LPM South, My First Legal Conference
Having nearly reached my one-month milestone here at Conscious Solutions, I felt ready to dive into the world of legal conferences and make it my new stomping ground. With experience in organising and attending conferences, I didn’t feel too overwhelmed, more eager to experience the ins and outs of a legal sector conference.
Arriving at LPM South I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, the conference was branded as all about People which I was intrigued to see in reality. As the room filled for the opening session, I made sure to sit close enough to the stage to be part of the action, but not so close as to be picked on during a Q and A. But to my surprise, the discussion point was that of a marketer’s dream.
‘53% of Firms Say the Biggest Impact on the SME Legal Market is Finding Quality Staff’ – Rupert Collins White, Content and Creative Director LPM
As someone who has not been working with the legal sector for long, it hadn’t crossed my mind that one of the biggest issues facing law firms would be a lack of quality staff, but in reality – why not?
According to the Telegraph, London is the only UK city where the ease to find skilled staff outweighs the difficulty. Based on this statistic it shouldn’t be a surprise that this was also a real issue for our law firms. But what should be worrying you is the magnitude of the problem in the legal sector. From 20% of all businesses to 53% for law firms. This statistic shows that law firms are most definitely facing an imminent problem regarding their next generation of lawyers.
Every career success story starts with the hiring process. People look at a job advert and within a split second decide whether it intrigues them or not. It would be naive to say that some people aren’t focused on a comfortable salary. But many, especially nowadays, want more from their future employer.
According to the Workforce Learning Report, 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if they invested in helping them learn. This shows that people are looking for a company that is going to give back to its employees.
Simply posting a job on Indeed is not enough anymore to entice the type of quality that you want in your firm. You need to be selling yourself with more than just your holiday package.
How Marketing Can Solve Your Hiring Crisis – Sell Yourself
This task can be broken down into two very simple points.
- What will you say?
- Where do you say it?
On the most basic level we can relate this issue to the Quantum Theory
‘If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one around to hear it, does it really make a sound?’
The science may be irrelevant to us, but the concept is clear. Even if you showcase something monumental, if it doesn’t reach your audience then it’s like it never happened.
What Will You Say?
Whenever you’re about to embark on a new recruitment project, you should use internal communication by turning to those who have experienced it first-hand – your employees’. The people already working in your company will have the best insight into the most important questions.
- Why did you want to work here before you got the job?
-This question allows you to evaluate your strengths and success of your current recruitment process based on how you branded your firm before the candidate even stepped into the interview room. Through your employees’ answers you can see if you’re pushing the right message across to mold people's view of your firm. Some may even tell you that they had already heard great things about your firm, giving you a fantastic opportunity to build on your already present reputation.
- What was the best surprise about our company when you joined?
-Most people will have a very simple answer to this question, and potentially even the same answer. What you need to ask yourself is why didn’t you showcase this beforehand? The best way to promote your culture is to push real-life stories/media about the things that make you special. An example of this would be flexible working hours for parents – this may not feel big but could completely transform someone’s day to day world and relieve a lot of pressure.
- What would you want to see in a job ad if you were going to leave?
-This question may not be for the faint-hearted but will definitely be effective. What don’t you have that might motivate your employees to move on? Some things are impossible, but if these are realistic changes that can be made then take them seriously. You can increase your current employees’ happiness and prevent future problems with your new intake.
Where Do You Say It?
The nature of social platforms is that we bond with two or three that work for each of us, and continuously ignore the rest. But when it comes to recruitment. More platforms means more exposure.
This doesn’t just mean job platforms but also the likes of social media channels such as Instagram – why not post a short video of current employees talking about why they love your company and put a link to the job opening in your bio. These ways of external communication are more innovative, attention-grabbing and will get more of a response than if you did a paragraph post on a job site.
When in competition for the best quality staff with other firms the job description is not your weapon, as it’s most likely to be identical to your competition. Show potential applicants what day to day life would be like if they work with you. The small things make a big difference in terms of job satisfaction.
Need Help doing This at Your Firm?
Why not take a look at your firms’ current reviews on Glassdoor and find out where you need to improve? Then we can talk about your next steps.
That’s all from me this time around, but I look forward to my next legal conference so I can share more relevant advice with you.