Growth isn’t just about increasing the number of attorneys or expanding your client base. It’s also about preserving and nurturing the work culture that made your firm successful in the first place. This is especially true for small to mid-sized law firms, where the firm’s culture can easily be impacted by rapid growth.
One element that often gets overlooked during periods of expansion is the way new hires settle into their new role, specifically the psychological safety they develop in their first days and weeks. Recent research from Harvard Business Review highlights a concerning trend: New hires’ psychological safety erodes swiftly, making them less likely to contribute effectively and integrate fully into their new environment.
According to a study involving over 10,000 employees, new hires start with higher levels of psychological safety compared to their more tenured colleagues. However, this safety erodes rapidly, often taking years to return to its initial level. This phenomenon, referred to as the “swoosh” effect, can have long-lasting implications on the integration and performance of new employees.
Why Culture Matters More Than Ever
Unless you’re starting from scratch, new hires will enter a firm that has existing patterns, ways things work, and values. If your current team is beaten down and burned out, it will be exceptionally difficult to help a new hire keep their head up.
American Author Bill Marklein put it this way: “Culture is how employees’ hearts and stomachs feel about Monday morning on Sunday night.”
Having a strong and supportive culture isn’t just about making people feel good, it’s about facilitating the best work of their careers. Nail your culture and you’ll see it in the way new hires integrate into your firm, creating benefits like:
1. Rapid Integration and Productivity
The luxury of waiting years to benefit from new talent is long gone. New hires need to be brought up to speed quickly and a supportive work culture is crucial for this. Psychological safety enables learning behaviors that are integral to settling into a new role, such as asking questions and seeking help.
2. Improved Retention and Engagement
High turnover rates can be detrimental to any law firm. A strong, positive culture helps retain talent by making new hires feel valued and understood. When employees feel psychologically safe, they are more likely to stay engaged and committed to the firm.
3. Openness to Innovation and Excitement for Growth
A culture that fosters psychological safety encourages innovation. Attorneys who feel safe share their ideas more readily and take more smart risks, making them more likely to contribute to the firm’s growth and success. In the increasingly competitive mid-market, an innovative solution can set a firm apart from its competitors and drive a meaningful increase in profitability.
So how do you set a new hire up for long-term psychological safety and productivity? Your existing culture will play a huge role, but there are steps you can take today to get your firm – and your new hires – set up for success.
4. Arm Your Leaders with the Right Skills
Unsurprisingly, someone’s boss plays a crucial role in their ability to maintain and enhance their psychological safety, so leaders and managers should be purposefully trained in things like
active listening, empathy, and providing constructive feedback.
Another thing leaders can do to foster a safe environment is framing tasks in a way that emphasizes the importance of interpersonal risk-taking. For example, by highlighting the complexity and uncertainty of legal work, leaders can create an environment where it’s understood that mistakes are part of the learning process.
5. Create a Supportive Environment
Even the most outgoing, confident people can be more reserved in new situations as they learn the cultural norms of their new employer. Creating a warm, welcoming environment will help anyone get up to speed more quickly. Two things leaders can do to help new hires feel supported from day one are:
- Build a Positive Onboarding Experiences: Ensure that the onboarding process not only effective at conveying important information to the new hire, but also at helping them build connections within the firm. This could include assigning a mentor to each new hire and creating opportunities for them to engage with their colleagues in a meaningful way.
- Respond Appreciatively: When new hires ask questions or share ideas, respond with curiosity and support. This approach helps maintain psychological safety and encourages ongoing communication and contribution.
6. Set an Expectation of Continuous Feedback and Improvement
Getting a new hire started effectively is a critical first step toward long-term psychological safety. But after the intro lunches and meet-and-greets, how can leaders continue to nurture that sense of safety?
- Regular Check-ins: Schedule regular one-on-one meetings between new hires and their supervisors to discuss progress, address concerns, and provide constructive feedback.
- Open Communication Channels: Create multiple channels for communication, such as suggestion boxes, anonymous surveys, and open-door policies, to ensure that employees feel heard and valued.
Some of these things are undoubtedly already happening in your firm; some of these things undoubtedly feel uncomfortable. But the data is clear: Leaders who develop and stoke the psychological safety of their teams see outsized returns on their effort. It may seem hard at first, but it’s worth it in the long run. Are you ready to take your law firm’s culture to the next level? Send your firm’s leaders to the Emerging Leaders Summit where they will spend two days in a hands-on, interactive setting learning how to create a thriving, psychologically safe work environment.
