What kinds of training do you have available at your law firm?
When I ask this question of lawyers, I am often told that there is no real training at their firms. New employees are given an orientation of sorts and taught how to use the firm’s systems, but this training is minimal, and there is little opportunity for or encouragement from management of the firm for employees to get any formal training.
Great employees, whether they are lawyers, paralegals, legal assistants, receptionists, billing clerks or human resources managers, want to excel at their jobs. Great employees don’t want to stagnate. They want to be challenged and to continue to grow, regardless of their position or where they are in their career.
If you want to retain those kinds of employees, you need to make training available to them so that they can continue to grow. Whether that’s providing training in-house or finding courses taught externally, there are training programs appropriate for every employee at every stage of their career. For example:
- Practice management software training in-house or through their video tutorials
- Practice area specific CLE programs for updates
- Training on software used in your firm every day, including training on how best to use Microsoft suite of products, including Outlook, Word and Excel, or training on using PDFs effectively
- Leadership training
- Courses on law firm financial management for potential partners
For more ideas on how to retain your best employees, check out these articles and videos:
- Mentoring Women in Your Firm
- Stop Co-Worker Interruptions [video]
- How Training Benefits Your Firm [video]
- Don’t Let Toxic Employees Push Out Good Employees
- One Size Doesn’t Fit All in Your Law Firm [video]
- What Training is Available At Your Firm? [video]
- What Happens When You’re Not Clear About Advancement Opportunities [video]
- Be Transparent About Advancement in Your Firm
- What Does It Cost To Hire A New Employee? [video]
- Managing Staff Interruptions
