While the legal profession is an industry with accepted and clearly defined organizational standards both in law firms and in in-house legal departments, it is the responsibility of both the new hire and the employer to assure the integration process is a success. Firms and legal departments can develop a meaningful integration system for new team members creating loyalty and fostering strong relationships, while a new hire can ensure a successful integration by taking responsibility for her integration and playing a proactive role in the process.
Establishing a clear integration process for new hires is essential to the long-term success of your organization and retention of new hires. A substantive integration procedure is not satisfied by a new employee orientation. They are separate and distinct. A successful integration program is multifaceted, and ongoing, and creates loyalty and strong, lasting relationships within the organization. Failed hires who ultimately leave their positions undermine morale, damage an organization's reputation, create revenue loss and render meaningless many hours of work. The price of failure is high and it can take a long time to recover.
