Recently, we’ve heard a lot about associate performance suffering due to a lack of training during the pandemic. Unfortunately, so far, it’s been primarily anecdotal. According to a recent law.com article, “[m]uch of the conversation around this issue is happening off the record, in quiet conversations where managing partners and in-house counsel tell us they are concerned about the skillsets of the industry’s most junior lawyers.”
Well, it's time to move beyond anecdotes. If we’re going to find a solution to this problem, we need to dive in.
Training issues arising from the pandemic likely came about as a result of a perfect storm of factors that created impediments to growth, including:
lack of in-person mentoring and training;
less time for mentorship due to an unprecedentedly high volume of work;
learning losses resulting from associate attrition and lateral movement;
pandemic-related personal struggles and mental health issues; and
overstretched PD and talent management teams adjusting to a new normal.
These are unique challenges we haven't faced before. And as we address the training gaps that have resulted, hybrid work will continue to affect training going forward and it's important to adapt training accordingly.
The first step is to methodically assess which areas of training have suffered during the pandemic. This can be done through a combination of surveys, focus groups, and analysis of past and recent associate reviews. Analysis should cover issues specific to cross-sections of associates grouped by class years, practice groups, and geographic locations. Attention should be paid to both substantive legal skills and professional skills (i.e., soft skills), and should be addressed from both the perspective of the manager and the associate to paint a complete picture. Try to get a sense of what worked training-wise, as well as what didn't.
After identifying the training concerns, the firm should prioritize which issues to address first, and tackle them deeply with a multi-pronged plan. It's unlikely that a single training session will resolve a training deficiency that has developed over an extended period of time. Firms should provide associates with access to resources and support from many different angles. Training should be reinforced over time. Here are some strategies you can employ, depending on the particular issue you’re addressing:
Mentoring. Ask associates or partners to address specific issues in a mentoring context, whether as part of a formal mentoring pairing or informally in the context of a matter. Provide your associates and partners with training resources that teach them how to be good mentors and mentees, so this method can be most effective.
Use your competency framework. Does your firm have a list of associate competencies for every level in every practice? If not, it may be time to put this together. If so, consider updating it in light of the pandemic. Instead of just telling associates what skills they should have acquired, include information about the type of training they should have received in order to be proficient in the skill. Should they have attended a training session? Walked through the skill with a senior associate? Received written and live feedback from a senior associate? This will give associates a better sense of what they need to do to be “competent” at the skill, rather than just having had exposure to it. Also, if your competencies don’t include professional skills, now may be the time to work them in. And, again, give associates specific advice as to how to acquire those competencies.
Link your training resources for maximum impact. Too often, when we hold isolated training events, the material is forgotten soon after the session ends. To maximize the impact of your training, link it to other resources. For example, hold a live training where mentors and mentees are invited together. Have them set a goal related to the training topic, and have them schedule (on the spot!) two brief meetings with their mentors in the next few months - one to watch and discuss a short, virtual training video that they can access on demand; the second, to follow up on progress toward the goal. This way, you're creating a chain of events to reinforce the message of the training seminar using multiple resources.
Use associate reviews to promote growth. In your reviews, make it a goal to not just identify training gaps, but to point associates to specific resources. If, say, mid-level banking associates are all struggling to grasp a certain concept, create a list of resources and in the review, ask each associate to utilize the resources. Use the review process to promote your training resources.
The pandemic was unprecedented, but now is the time to untangle the consequences and figure out how to move forward. To do that, we must be intentional and methodical in evaluating how our associates fared; then, use that information to move forward strategically.
By: Kandice Thorn, Founder, WorkBetter for Lawyers
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