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Assessing Your Office Culture
November 2005
If you think about the general public’s view of the IRS you would probably believe that more than half of the people who have contact with this arm of government would find it distasteful. A new survey, however, indicates that the public’s view of interaction with the IRS is 64 percent positive, and in general, customer service with federal agencies has a positive rating of over 70 percent. As a matter of fact, people view their relationship with the IRS to be slightly better than their opinion of their cable television company. This is due in part to a concerted effort on the part of the government to raise their perceived friendliness. Despite the conventional wisdom about its inefficiencies, there has actually been a change in perception about how the federal government will serve its customer base-the American public. This is truly a culture change.
If you ask the general attorney population to describe the culture of certain law firms and legal departments in their geographic area, they would probably be quick to give you an answer. But although they have firmly held beliefs, these perceptions may in fact fly in the face of factual information. If people outside of your office were asked about what kind of service they would receive from your office (public or private, firm or corporation) what would they say? And what would they tell other people about what it was like to be employed at your place of business? Perceptions, although often inaccurate, can be more important than reality, because they are the basis upon which people make decisions about who they want to have their legal business, where they want to make a referral, and when they are looking for work, where they would like to be employed.
Why bother?
The question of why your culture should matter is a legitimate one. Most organizations have written policies, perhaps a stated mission, goal statements, and general employee expectations. But it is often the unwritten procedures and behaviors that have the greatest impact on culture.
When people outside think about your organization what are their perspectives? These viewpoints might impact their decision to work for you, their view of your firm’s level of success, or their willingness to refer business to you.
Recognizing your own culture
A senior partner, who has spent the majority of his career working at the same firm, indicated that his firm was having some difficulty integrating lateral associates into the practice. While the partners felt they were giving clear direction to these newly hired lawyers, it was apparent that the new hires were not performing at the same level as their counterparts who had been hired when they graduated from law school. “It is,” he said, “as if we are swimming in water, but we are totally unaware of the substance that we’re swimming in, and we don’t even recognize that we are swimming”. He was conveying that the firm’s unique culture and subsequent expectations were so much a part of daily life, that if you were raised in that environment, you were unaware that you were swimming in the very personalized sea of the firm and its expectations.
If you want to know about your culture, it’s useful to look not just inside to colleagues and staff, but to get the perceptions of others. This need not involve a formal survey process, but rather simply asking those around you. This can include colleagues, friends, those outside of the legal profession, and clients. You may be very surprised at what you learn. Remember that others are often relying strictly on rumor, word of mouth, the grapevine, or their own limited individual experience. Often you will find that people outside of your offices are relying on old data or perceptions long after your office has undergone a significant culture shift. It’s important while gathering this informal data to simply listen. During the information gathering process is not the time to refute the information you are receiving no matter how inaccurate it might be. This will simply inhibit the person you are asking from giving you their viewpoint in the future. Some time later you may want to begin offering new information that may help to change this individual’s perceptions.
In addition, if you are working in a very large law firm, the culture may change from one practice area or department to another. This is one of the reasons it makes it very difficult for new attorneys to grasp cultural issues when they are going through an interviewing process. As you think about your own employment or the larger firms that you may know, it may be obvious to you that the litigation group may be different from the corporate area, and of course the tax department or the IP department may have a culture unique to its lawyers and practice. But newcomers may not understand these differences. Hopefully what exists throughout the firm is a general philosophy of how the firm does business, its core values, and what standards of excellence it requires from its employees.
How it can help you
In addition to client matters, one of the biggest reasons to know your culture, and to be capable of discussing it with others, is for the purpose of recruiting and hiring employees, both at the professional and staff level. One of the biggest complaints that employees voice, is that an organization described itself one way in an interview, and the reality of life on the job is totally different. Although an interview isn’t the time to air dirty laundry, there is no point in being less than clear and straightforward about your office culture. Part of the way that you will determine “fit” between a candidate and the job that’s available is by being able to measure this person’s experience against how a mythical “ideal” candidate might perform. While you are doing that you are not thinking about this individual’s skills, background, and abilities in a vacuum, but rather within the context of your specific organizational culture. Although we often talk about a person being able to “fit in” when it comes to the office environment, what this truly means is often vague and nebulous. Understanding and verbalizing culture and the qualities that make someone successful in your specific office can be very helpful when you are trying to make decisions between two or more candidates with similar experiences and skill sets.
If you find that you are having difficulty retaining attorneys, or if you are interested in recruiting more women or minority lawyers, a culture check could be a critical first step in assessing your attractiveness to new hires. Asking your own people and then moving outside can give you valuable information as to the word on the street about what it’s like to work in your office.
In addition, your culture could prove to be your greatest selling point. If the talk on the street is that your firm is the best office in which to work in town, for all employees, you will never have to search for a new hire again. The best people will be knocking on your door.
Changing your culture
In observing legal organizations over the years, I have had the opportunity to watch culture change in action. A significant change can occur through a transfer in leadership, through the addition of new partners or associates, or through the departure of one or more influential individuals. In the significant number of firm mergers that have occurred in the last ten or more years, one of the biggest issues impacting success is culture “fit” between two organizations. It is certainly clear that if a merger is to be ultimately successful a new culture must emerge from the combination of two distinct organizations. When considering a merger it is critical to understand the core cultural views that each organization brings to the table and to deal with the potential conflicts in culture that may exist.
But what about changing your own office culture? Law is an evolving profession and firms have been making changes in how they are structured. Practice groups, team approaches, and a desire for creative lawyering practices have grown significantly in the last few years. One of the ways that you can impact your culture is through changes in your physical structure that foster interaction and creativity. In a very interesting article by Malcolm Gladwell, author of the Tipping Point, called, “Department of Human Resources: Designs for Working” (www.gladwell.com, 12/11/00), Gladwell describes how new office design created to stimulate new ideas builds an urban mixture of work, life, and commerce. The idea is to create more public spaces that can stimulate and create opportunities for informal interaction between people who might not otherwise spend time together. This kind of informal interaction helps foster new thinking, problem solving, and opportunities for thinking about cross-selling business.
If through a formal or informal process you find that there is a significant gap between your internal view of your office culture and the view of outsiders, it may be time to take steps. What are your greatest cultural assets? What are some of the perceptions that you would like to see changed in your community? How might such a change create more business opportunities for your organization? Who in your organization are the people who are most likely to be opinion leaders in the firm or outside of the firm? Ultimately your goal would be for others to see you as you see yourselves and for that view to be cast in a positive light. That’s a culture that works.
About the Author
Wendy L. Werner is the owner and principal of Werner Associates, a legal consulting and career coaching organization.