We must all adjust to the new law-firm paradigm of trimming expenses while increasing production with fewer employees.??Effective talent management is key, and running the risk of losing valued talent is not an option. It follows that we must find new ways to compensate employees. Shifting an employee’s focus to “quality of life” rewards and away from financial rewards works well with the new normal.
At the same time, it is a truism that law firm life has become more challenging. Tough economies bring added stress to??both leadership and employees, but a firm’s business staff, whose pay generally falls at the lower end of the compensation spectrum, is especially anxious. Adding to their stress level is both the continuous introduction of new technology, which, although both necessary and valuable, has resulted in higher professional-to-staff ratios and the?? realization that the jobs they once thought were secure are being eyed covetously by unemployed professionals who, in this tough economy, are willing to accept work for which they are over-qualified.??
