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.
We encourage all firms to participate and help us to better understand industry standards regarding different types of flexibility and leave policies that firms have implemented; usage by level, race, gender, and sexual orientation; promotion to partnership for and leadership positions held by lawyers who work reduced hours schedules; the types of support available for those who work flexibly; and attrition data. The survey will be made available on June 22, 2016 and will remain open until September 12, 2016 September 27, 2016 (DEADLINE EXTENDED).
What’s new this year? For the first time we are asking about flex and leave usage among staff, and we’re expanding questions about flex program support, including questions about flex affinity groups and training for flex lawyers and supervisors.
What’s in it for you? The only way to stay ahead of your competitors and to continue to recruit top talent is to know where you stand as a firm and to know that you are offering your employees the best flex policy possible. Participation in this study enables you to clearly see where your firm is leading and where you could improve.
There’s no need to worry about privacy as all responses are kept confidential and the report will only include aggregate data. Participating firms will not be ranked or identified in any way.
Individualized benchmarking reports, which include customized recommendations and action steps, will be available for firms who truly want to know where they stand as compared to the rest of the industry. Champion members who complete the survey will receive individualized reports as part of their member benefits while Advocate and Leader members who would like an individualized benchmarking report will receive a discounted rate. Non-member participant firms may purchase an individualized report.
Once completed, the full report will be available to Alliance Members and non-member survey participants, and an executive summary will be available to the general public on the Alliance website.
Please contact Denise Robinson with any questions or concerns.