any questions with the survey.

ACCESS THE SURVEY
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Action Step: Where, When & How to Work In A Hybrid Environment

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.

Many organizations are transforming their workplaces into hybrid environments. This new way of working is a two-way street – in addition to organizations offering hybrid work and providing resources and support, employees must carefully consider when it is best to work in the office and when it is best to work virtually in order to make this arrangement successful. In addition to weighing personal needs, employees must think through the needs of the clients, team and organization when deciding where to work. Here are things to consider when deciding where, when and how to work each day:

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

Congratulations to the Alliance Member Firms Named 2022 Best Law Firms For Women

Congratulations to all the law firms named to Seramount’s 2022 Best Law Firms for Women List.  These firms are being recognized for their ability to “utilize best practices to recruit, retain, promote and develop women lawyers.” The Alliance commends their commitment to these efforts.

We are particularly proud to congratulate the following Diversity & Flexibility Alliance members named to the 2022 List:

  1. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
  2. Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer
  3. Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
  4. Chapman and Cutler
  5. Cooley
  6. Covington & Burling
  7. Crowell & Moring
  8. Davis Wright Tremaine
  9. Dorsey & Whitney
  10. Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner
  11. Lane Powell PC
  12. Latham & Watkins
  13. Lathrop GPM
  14. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
  15. Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart
  16. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
  17. Perkins Coie
  18. Reed Smith
  19. Seyfarth Shaw
  20. Sheppard Mullin
  21. Sidley Austin
  22. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
  23. Wiley
  24. Winston and Strawn

Smarter Collaboration: A New Approach to Breaking Down Barriers and Transforming Work

2022 Signature Seminar

Smarter Collaboration: A New Approach to Breaking Down Barriers and Transforming Work

Featuring Heidi K. Gardner, Ph.D., Distinguished Fellow at Harvard Law School’s Center on the Legal Profession

June 28, 2022 | 1:00pm – 2:00pm EST

Solving tough problems in a complex world means we need to collaborate smarter. Join Dr. Heidi K. Gardner to examine how organizations earn higher margins, inspire greater customer loyalty, produce more innovative work, and attract and retain the best talent when specialists engage in Smart Collaboration across boundaries. Drawing from her upcoming book, Heidi will help you understand how this Smarter Collaboration impacts DEI, how to execute effective strategies, and how to avoid the potential pitfalls.

Heidi is the author of Washington Post bestseller, Smart Collaboration: How Professionals and Their Firms Succeed by Breaking Down Silos and Smarter Collaboration: A New Approach to Breaking Down Barriers and Transforming Work.

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Action Step – Hybrid Meetings: Experience, Expectation & Engagement

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.

As more organizations are moving towards a hybrid work environment, they must be more intentional about ways to build connection and collaboration. Hybrid work has the potential to create the most optimal work environment, bringing together and leveraging the best of both in-person and virtual work. However, hybrid work will only be successful with intentionality, and organizations must be deliberate and focused on building control, connection, collaboration, culture and contribution – take a look at our Action Step, Overcoming the Myth of the Loss of the 5Cs, which provides specific tips on how to do so. We now want to focus on how to make meetings in a hybrid work environment as engaging, productive and equitable as possible, as meetings are a regular source of workplace control, connection, collaboration, culture, and contribution. Here are our recommendations:

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.