Tips for Effective Law Firm Hiring

This is the final post in my series on tips from the "Get a Life" conference, sponsored by the Total Practice Management Association - this time on hiring.

Tim Ryan from Total PMA gave one of the most engaging and effective presentations from the conference, on a topic that directly affects both the bottom line and the quality of life at law firms - hiring. Payroll is usually a firm's biggest expense, and poor hiring decisions impact morale, productivity, client relations - and just about everything else in the firm.

Many lawyers lament that it's hard to find good people. What kind of staff do you have? If they left, would you be in trouble, or would you breathe a sigh of relief?

Ryan made a great point during his presentation about the reason why many law firms are not successful when it comes to hiring: they hire using a job description, rather than a people description. Ryan recommended taking a look at your best employees (the ones he calls your 'rock star' employees). Identify the behavior, thinking and attitudes that make them great. Use that information to create a blueprint for future hires.

How prepared are you when interviewing staff for a position? Are you reviewing the resume five minutes before the candidate arrives? If you are, you need to re-think your hiring process.

Here are some of Ryan’s general tips about hiring:

Certain traits are cultural and are required for every position; many employees fail because of a poor cultural fit - not an inability to do the job
You can compromise on education, but not on talent or culture [skills can be taught, but values and cultural fit cannot]
Spend time up front benchmarking the people description/behavior profile - you won't change bad behavior once the person is hired
In an interview ask for substantive, real life examples that demonstrate that candidate behaves in line with your behavior blueprint
Don't interpret interview questions for candidate - it's giving them the answers. If a candidate is struggling to answer your questions, they may just not have what it takes
Don't give interview candidates credit where credit isn't due and don’t make excuses for their inability to respond
Remember during the interview that you are looking for behavior – make sure answers are substantive and don’t try to shift blame to others
When you're comparing candidate to candidate to make a hiring decision, you set yourself up to hire the tallest pygmy – in other words, comparing among candidates doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll get the right person for the job – NONE of the candidates you have now may be right for the job. If that’s the case, keep looking

Ryan also reminds us that in addition to hiring the right people, sometimes you have to fire the wrong people. If you continue to allow 'bad' employees to remain, what does it say to the people who matter - your “rock stars”?

Hire slowly, fire quickly. But fire people in a way that allows them to keep their dignity.