In the midst of the Great Resignation, organizations need to be more strategic and competitive for talent. Over the last few months, candidates have become increasingly mobile and disengaged, and companies requiring leaders to return to the office are losing talent. Here are three ways to increase your chances of competing for legal talent during the Great Resignation.
Have An Efficient Hiring Process
The faster an organization can onboard new legal talent, the sooner they can begin adding value to the organization and team and deliver results. The longer an organization takes to find, interview, and make an offer to a candidate, the more opportunity is at stake across the board and the more likely a candidate will become disengaged or receive an offer from a competitor.
To remain competitive in your recruitment process and shorten the hiring cycle, examine bottlenecks internally where decisions, communication, and outreach break down. By combining steps you can streamline the amount of time between the initial interview and making an offer. Additionally, another obstacle that slows the hiring process for organizations is the number of stakeholders involved in making a decision on a candidate. Limit the number of stakeholders only to those who deeply understand the goals, and responsibilities of the role and who will be interacting with the candidate on a day-to-day basis. By reducing the number of stakeholders that need “buy-in” for a candidate, in-house legal teams can deliver quicker feedback on the candidate to a recruiter and speed up the hiring process.
Focus On Key Motivators And Drivers That Make Your Organization Distinct.
The talent that we work with is often passive talent, these are lawyers that are already employed and often not looking to make a career change. When a lawyer considers a new opportunity, this is a conscious and intentional decision on their part. To compete for legal talent, organizations will need to appeal to the key motivators for why a candidate is considering leaving their current employer. These can include:
Mission and Vision Alignment
Succession and Career Advancement
Perks and Rewards
Corporate Social Responsibility
To keep a candidate engaged and interested, make sure that their values are highlighted and entertained throughout the entire recruitment process. Appeal to their emotional side by exploring:
The impact their leadership can have across the team
Opportunities for development and contribution
Ability to focus on more meaningful work
Any benefits that their current employer is lacking
Compensate A Candidate For Their Value
In today’s market, competition for qualified legal talent is fierce. If an organization attempts to lowball a candidate with an offer or leaves little room for negotiation of rewards and benefits, a candidate will likely withdraw from the process and share their frustrations with their colleagues in the industry. Offering a competitive salary and compensation is critical. Conduct market research to find what other organizations are providing in salary, equity, benefits, rewards, etc. With talent supply scarce and demand for qualified legal talent at a premium, the market today yields higher compensation models and tiers than in years past. Consider publishing a reasonable salary range within the initial job description. This communicates to candidates that you are serious about finding the best talent and willing to invest in them and their value as they are investing in you.
To learn more about hiring senior legal talent for your corporate general counsel, please contact us.
About Corinne Cochran.
Corinne Cochran began her career in executive search in 1983, specializing in the recruitment of senior lawyers for corporations and law firms. In 1994, she merged her firm with Bert Early Associates to form Early Cochran & Olson. After more than 30 years, Corinne remains passionate about the business and the people. Her extensive network, seasoned approach and well-honed intuition are proven to deliver top legal talent to Fortune 500 and privately-held clients. Corinne received her bachelor’s degree in English from The Principia College and has been a long-time volunteer and leader in a variety of community and civic activities.
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