Unlocking the potential of support staff in law firms

Law firms are under increasing pressure to deliver exceptional client service while maintaining rigorous standards of efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Traditionally, developing the performance of fee-earning solicitors and partners has been a key focus for firms. However, this traditional emphasis overlooks a vital segment of the workforce. 

The true strength of a firm lies in the collective effort of its entire team, including its supporting staff members. Paralegals, secretaries and administrative assistants form the backbone of any law firm, yet their potential to drive productivity and enhance client service can be undervalued. Firms that understand this and challenge the traditional focus will be those who do not just survive, but thrive. 

Of the 311,000 individuals employed in the UK legal sector (The Law Society, 2024), approximately 110,000 hold non-legal, business support roles. These include administrative assistants, paralegals, accounting clerks, IT, marketing, and other business service professionals. They are the backbone of operational delivery and are instrumental in shaping client experience. Yet despite their importance, industry data reveals a troubling pattern: only 55 percent of legal sector employees report being fully engaged in their roles, with business support staff showing the lowest levels of engagement. Something is clearly amiss. 

My 2024 research, conducted within mid-sized law firms, explored how employees contribute to a firm's brand through the lens of intrinsic motivation; the internal drive to engage in work because it is meaningful and personally rewarding. The findings of the research were both revealing and insightful. When combined with confidence in their ability; the autonomy to make decisions effectively while having a rewarding network of colleagues around you, intrinsic motivation leads to a high level of performance in the workplace. 

While solicitors and partners reported high levels of intrinsic motivation, non-fee earners, particularly business support professionals, demonstrated significantly lower levels of engagement and purpose. This disconnect presents both a challenge and an opportunity. If firms are to deliver exceptional levels of client service, maintain rigorous standards of efficiency, productivity and profitability they must reconsider how they view and engage this critical segment of their workforce and take action to understand and the reasons behind low engagement. 

The answer may just lie in intrinsic motivation. 

Intrinsic Motivation: A Critical Lever for Engagement

Intrinsic motivation is driven by three core psychological needs: autonomy, relatedness, and mastery. When these needs are met, employees feel more fulfilled, more invested, and more aligned with the organisation’s goals.

Autonomy
Autonomy refers to the degree of control an individual feels over their work. For business support professionals, this means having scope to organise their tasks, apply judgement, and contribute ideas for service or operational improvement. Due to the high nature of technical accuracy required in legal roles, autonomy is often lacking in legal environments where job roles are rigidly defined and tightly controlled. Micromanagement, procedural constraints, and limited decision-making power all undermine the sense of ownership and inhibit discretionary effort. It takes a skilled supervisor to allow space for autonomy to flourish.

Relatedness
The need for relatedness speaks to our desire to feel connected and valued. Support professionals frequently operate in the shadows. A culture that treats non-fee earners as peripheral to the client relationship erodes this sense of connection. However, when firms create mechanisms for mutual respect, collaboration, and recognition, they build a stronger internal culture, one that connects all roles to a shared mission.

Mastery
Mastery, or the pursuit of growth and professional competence, is essential for all professionals within a law firm. However, many support roles lack structured progression pathways, and Learning and Development (L&D) initiatives are often generic or underfunded, failing to meet these positions' specific needs. This misalignment results in disconnected development opportunities, not aligned with individual career goals or firm objectives.

The trend of underfunding L&D is widespread in the legal sector. A 2020 survey found that over 70 percent of law firms reduced their L&D budgets, with 37 percent cutting them by over 20 percent. A 2022 study showed that while 86 percent of businesses recognised L&D as crucial, half cited cost as a significant barrier. These reductions have a profound impact on intrinsic motivation, leading to poor client service and disengagement.

To address these challenges, law firms must prioritise tailored learning programmes that align with individual career paths and firm goals. Investing in tailored, role-specific development initiatives enhances engagement, fosters continuous learning, and drives success.

Redefining value in legal services

Law firms traditionally equate value with billable hours, overlooking the broader ecosystem of talent that enables high-quality client service. Business support staff, from marketing and HR to IT and operations, sustain a firm’s reputation and operational excellence. However, they remain excluded from strategic conversations and under-represented in decision-making. Non-legal professionals rarely secure partnership positions.

To redefine value in legal services, law firm leaders must reassess internal hierarchies and consider the broader human capital landscape. This involves recognising the contributions of all employees, not just legal ones. When support staff understand how their work impacts client outcomes and brand reputation, motivation becomes self-sustaining. Firms that embrace this broader perspective experience measurable rewards.

Some firms hold the outdated perception that support functions are cost centres, necessary but not strategic. However, in a competitive market where differentiation lies in service, culture, and experience, business support teams are indispensable assets. They don’t just support the brand; they are the brand.

Repositioning these roles requires a mindset shift and tangible investment. This could involve professional development to help leaders understand the concept of intrinsic motivation before considering how to effectively mobilise it.

Strategic branding and the role of support professionals

Law firm brands are built daily through interactions, processes, and touchpoints, many delivered by support professionals. Receptionists set the tone, finance teams shape perceptions, and IT impacts productivity. These experiences reinforce or undermine the brand promise. If the brand lives in the experience, all employees are brand builders. Internal communications must translate strategy meaningfully for different roles. 

Creating a culture of belonging

Belonging is the emotional core of motivation. When individuals feel they belong to their roles or teams, they’re more motivated to make a difference, share ideas, and invest effort. Creating a culture of belonging involves ongoing dialogue, mutual respect, and integrating all roles into the firm’s mission. Firms that champion belonging experience higher retention, agility, and reputations. For younger generations seeking purposeful work and inclusive environments, this cultural dimension is essential.

The role of leadership in unlocking intrinsic drive

The message from the top shapes culture. Partners’ respect and curiosity for all business functions legitimise their contribution and encourage engagement. However, law firms’ leadership development focuses solely on legal excellence, overlooking broader skills for effective team leadership.

To unlock intrinsic drive, leaders must move beyond transactional management and understand the power of intrinsic motivation in the workplace. Do we truly know our legal secretaries and reception team members’ skills and passions? Often, we don’t.

This includes active listening, tailored recognition, and co-creating goals with non-legal team members. Future-fit firms train leaders to engage and motivate multidisciplinary teams, treating leadership as a holistic capability rather than a reward for legal acumen. A partner described intrinsic motivation as something special—those who give ‘discretionary effort’ or ‘go above and beyond.’ Shifting the mindset from transactional leadership to understanding intrinsic motivation is subtle but transformative.

A new approach: embracing change

The future of high-performing law firms will not be built on legal expertise alone, but on the collective motivation of every individual who shapes the client experience. The research is clear: when business support professionals are intrinsically motivated, when they feel a sense of purpose, autonomy, connection, and have the opportunity to grow they not only contribute to operational excellence but actively enhance the firm’s brand, culture, and competitive edge.

It is time to move beyond outdated hierarchies and transactional leadership models. Law firms that thrive in tomorrow’s market will be those that reframe their internal culture, invest in the full breadth of their talent, and lead with emotional intelligence. This begins by recognising that discretionary effort, innovation, and loyalty are not demanded, they are inspired. And intrinsic motivation is the spark.

Michelle Howard is Director and Consultant at Michelle Howard Consulting Ltd michellehoward.co.uk

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