We know from our ongoing conversations with firms and their leaders that maintaining harmonious teams is a top priority. We also know this can be challenging amidst acute political tension, especially at a time when workplaces are (wonderfully!) diverse, socially charged, and home to employees of different generations and world experiences. While this is a fantastic progression, it raises complex new challenges for decision-makers, not least those at the helm of social responsibility.
In the latest of our ongoing Leadership Lounge sessions, we brought together Responsible Business heads from across the legal space, in a truly insightful roundtable discussion. Attendees openly shared tools they have successfully implemented to address issues, as well as areas they want to see improvement. Here, we have distilled our standout takeaways, in the hope of inspiring other firms in their ongoing mission for supportive, inclusive, unified teams.
1. Inclusion Champions
Although a growing number of firms have designated resource and/or board-level committees for pushing Responsible Business initiatives (inc 50% of the Top 100*) inclusion should be systemic in organisations, with action visible in every corner.
We heard how one pioneering firm has addressed this by appointing 40 Inclusion Champions across their teams and all the way through to partner level. These are the employees responsible for proactively checking in with colleagues, flagging issues, and driving awareness and action from the ground up.
2. Book clubs
The group spoke about indirect (yet intentional) contributors to the cause, including an example from a firm who host a regular employee Book Club, designed to explore books rooted in inclusion and other relevant themes.
Although initiatives like this don’t need to be promoted as such, they naturally support harmony just by the fact of bringing people together, and even better in a forum in which they can expand their thinking. In this instance, access to the books is funded by the firm – a really nice, accessible touch.
3. Link to performance
Another recurring topic was the of role of inclusion and wellbeing in high performance. Our conversation underscored the idea that when people feel supported, they are more likely to contribute at their highest potential, and there was a clear consensus that firms who support their staff in this way also benefit from motivated teams and top talent.
Strategies can include flexible working policies, mental health support, or lifestyle benefits. While the details vary depending on each firm’s unique priorities, it’s ultimately about steps to boost employee happiness and consequently nurture an inclusive, harmonious and productive environment.
Although the themes of our roundtable discussions change each time, they consistently remind us of the power of bringing together key voices and sparking ideas for evolution. We also relish the chance to share our unique perspective and knowledge, and in this most recent session there was a real appetite for our intel on how firms are approaching team structures, newly emerging job titles, and average tenures.
To learn more about our U.S. Leadership Lounge schedule and for further details on the info we shared in the session, get in touch with Andrea Prendergast or Peter Page. Or, to discuss any of themes in this blog, drop a line to our Responsible Business Lead, CJ Obi-Iruoma.
Co-authored by Co-owner and Director of Executive Search Andrea Prendergast, Responsible Business Lead CJ Obi-Iruoma, and Head of Recruitment Delivery Peter Page.