A firm’s attention to employee satisfaction has earned it the ranking of best place to work in the state—for five years in a row.
The recognition program is sponsored by the state Chamber of Commerce, and the firm has been at first place since it began.
According to the human resources manager, there are four items that stand out in what the firm provides for both staff and attorneys. For the attorneys, they are a strong bonus incentive plus a nonequity partnership track. And for both the attorneys and staff they are flexible schedules and a wellness program.
And besides benefiting the employees, the firm sees a good return on the investment.
A 30% salary incentive
Perhaps the most significant benefit is the attorney bonus incentive.
The associates can earn what the firm calls a participation bonus that goes far beyond a standard year-end bonus. Once an associate’s collections reach three times the salary, that attorney gets a third of the collections that come in.
The amount is paid at the end of June and December, and some of the associates have seen their salaries increase by as much as 30%.
The payoff is that the associates buy into the success of the firm, which in turn promotes productivity as well as better collection results.
Along with that incentive, the associates can see regular year-end bonuses for reaching a certain number of billable hours, and those too are significant, running from $1,000 to $4,000.
Added to all that, staff have financial incentives, and those are called service awards. They are given out quarterly to any staffer who gets a written commentary for going the extra mile. The commentaries can come from clients or from others in the office, and they bring $250 gift certificates.
A longer path to partnership
Also for the associates is a nonequity partnership track.
For some associates that type of career path is a good stepping stone, because it gives them additional incremental steps in their growth and additional time to work on client development.
The manager says it’s kept several people happy and is especially beneficial to attorneys who encounter some interruption such as illness that would otherwise interfere with the ability to stay on the regular partnership track.
Flex time = low turnover
There are flexible work schedules too, and they apply to both attorneys and staff.
There’s no policy on setting the schedules and neither is there any formal request process. The firm just considers each request individually.
Some employees take advantage of the flexibility sporadically, perhaps moving to a 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. schedule during the summer to accommodate babysitting arrangements. On the far end, one paralegal works four days of the week from home.
Another payoff: low turnover.
A healthy discount on health
Finally, there’s the wellness program.
It was developed four years ago by a nurse paralegal on staff who continues to direct it.
It’s an ongoing program. Each week, the nurse sends out a communique outlining some health topic.
There’s also a health challenge every week with a quarterly prize for the people who meet the challenges. The challenges are things such as drinking plenty of water every day and eating at least one healthy item at every meal.
Employees sign up to participate. Their names get thrown in the hat, and there’s a drawing at the end of the quarter with a gift card as the prize—a good prize such as a $250 gift card.
The most significant feature of the wellness program, however, is a monthly $25 reimbursement for going to workout facilities. Any facility that promotes fitness is covered—gym, spa, yoga class, even dance class—and often the $25 covers the entire fee.
To get the reimbursement, all the employee has to do is show written proof of attending at least six times during the month.
Four years ago employee participation was at 25%; now it’s close to 65%.
Another payoff: a 2% discount on the insurance renewal premiums.
Law Office Manager wants to send you $100
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