Associate Satisfaction is Low at Firms That Aren’t Tech-Forward
Associate satisfaction at a particular law firm can shift drastically on account of a number of different factors, from the nature of the work culture, to compensation, to transparency, to legal support infrastructure, technology, and more. Parsing out what factors influence associate satisfaction is quite useful — not simply as an objective means by which firms can determine where they can get high ROI for associate satisfaction, but also as a means to help those associates (whether junior or midlevel) looking to make a career move identify great target firms.
If you are an attorney considering a career move, or if you have already decided to make a career move and are just feeling unsure about where and how to begin, contact one of the Los Angeles legal recruiters here at Garb Jaffe & Associates today for a free consultation.
Our legal recruiters have contacts throughout the California legal industry, from prestigious Big Law firms to in-house departments at Fortune 100 companies. We’ll identify the best-fit positions for your experience and preferences, and help you tailor your application to improve your chances.
Many observers — both professional and casual — have studied employee satisfaction in the firm environment and have helped pushed the industry forward by identifying critical areas for improvement. For a long time, however, technology has been seen by the legal industry as a necessary infrastructural investment (with many firms dragging their feet in this regard!), and not as a factor that actually influences associate satisfaction in the workplace. A recent 2017 report conducted by The American Lawyer (ALM) organization has revealed that associate satisfaction is closely tied to a firm’s implementation of technology in a range of categories.
Let’s take a brief look at the results of the report, and consider the implications.
Technology-Forwardness is Positively Correlated with Associate Satisfaction
The survey conducted by ALM first assessed the technology-forwardness of different firms on the basis of four different categories:
- firm-provided technology
- tech training provided by the firm
- available tech support services
- whether technology is used on behalf of clients
Firms were subsequently ranked on these categories (in total), and associate satisfaction was compared. The firms that ranked best on overall technology implementation (i.e., the sum of all the technology categories that were surveyed) were also highly ranked in terms of associate satisfaction levels. In fact, ALM found that eight of the top ten technology firms were also ranked in the top ten for associate satisfaction.
The category split by ALM was critical, as it helped to specify the many different factors that are critical for true implementation of technology at the firm level. For example, a firm that invests heavily into technology infrastructure but that does not invest in proper training or tech support will likely find that implementation of new technology leads to inefficiencies. A firm that invests in all aspects of technology will likely find that there employees are more efficient.
What These Results Mean
Though one should not read too deep into the statistical results of the study — bearing in mind that associate satisfaction was strongly and positively correlated with technology-forwardness, but that there was no causal link established — it’s fair to say that a firm’s commitment to technology is closely related to associate satisfaction. Associates in 2017 are of a generation that has been exposed to technology at an early age. It’s common sense to assume that those firms that continue to reject technology are going to alienate their associates at some level.
Of course, the mere implementation of technology is not — in and of itself — a cure-all. The implementation of technology must be comprehensive. If new technology is installed in the workplace, there must be adequate training and technical support to ensure that the technology is adopted by associates and that any serious technical frustrations are resolved as soon as possible.
Further, technology for the sake of technology is not valued by the new generation of tech-savvy associates. The technology that firms implement must have a compelling use-case. In many cases, associates may already be using third-party applications to help organize their work process. By introducing firm-supported technology into the workplace, firms must make a compelling case for why this new technology is preferable to third-party options that associates may already be making use of.
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If you are an attorney looking to make a transition to a new firm or in-house department, speak with a Los Angeles legal recruiter here at Garb Jaffe & Associates. We have extensive experience placing attorneys with prestigious law firms and corporations throughout the state of California, and will advise at every stage of the recruitment process to ensure that you secure your ideal placement.
Call us today at (310) 207-0727 to schedule a consultation.