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GPSolo eReport

How to Find Great Team Members for Your Law Firm

Christopher Earley

Summary

  • One of the easiest ways to find great team members is to ask your existing ones if they know any great people looking for work.
  • Your next great hire may be right in front of you. Always be on the lookout whenever you are out and about.
  • If you work hard at creating and sustaining a great company culture, the word will spread.
  • Create a “We Are Always Hiring” page on your website with video testimonials from team members on what it is like to work for your company. 
How to Find Great Team Members for Your Law Firm
Maartje van Caspel via Getty Images

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The secret of my success is that we have gone to exceptional lengths to hire the best people in the world. —Steve Jobs

All of us who own law offices know just how hard it is to find good people. I talk to many lawyers, and whenever I ask them what their biggest challenge is, they almost always say it comes down to finding good people. But there are alternative, creative ways to attract great people to your practice other than posting job ads on Indeed or paying exorbitant fees to headhunters. Here are some very effective opportunities you can leverage to find your next A-player employee.

1. Use Your Current Team to Recruit

Begin by looking inside rather than outside: Ask your team members to recruit for you. One of the easiest ways to find great team members is to ask your existing ones if they know any great people looking for work. I subscribe to the maxim that good people generally know other good people. You can motivate your existing employees to recruit people they think could excel at your office by incentivizing them. You can offer a bonus if you hire someone brought on by a team member, and then offer a greater bonus if the new hire stays on for six months, or one year, etc. Chances are, your employees won’t want to bring on a dud because that would reflect poorly on them, so tap into your existing employees and see if they can bring you someone great. This is, in my mind, the best way to hedge your bet against hiring a team member who turns out poorly for you.

2. Find Talent in the Wild

Your next great hire may be right in front of you. Always be on the lookout whenever you are out and about. Is there a hostess or server at a restaurant you frequent that knocks your socks off with their friendly disposition? Perhaps you go to a store where the sales associate has incredible service skills and is always efficient and happy. Talk with these people and give them your card. Tell them to call you if they want to discuss potential job opportunities at your office. There are many A-players who are unhappy and want to make the switch to a different employer. Always have your eyes and ears open out there.

3. Create an Inviting Culture

Make your culture one that attracts people to it. Culture is the straw that stirs the drink and is what separates average law firms from great ones. Make sure your culture is stellar, and guard it maniacally by hiring only those who fit your core values and culture. Law firms with a great culture become desirable landing spots for potential team members. If you work hard at creating and sustaining a great company culture, the word will spread. Some of my best team members came into my firm not in response to a job ad but rather from simply calling or emailing us out of the blue and asking if we were hiring. I know for a fact that these people heard about and/or read about our culture and wanted to join our mission because of it.

4. Recruit Through Your Website

In addition to having great culture, I urge you to have a page on our website with a name like “We Are Always Hiring.” This static page is a backdoor recruitment tool that far too few law firms deploy. It is an easy and free way to encourage people to apply to your firm. You never know who may see that page. Contact your web designer and ask that they create a page that contains not only information about your company and core values but also video testimonials from existing team members on what it is like to work for your company. This is social proof that can be very persuasive and compelling to job seekers.

Hiring is really, really hard. The best strategy I have discovered is to keep as many lines in the water as possible at all times. The methods I laid out above can be effective supplements to your existing recruitment methods and strategies. If you have other ideas on attracting great team members to a law practice, please email me at [email protected] because I would love to hear from you.

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