“Oh god, not another dismal recruitment brief”
When I used to recruit law firm partners in London, I’d often roll my eyes when I got a new instruction from clients. Not because of the instruction, but because of the accompanying brief.
Every recruiter knows what I’m talking about: the requirement for a self-starting team player who is commercially-minded but also a great technician, great at business *and* team development, a superlative client handler with following as large as possible.
Needless to say, these White Knights rarely galloped over the hill.
It was almost as if firms didn’t know what to say, other than: ‘bring us money in as uncomplicated and unchallenging a package as possible’.
What generic job briefs, these wide-as-possible nets ignore is what potential candidates actually want.
Nobody wants to just be a revenue add-on. People want to be part of a story. They don’t just want to fit in, they want to contribute their skills to develop a firm’s service. They want to be happy and productive. They want to be liked and valued for who they are.
Law firm partner recruitment, in general, does not meet this brief. Telling the story instead falls to those underrated alchemists of the legal market, those oft-maligned tailors of sow’s ears, recruiters.
They weave the glorious tapestry of opportunity that entices people to the law firm’s door – all too often to have it shredded or ground into the dirt by the kind of excruciating process which would drive anyone to distraction (but that's for another day).
The answer to uninspiring briefs is threefold:
1. Have an actual plan in the first place, one that says more than ‘grow the department because we’ve been given budget to do so’. One that addresses service gaps against client needs, which considers market segments you want to develop and predicts future demand. And one that considers what an incoming partner might bring to your *existing* clients, not simply thinking about plundering theirs.
2. Don’t write your own job briefs. This is a classic case for hiring an expert, one who can craft an actual opportunity for a skilled person from your raw need.
3. Get your house in order before you recruit. What crashes more hires than anything else is Territorial Concerns. Make sure your own partners are not subtly sabotaging hires they claim they want. Make sure you get the best people, not just the acceptable people.
Oh, and don’t scattergun the search. The more precisely you can target, the more flattering the approach and the more likely you’ll score a hit. If you talk to 'everyone' you can pollute the candidate pool, especially if it’s a small field and most especially if your reputation isn’t what it might be.