Back a long time ago when I had a modicum of influence in a law firm, I used to include a sentence in every offer letter to associates to the effect that we expected our lawyers to be part of the solution to issues that they encountered at the firm, not part the problem. This was a contractual obligation to come forward to management to address issues that they might have, and to help us to resolve them. They were not supposed to just whine about whatever issues they encountered.
I thought that set a nice tone for our new hires, and sent the message that we cared about what they thought and expected them to act constructively.
It didn’t help.
Like associates everywhere, when they encountered an issue, they told other associates, the articling students, their law clerks, their assistants, their spouses, their friends, and probably the checkout clerk at the grocery store. Anyone and everyone other than the people whose job it was to make things better.
Back in management, we thought everyone was happy until that one associate who could always be trusted to rat them out gave us a hint that something was up. We had to hear it through the gripe vine.
Of course, it was not the fault of the associates. Somehow, we had failed to make them feel safe about coming forward with their concerns.
It was also not the fault of our head of human resources. She was the most trustworthy person I have ever met. Once, when I was new to the role of managing partner, I tried to get her to tell me who was behind a complaint that had been made. She refused. I gently reminded her that I was her boss and I wanted to know. She told me, quite correctly, that if firm members could not trust her to keep confidences, then she would become useless to us. That was the last time I ever asked her to disclose her sources.
So, if our HR person knew what she was doing and our firm members trusted her, what was the problem?
It was the partners, obviously. Perhaps the associates feared retribution if they came forward. Or maybe they were afraid of being belittled for making suggestions. We could tell them until we were purple in the face that they had nothing to fear, but at least some of them would never believe us.
If your firm has this same problem (and I suspect that many do), I recommend that the partners take a hard look at themselves. Do they: (i) leak information from partner meetings? (ii) use financial reports to make associates feel insecure? (iii) gossip about fissures in the partnership? (iv) come across as having each other’s backs? (v) treat their associates with the respect that one would give to future partners, or just as cogs in the machine?
You will not get the best from your people if they don’t trust you. They won’t trust you unless you are trustworthy.
This article was originally published by Law360 Canada, part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.