Hiring Your Dream Law Firm Employees
Hiring your dream law firm employees doesn’t have to be as hard as you make it. At Betties, we are hiring experts to ensure that our receptionist team meets and exceeds the standards of legal receptionists and answering services. We take pride in finding highly-skilled legal virtual receptionists so that you can count on incredible service without the headache of hiring. Let us guide you through exactly how to find your dream team!
Determine the Role They Will Play
What do you need help with in your law firm? Do you already have a position created or do you need to come up with a title and responsibilities for this new team member?
If the position already exists, why are you having trouble filling it? You may need to reevaluate the responsibilities, prerequisites, and compensation. Take as much feedback as you can from past employees in that role and tweak the position to be more enticing to your dream employee.
When creating a position from scratch, it’s important to research what someone in their role actually does. You might have an idea of what you need, but that might require more than one person joining your team. You don’t want to push away potential dream candidates by overwhelming them with an insane responsibility list that should actually be split into two positions.
For example, Marketing and IT are two completely different roles with different skillsets. Both roles require extensive knowledge and years of skill to be done properly. Just because their skillsets might overlap a little bit does not mean you can use one person to fill both positions. At least, not without ample compensation, that is.
What Personality Type Is Your Dream Law Firm Employee?
Have you ever considered how your personality type affects how you do your job? Different personalities excel in different areas, so it makes sense that your personality type affects your job. For example, if you are an introvert, it could get exhausting to talk to people all day long for your job. If you’re someone who is a visionary with a passion for coming up with big ideas, you might hate to sit down and do simple, repetitive tasks all day.
After you know what duties and responsibilities you are looking for someone to cover, it’s time to think about what type of personality that job is good for. Here at Back Office Betties, we utilize Culture Index to help us determine this. This service analyzes data on work-related personality traits to help determine exactly what traits fit for your current positions within the company, as well as data taken from questionnaires given to applicants. When you compare the traits your applicant possesses to the traits you’re looking for for a specific position, you can better predict an applicant’s success in the role.
To utilize a service like this, you simply include a questionnaire in the application process. There are no right or wrong answers and there’s no way to fail – the data simply provides you with the ability to predict how this person would fit in the role.
Why Should They Work For You?
So you know who your dream employee is and what you want them to do for you, but why should they work for you? What makes you more appealing than the other guys who also want to hire this same person?
It starts with the ad you place for the position you’re looking to hire. Make sure that your listing is concise, friendly, and appealing to someone who may be casually looking for a job. Your dream employee is likely not desperate for a job – you might have to really woo them!
Is the listing well written? Do you give an accurate description of the responsibilities of the role you’re trying to fill? Is the list of responsibilities overwhelming or does it fall within the parameters of the same role in other companies? Does the compensation fall in line with competitive rates for similar roles?
Once they’ve applied, you want to ensure that your hiring process is streamlined and not all over the place. Your dream employee wants to know that you have your stuff together. Provide your applicants with a clear timeline of what to expect during the interview and hiring process. This shows them that you are just as serious about this job as they are (and your dream employee will be serious!). Pro tip: Don’t drag interviews out for 6 months unless that timeline was laid out in the first step of the hiring process.
After you’ve proven that your organization has itself together, your dream employee will need to be enticed by the position itself, the work environment, and the culture of your workplace. Are you positioning your law firm to best attract the quality of people you hope to hire?
What Benefits Do You Bring To The Table?
If your culture fits, the pay and position are right, and your hiring process is aligned, why are you still struggling to hire your dream law firm employees? Well, the answer might be that your benefits don’t compare to the competition.
Benefits packages are a great way to make happier employees and entice applicants to apply to work at your law firm. Do your benefits make life easier for your employees? Do they make your team happy? Are they useful?
When it comes to benefits and perks, get creative. Be sure to offer the standards, of course. Health insurance is usually expected, as well as paid time off. But benefits don’t have to all be pricey or over the top.
Think about fun things that others aren’t offering. If your team works in an office, add some free snacks and coffee to the mix. Create fun traditions that make the office environment enjoyable, such as special games you play during meetings or host monthly staff lunches. Maybe your team has a midday dance break where they can let loose, or perhaps your working hours are flexible and you don’t actually track anyone’s time in the office.
There’s no limit to the perks you can offer in your law firm. And the more perks you offer (that people actually care about), the more enticing it is for someone to work for you over the law firm without the fun perks.
Retaining Your Dream Law Firm Employees
Alright, you’ve found and hired your dream law firm employee – how do you make sure they stay? Just because they’ve accepted your offer doesn’t mean your new employee is going to work out. It’s important to continue to woo them even during training and employment. And above all else, deliver on everything you’ve promised them!
First, take a look at their initial impression after starting with you. Is your law firm’s onboarding and training process thorough? Is it fun and engaging? Does it flow easily, in a way that doesn’t overwhelm? Do you provide enough time to go through all of the material? Setting your new hire up for success right off the bat is one of the best ways to impress them.
Finally, your culture: Does yours match what you promised? A disappointed new hire isn’t going to stick around for long. Don’t overpromise what your company has to offer and how things operate if you can’t deliver. This is true for even the most minute things – if you mentioned it in the hiring process, make sure it’s true!
Hopefully this helps you to discover who your dream employee is, as well as hire and retain them. We’d love to hear if any of these tips have helped you!
If you’re in the market for a receptionist and the hiring process is overwhelming to you, request a call with our Growth Solutions Strategist. They can help you determine exactly what you’re looking for in a receptionist and the best solution for your law firm.
