Four tips for identifying whether firms’ wellbeing initiatives are genuine

Dear Oracle

How do I know whether law firms’ wellbeing initiatives are genuine?

The Oracle replies

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Wellness is one of the world’s fastest-growing industries with a global market value of $4.5 trillion annually. So, how do you find out what a firm prioritises in terms of employee wellbeing? The first step is to determine what ‘lawyer wellbeing’ actually means.

The legal profession is a high-pressure space with elevated levels of work intensity (eg, large workload and long hours) and often a work-first culture. Due to this, law firms have the social (and moral) responsibility to protect their employees from ‘burnout’, which is defined by mental health and wellbeing charity LawCare through three distinct “academic scales”:

• disengagement and exhaustion;
• autonomy (the ability to control what, where, how and with whom work is done); and
• psychological safety (the ability to speak up with ideas and questions, raise concerns or admit mistakes).

Wellbeing initiatives should be ingrained in law firms to protect output, productivity and, most importantly, employees’ mental and physical health.

In recent years, law firms have begun to introduce various wellbeing initiatives but how do you know whether the initiatives launched really tackle the ingrained work-first culture in the profession? With this in mind, you can use these four tips to help you identify whether firms’ wellness initiatives are genuine and determine what elements of wellbeing matter to you.

Do your research

This isn’t the first time you’ll find us saying this, but excellent research really does matter. Every firm is different, from how the training programmes are organised to the partnership structure, and making a choice that best suits your career goals and personality will help to increase your productivity, happiness and quality of life. You’ll spend approximately 84,365 hours at work in your lifetime – so you need to enjoy what you do and where you are! For some, the traditional four-seat training module will be the best fit as it allows trainees to explore a given practice area before moving to another department. For others, this could feel restrictive or too structured and a training programme like that at Bristows LLP, which offers a faster-paced five or six seats in a mixture of three-six month rotations, might suit you better.

You can use social media to see how former employees found their time at the firm (although take this with a pinch of salt) or trusted review sites such as Glassdoor to determine whether a firm’s culture suits you. You should also start building this insight from your very first interaction with a firm, including law fairs and firm open days/insight schemes. LawCareers.Net’s Vacation Scheme Insider reports are designed to give you a sense of what a firm values and how you might be involved with the firm at this very early stage, as well as a glimpse into its recruitment process. Plus, you can find out about an individual’s experience working in a particular firm or practice area by reading LCN’s Meet the Lawyer interviews or Practice Area Profiles. Accumulating all your research will help you to decide whether yourself and the firm are a good match.

The information you glean from these profiles, the conversations you have with firms at law fairs and any additional research you do could help you on your way to figuring out how much a particular firm focuses on employee wellbeing. This could be as simple as a firm representative mentioning flexible working to you, which could indicate its understanding of work/life balance or even the mention of a sports team set up by the firm. These simple initiatives might suggest, for example, that the firm values individuals, the pressures of everyday life and their physical health. It’s very easy for firms to talk the talk so take some time to work out whether these initiatives are being put into practice and not just advertised.

Ask yourself, what do I want in a firm?

It’s important to ask yourself, what exactly you want in a firm. For example, if you know you’re passionate about law and want to practise it, but also know you won’t enjoy the hustle and bustle of city life it’s worth exploring the idea of working at a regional firm. Plus, if you come from a scientific background or have an interest in this area, a practice area like intellectual property or clinical negligence might be of interest to you – look for firms that specialise in these areas as this will often lead you to cases you’ll likely find exciting. Not only will taking these factors into account narrow your firm search down and help you to find a firm that allows you to be yourself at work, but you’ll find your work more fulfilling if you’re interested in the area of law you’re practising, which will likely lead to greater wellbeing at work.

Finding and practising in an area of law that interests you could even help you to form new connections with people who have similar interests. A recent survey from consultancy Gallup showed that those who have a best friend at work are “significantly more likely to:

• engage customers and internal partners;
• get more done in less time;
• support a safe workplace with fewer accidents and reliability concerns;
• innovate and share ideas; and
• have fun while at work.”

Having a friend at work will help you to feel connected to the workplace culture, and stay engaged and committed. Plus, how better to make friends than through common interests!

You don’t have to know everything you want from a firm but having an idea will help you to create a list of firms to apply to. This doesn’t just mean deciding on the practical elements such as the above but trying to understand the culture and seeing whether it suits you. For example, some firms will have a flexible work model, while others will prefer an office-based approach and you’ll likely have your own preference, so bear that in mind.

You could also consider:

• approachability (open-door policies);
• client contact;
• salary;
• work/life balance;
• location; and
• sociability.

Knowing which of these elements you want to prioritise will make it easier for you to actively seek out wellbeing initiatives and firms that feel genuine to you and give you a strong foundation through which to assess firms through your personal preferences. Competition is tough and choosing a firm that’s the best fit will stand you in good stead for applications, as well as a life in law (and outside of law).

If you want some advice on how to do this, check out this LCN Says on establishing healthy habits early on.

Understand the difference between benefits and wellbeing initiatives

This is a hard distinction to make as what one firm determines to be a perk of working there may be seen by another as within their duty of care. Wellbeing at work should be aimed at ensuring employees are looked after, safe and comfortable in their roles. Clifford Chance’s wellbeing statement reads: “Our wellbeing agenda aims to ensure our people are able to recognise and appreciate the importance of maintaining good mental health and in building their resilience and ability to operate healthily and successfully.”

In addition, Ashurst LLP, Baker McKenzie and Reed Smith have all recently introduced wellbeing initiatives to improve staff mental health. The former introduced a ‘wellbeing space’ used for yoga, check-in sessions and quiet reflection, Baker McKenzie on the other hand has taken a different approach by creating mandatory mental health training for partners and managers and Reed Smith has implemented a “ramp up, ramp down” scheme to help lawyers lighten their workload before or after an extended absence. These are all valuable examples of initiatives aimed at increasing wellbeing within the workplace as they acknowledge and target issues that may affect employees’ mental health.

In contrast, benefits are rewards that an employee has access to simply by working at a company (often after a probationary period) and should exist on top of wellbeing measures. Often these include health-related perks (eg, private medical insurance) and lifestyle perks (eg, a gym membership). Although these are steps that’ll theoretically improve an employee’s wellbeing, they’re not wellbeing initiatives. Make sure you note the differences between these so you can identify them during your firm research!

Be realistic and seek help when necessary

No firm can offer a space that’s entirely stress-free due to the nature of the job. Everybody has hard days in the workplace regardless of what they do, and support is important, but it won’t solve the problem. No number of wellbeing initiatives can prevent you from sometimes feeling low or down, these are natural emotions. If you do find that you’re feeling this way often and need to reach out, there are numerous options open to you, including:

• speaking to a friend, family member or colleague;
• raising it with your line manager;
• speaking to a targeted service such as LawCare (you can call the LawCare helpline on 0800 279 6888, email [email protected] or visit www.lawcare.org.uk for additional information, resources and factsheets);
• speaking to a helpline such as Samaritans (you can contact Samaritans 24 hours a day, 365 days a year; you can call 116 123 (free from any phone) or email [email protected]); and
• texting Shout if you prefer to write (text SHOUT to 85258).

For more information on mental health In the legal profession, read this Feature.