WORTHY WORKPLACES
Firms Make List With Employee-Friendly Policies
BY STEPHANIE FRANCIS WARD
Gerry Warfield, who handles office-supply orders for Arnold &
Porter, has been with the firm since 1956, longer than any other
staff member. To honor her, the firm celebrates the anniversary
of her employment each July as "Gerry Warfield Day." The
celebration includes awards for professionalism and team spirit
to other staff members in Warfield's name.
Such personal touches show that Arnold & Porter values its
employees, says managing partner James J. Sandman. They are also
why the firm is one of three law firms in Fortune magazine's list
of "100 Best Companies to Work For." Published in January,
the Washington, D.C.-based law firm ranked 60th out of 100 companies.
Atlanta's Alston & Bird ranked an enviable third, and Seattle's
Perkins Coie ranked 94th on the list.
Other personal touches at Arnold & Porter's Washington office
include on-site day care and regular Friday "pizza nights."
"Sometimes, it's the little things that add up," Sandman
says.
Alston & Bird has made Fortune's list for the past four years,
says partner Ben F. Johnson III.
To be considered for Fortune's list of best places to work, applicants
fill out forms detailing benefits policies. Thirty percent of a
workplace's score is based on policies and workplace culture, as
described in those forms. The magazine also sends confidential surveys
at random to employees, with questions about things like management
credibility, camaraderie and fairness. Seventy percent of a score
is based on those surveys. In 2003, Fortune sent surveys to employees
at 269 candidate companies, and 40,713 workers responded.
Like Arnold & Porter, Alston & Bird has on-site day care
at its headquarters in Atlanta. In addition to regular day care,
both firms offer backup day care for employees whose primary caregiver
cannot care for the child.
On-site day care is unusual at law firms, says Jacob H. Herring,
an Oregon-based consultant who specializes in diversity matters.
Generally speaking, Herring says law firms aren't great places to
work, compared to their corporate counterparts. Herring works with
both law firms and corporations. "The pressure for billable
hours and the pressure to be 120 percent focused on the firm and
firm activity is just enormous. That isn't saying companies aren't
the same, but with companies there's usually so many more perks."
Perkins Coie partner Michael T. Reynvaan says he can tell his firm
offers a better work environment than most because there is less
attrition than at other firms. Part of that may be due to good benefits,
such as paid sabbaticals for staff and attorneys. Hiring requirements
also may play a role.
"Our managing partner describes it as a 'no-jerks policy,'
" Reynvaan says. "You really get a sense of people in
the interview," he says. "Some will brag that they go
through secretaries like Kleenex." That doesn't fly at Perkins
Coie, Reynvaan says, no matter how much business someone has to
bring to the firm.
Associates get the message.
"When a new associate comes in, we sit down with them and
say, 'You succeeded brilliantly in law school, but your first assignment
here is to make sure you develop a positive relationship with your
secretary,' " Reynvaan says.
While niceties are, well, nice, the firm sabbatical policy also
keeps people around. Salaried employees get a paid, eight-week sabbatical
every 10 years, and hourly employees receive one every 13 years.
Employees can do whatever they want with their time off, which is
in addition to regular annual vacations.
One partner took a sabbatical to write a book on antitrust law.
Reynvaan took one to drive around the United States with his kids
for three weeks and then spent five weeks in Hawaii with his family.
"We've found it tends to institutionalize clients. Somebody
will believe they're indispensable to the client, as does the client,
but somebody will be gone for [two months] and we spread the responsibility
around."
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