Over the last couple of years, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has put in place an ambitious lateral hire recruitment programme. Since 1 January, 2007, the firm has welcomed 30 joiners to its partnership. The hiring of this volume of partners, including Michael Wistow and Chris de Pury, gave the firm the opportunity to revamp its induction programme in order to ensure a smooth transition into the firm.
The resulting programme is called ‘Slipstream’. This banner was chosen to convey the key messages that the firm wanted to convey both internally and externally to lateral hires about the firm: the speed with which the process works; the rate at which the business is moving; the collegiality involved in working with others; the sense of ‘team’ within the firm; and the benefits to be gained from building on what others have already created, i.e. to work for a while in their slipstream.
The programme works over four stages, from initial selection through induction and integration spanning the first six months of the new partner’s career at the firm.
Research shows that tailor-made integration programmes enhance performance in the short term and increase retention in the long term. Without this, there is a real danger that the new partner will not ‘unpack their bags’ and that the new firm will not ‘reveal the family silver’ in terms of making appropriate client introductions. Leaving a new person stranded at the start will inevitably lead to poor integration, low morale, loss of confidence, a feeling of disengagement and a failure to exploit fast-dating business opportunities.
During the first few weeks, the firm ensures that new colleagues are introduced to the right people in the right sequence, each meeting providing them with information and insight that equips them for what follows.
Social interaction is maximised -as Nathan Wilmott, who joined the litigation and dispute resolution department at the start of last year, puts it: “During those first few weeks, the formal training and meetings with key individuals in support functions around the firm were integrated well so that I gradually got to meet a large number of people. I was able to feel a valued member of the firm, with some fairly focused objectives, with embarrassingly little effort on my part.”
The theory is, that a warm welcome, coupled with a properly planned induction programme, reassures the lateral hire, motivates them and helps establish harmonious working relationships across the entire firm.
It is important to strike a balance when it comes to creating an induction programme. While the programme needs to be detailed and comprehensive, there is a danger that the new joiner will suffer from information overload. People cannot fully absorb a large amount of information at the same time, especially in what is often a strange and new environment. An effective and induction programme should therefore be staggered over a reasonable period of time.
The Slipstream programme is a comprehensive programme which ensures the effective integration of the new partner into the firm and involves a timetable that reflects the need for a logical succession to each session that the lateral partner attends.
Pre-arrival
The process begins during selection but really swings into action as soon as the lateral hire accepts the offer. This initial stage involves preparing both the firm and the partner for the first day and includes many of the critical behind-the-scene elements such as new starter administration, database inclusion and space allocation.
Welcome and induction
The second stage looks at everything that the partner will need in that first week. Apart from the typical induction events, including IT training and a tour of the office, new partners also have meetings with the first set of key people and get to know members of the department.
Orientation
The third stage focuses on the partner ‘finding their feet’ and covers weeks two to five at the firm. During this time the partner meets with more key people within the firm, including the relevant departmental managing partner to articulate the contribution that the lateral can make to the business. The partner also meets with key people in the business services functions, to establish relationships and acquire knowledge of the resources that are available within the firm to support the partner and their new practice. Structuring the meetings in this way enables the lateral partner to build on knowledge already gained. The sessions are designed so that the information gained in one session will help fuel discussion in future meetings.
At around this time, the partner receives their first coaching session. An extensive, and successful, coaching programme has been developed at BLP, in particular to support individuals at points of transition in their career. A small panel of preferred, experienced external coaches are tasked with encouraging the partner to set tangible, stretching but achievable goals and to support them to realise them. Five coaching sessions are offered during the six-month period. The initial coaching session is a tripartite meeting, involving the partner, coach and sponsoring partner, which allows core stakeholders to identify clear objectives, outline expectations, identify support and tackle early issues head-on.
As one of the firm’s coaches, Vanessa Hills, comments: “I particularly like the shared ownership approach. Involving a key sponsor early on really helps build a clear picture of what success will look like, allowing the new partner and me to look at what specific support will be provided by others in the firm.”
Integration
The final phase of the process covers weeks five to 26 and focuses on the merger of the two businesses - that of the lateral hire with that of the firm. The aim at this stage is for the lateral hire to begin to integrate into the business by helping to identify potential talent to be recruited to the firm and by becoming familiar with the firm’s vision, assignment management model and diversity awareness. The further coaching sessions focus on the integration of the lateral’s practice into the firm, identify team management priorities and include a six-month review of achievements and goal-setting for the next year with the sponsoring partner.
The effects of the programme benefit not just the lateral hire partner but the firm as a whole. The faster integration of new partners into the business assists the transition and also enables greater links to be fostered between the new partner and existing clients, and the lateral hire’s clients with the firm’s business.
So, does it work? One way to test is to look at retention rates; BLP’s has been running at almost 100% for lateral hires for the last couple of years.
Dorothea Bannerman-Bruce is a training and development advisor and Patrick McCann is head of training at Berwin Leighton Paisner.