There’s been an enormous amount of pressure caused by COVID-19. As we near the end of the pandemic’s second year, the emotional toll is likely to show itself more.
We’ve always taken the well-being of our staff seriously, but even more so in the last two years, especially as they had to rapidly adapt to home working. And while some of our staff enjoyed the flexibility of working from home, others found it more difficult.
Our managers have had to ensure they kept thinking outside the box, and they maintained open and regular communication with teams through various engaging virtual activities, from online birthday celebrations and quizzes to home schooling tips and exercise classes. Now, with hybrid working patterns becoming more permanent, it’s still vitally important for professionals to protect their mental health and well-being. That means legal managers, too! Taking care of yourself allows you to be more attuned to other firm staff. You are in a position to set the tone for how your organization handles these difficult situations.
These are some other tips we have found to help:
We know from our legal clients that there are numerous stressful moments in their line of work. Remember, if you work at a Ferrari pace, then you should also have Ferrari brakes. By that I mean know when to stop and when to have some fun. We recently hosted a VIP celebrity-style red carpet event and party to create opportunities for relationship building among our people in a light-hearted atmosphere.
On a day-to-day level, I’m a huge advocate for the power of walking — a 10-minute walk outside in the fresh air can give you renewed energy to come back and face a difficult task or a tricky client or work situation.
We’ve found that small gestures of kindness have big impacts on employees’ mental well-being. For example, we have an in-house video team that puts together specially designed videos with birthday messages for our people. We also provide yoga and meditation classes and have done nutrition classes and cooking tips. From our experience, these measures all help maintain staff happiness.
We’ve also observed our staff practicing random acts of kindness at an individual level, too. It becomes a pay-it-forward model: If you show kindness to a work colleague, they’ll likely return the favor soon enough, and that could make your day.
We’ve noticed that the more our people are involved in the company, the more likely they are to feel invested in its future and to be satisfied with their jobs, consequently doing a better job for their clients.
“There is a lot to be said for true listening and learning — not simply hearing what a client or team member is saying, but taking notice and acting on what they have said.”
On an informal level, we share good news with our people when business is going well. We also involve them in business achievement celebrations, such as sending pizza lunches or bottles of wine to them at home or hosting quiz nights. If your firm isn’t already doing these sorts of things, why not suggest them?
There is a lot to be said for true listening and learning — not simply hearing what a client or team member is saying, but taking notice and acting on what they have said. Being successful these days comes down to ensuring that each team member understands everyone’s value and knows how to communicate with others who might have a different mindset. It applies to all stakeholders, customers, partners, people and the marketplace. It also provides clarity, encourages openness and develops trust. With more openness and trust, there is consequently a block on negative attitudes like suspicion and fear.
With the rise in use of technology in recent years, consider any new technologies that will help your people be more productive. This will make their role more efficient, freeing up more time for them.
For example, consider any products and services that can be outsourced, like telephone answering and live chat. Our use of LiveChat has doubled since the start of the pandemic, and we see it increases satisfaction due to its instant and expert responses. According to Forbes, at 83%, LiveChat boasts one of the highest customer satisfaction rates. It’s also incredibly efficient. A LiveChat agent can manage up to three live chats at once, instead of being able to handle only one phone call at a time. There are also other new products and services with low entry costs that emerged during the pandemic, such as a triage chatbot. Qualifying leads and prioritizing new inquiries, chatbots have been particularly popular with legal and property companies.
With all service sectors, we know that it’s important to treat clients like celebrities because they are the company’s lifeblood. Legal is no different. We believe that a company’s staff also deserves that same red-carpet treatment.
As humans, we are unique and each have something to offer. We are all important people with a desire to connect. Businesses needs to recognize this.
As we preach about how we treat customers not as numbers or paychecks but as trusted partners, the same importance should be paid to our people. I encourage our teams to recognize that their colleagues are unique and that they will have different motivators and responses. If you can recognize this, then you’ll be able to trust one another, allowing everyone to become the best they can be. Where you have trust and respect, happiness and well-being will surely follow!