Agile, able, and raring to grow

At one of our innovation forums earlier this year, managing partners, financial directors, CEOs, and heads of IT from
20 law firms unanimously agreed that an agile workforce, where staff do not require office space and instead are empowered by IT, enables imaginative use of skilled people, and results in more time dedicated to generating revenue than to travelling. Such are the benefits that a number of the biggest law firms introduced agile working this summer, each for slightly different reasons:

• Herbert Smith Freehills expanded a pilot scheme launched in March 2015 to include all London-based practice groups that blended contractual flexible working with less formal agile working, providing its people with more control over how, when, and where they work;
• Just a few weeks later, Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance announced the introduction of agile working for its London-based fee earners and that it was leasing surplus space at its Canary Wharf headquarters to Deutsche Bank: 'Work is something you do, rather than a place you go,' said its London managing partner, David Bickerton; and
• Foot Anstey, the Bristol-based firm, announced the launch of 'warm desking' - one step away from complete hot desking - explaining it was doing this partly because it didn't like to have a proportion of its costs inflexible. Managing partner John Westwell said: 'When the next downturn comes, fixed costs are something we don't want.'

Optimising fee earners' time

Agile working makes a difference to fee earners who travel as part of their job. It optimises their downtime, maximises their profitability, and enables their firm to offer clients on-site support, consultancy, and, where required, round-the-clock service.

To make agile working a reality, though, reliable and secure IT systems are essential. By transferring to cloud computing and providing staff with a laptop, tablet, or mobile device, employees logging onto the internet will be instantly connected back to the office system and able to securely access and update files in real time.

As employees have become more accustomed to using technology outside of work and in their own time, it is also important that firms match or even exceed their employees' expectations for technology use when they're at work. Today, mobile devices are used by the average person for three hours per day, which equates to 18.8 per cent of waking hours. By 2020, it is predicted that 50 per cent of the UK workforce will be freelancers, contractors, or temporary staff. Firms will need to be more agile to accommodate this change in approach.

The weapon in the war

Flexible working is increasingly becoming a strategic tool for firms looking to attract and retain talent. It broadens the pool of talent from which to recruit, ultimately improves the firm's reputation in certain markets or practice areas, and has a positive impact upon profitability.

Increased flexibility also aids the retention of employees in line with life changes, and could be the difference between retaining talented staff and losing them to the competition. How does your firm support integral employees' return to work after illness, bereavement, or having been on parental leave? And how do you go about keeping hold of accomplished staff nearing retirement but who want to work on a part-time or consultancy basis?

Most people want to complete tasks, perform well, and not let their team down at work. Flexibility gives staff more control around their work-life balance, but it means increased productivity for firms, too. Some 80 per cent of mid-sized firms surveyed that had made a shift to mobile working reported improved workforce satisfaction and improved productivity levels. If someone knows they can work from home in order to attend a hospital appointment, work around a sick child, or finish a report before going on holiday, then why not offer that flexibility if it means they can get a job done without having to take unnecessary time off?

Space management

Agile working also benefits firms beginning to outgrow their office space. Hot desking can be supported with home working to free up space, so that an office move no longer becomes urgent or essential.

Hot desking can also be introduced to free up space used by staff who are often client-facing or that travel as part of their job. Deciding to give permanent desks to those teams or people who are generally office-based and require specific technology to do their job can make a big difference to accommodation costs. While many of the larger firms have only recently announced the move to hot desking, many smaller firms have operated in this way for a number of years.

Case study: Agility aiding expansion

Matthew Claughton, the managing partner of Olliers, the top-tier rated criminal defence specialist firm, is a strong advocate of investing in the right technology, such as the cloud to enable speedier and more reliable access to IT systems, to facilitate growth. Olliers is better able to promote agile working, providing staff and clients with greater flexibility and benefits.

The firm recently opened an annexe in Mayfair, London, recruiting three highly-experienced consultants. Each works flexibly, fitting in existing commitments beyond the firm: one lectures, one is a local councillor, another provides freelance compliance services; and two are also High Court advocates.

Not too long ago, the firm was appointed to a four-week trial at short notice - defence solicitors withdrew two days into the trial - and agility became a deciding factor in the firm's appointment. Defence counsel contacted Claughton, who in turn deployed one of the London team.

Claughton explains: 'Technology enables our London-based consultants to access our systems, and distance becomes irrelevant as we can provide seamless representation for our clients. Our clients benefit from a service that is far more cost-effective, and we are in a position to provide them with local representation.'

Having invested in the right technology to become more agile, timing could not be better for Olliers. Under current Ministry of Justice proposals, consolidation of the criminal defence market place is inevitable. Whereas this may cause panic in some firms, it does not cause concern for Olliers.

Claughton says: ‘Becoming a more agile firm, it is entirely conceivable that we could replicate our London set-up in other cities, and within a short period of time. Where larger firms may struggle with wider personnel-related issues, given our size we are better able to introduce and control the concept.’

Case study: Flexible working by-product

Total Conveyancing Services (TCS) in Cheshire Oaks has seen a significant boost to staff retention and productivity since their finance director, Robert Hastie, came in 18 months ago and moved the firm to the cloud after identifying IT as a significant risk to the business.

In fact, flexibility and agile working were by-products of the move, as his key priorities were to upgrade legacy systems and hardware, and implement a robust business continuity plan. The aim was to minimise business interruption and thereby win new contracts from banks and building societies which had increased their stringent security demands.

Hastie said staff retention had been a welcome benefit of the move as employees were able to work from home when they had a doctor's appointment or if their children weren't well.

'We are also able to work more flexibly around client demand. Our staff is no longer tied to traditional office hours, nor do they have to be in the office to complete as they have ready access to our files from whichever location they choose to work. On top of this, we just don't have the downtime we used to have while we waited for server issues to be resolved - and it's making a big difference to us and our clients.'

'As the banks and building societies have raised the bar in terms of security, we have found that our operating system meets and exceeds their expectations because we operate on a cloud that is compliant with the Solicitors Regulatory Authority,' adds Hastie.

Case study: Boosting morale

Poole Alcock's staff, who attend both client-facing and internal meetings, work between all seven offices. In 2014, the firm introduced hot desking to streamline staff costs and offer its employees a greater degree of flexibility about how and where they work.

Explaining the move, operations manager Stacey Parkin said clients had seen a difference, as staff now have better access to emails and case management systems, which are accessible from mobile devices.

Hot desking and remote working have also been found to have a hugely positive impact on morale within the business. 'Working restrictions lifted significantly', says Parkin, 'thus reducing stress and increasing productivity, which has subsequently increased profitability as a result of reductions to downtime. We also reduced the amount of travelling our staff do, which is positively affecting the environment and reducing travel expenses.'

'The biggest advantage is our ability to spend more time delivering excellent client service. Prior to the introduction of hot desking, staff being away from their desks meant they were unavailable to clients. As our staff is [now] more mobile, we can maintain client contact throughout the day and are able to access the information needed by our clients at any time.'

The firm has also seen flexible working help it to retain its best talent as changes in circumstances no longer mean people having to give up work or leave the firm. Agile working means that staff returning from parental leave have been able to change or flex their hours to accommodate childcare, and staff with a sizeable commute have been able to cut it down by working from home for one or two days a week. But it doesn't end there: the firm is also able to remain open for business during bad weather conditions.

Great expectations

The benefits are clear to firms and employees, and, most importantly, clients benefit from improved service levels as they are often able to access legal services when and how they need them. Employees, too, now have higher expectations of their employers, and many see flexible working as the norm, rather than the exception. With a little flexibility, a new mind set, and the right technology, everyone can mutually benefit. SJ

Nigel Wright is managing director of Converge Technology Solutions

@ConvergeTS

convergets.co.uk