Does mentoring really add value?

By Laura Reid

Many law firms struggle with the concept of mentoring in their firm. 
Given the job of bringing young professionals along at an accelerated 
rate and having them contribute to the firm in a productive way can 
be daunting.

Many partners responsible for mentoring conceptually agree that 
it is important, however they find that it can often be a thankless task, 
one to which they have difficulty in committing their time and energy.

Many partners, who say they already work extremely hard, find that 
associates do not appreciate how much time and energy goes into 
trying to train them, only to have them leave the firm or seemingly to 
be unsatisfied. “Frankly,” the partners will add, “we pay them a lot of 
money, and they do not seem as dedicated as they should be.”

When speaking with associates on the topic of mentoring, most indicate 
that there is really lip service applied to the general concept, and that 
they often do not receive the mentoring they feel they need. Going for 
lunch once every six months – or even monthly – to discuss how things 
are going is really not what they have in mind. An effective program can 
achieve what both sides say they want from a mentoring relationship:

-  A lower turnover of young professionals
-  Improved risk management
-  Improved client management
-  Improved general productivity, including more effective returns on billable 
   hours and increased profitability.
-  Improved long-term retention of senior associates with effective entry 
   into partnership.
-  Improved general morale.

So why are law firms still struggling? 

Many do not truly commit the resources required to have an effective program. 
In the past, professionals received their day-to-day mentoring or training by 
working closely with a senior partner who showed them the ropes and took 
them under their wing.

Today, 95% of partners do not have a practice that allows them to support 
both themselves and a full-time associate. As a result, most associates work 
with a variety of lawyers and partners. They receive little direct feedback, and 
are generally left to the concept of ‘survival of the fittest’.

With the focus on associates needing to be financially viable at a much 
earlier stage in their career, combined with the increased pressure to have 
a viable practice – which includes marketing their services – they are often 
overwhelmed and dissatisfied. They feel that there is not enough focus on 
becoming an effective lawyer who is able to provide a client with quality legal 
services. If they feel they are failing at achieving the standards that they believe 
they should be accomplishing, they often look else-where for professional 
satisfaction.

The bottom line is not the only benchmark. A number of firms, after examining 
their internal demographics, become seriously concerned about succession 
issues at the partnership level.

The best practices and the most successful programs acknowledge that these 
are real business issues that face a firm, and, at the core, they include:

-  A formal mentoring program: Compared with simple ad-hoc programs;

-  Achievable and measurable results: These ensure that the resources and 
   efforts provided by the firm produce the results required;

-  Clarity: A clearly defined mentoring role, with clearly defined expectations 
   for both the mentee and mentor, are essential;

-  Education: Training senior partners with new skills for the most effective 
   mentoring techniques, including how to mentor associates at different levels of 
   development. Internal training and professional development programs should be 
   designed to fill in the gap in the current mentoring;

-  Thoughtful mentor matches: For instance, have you considered the generational 
   gaps? Does John, who has been practicing for 30 years, really make an effective 
   mentor for Susan who is a new call?

-  Feedback: Providing feedback to associates on how to become successful 
   practitioners, and ultimately successful partners, is a requirement. Intelligent, 
   thoughtful planning with effective feedback is at the core of good mentoring 
   programs;

-  Management on-side: A strong commitment to mentoring by the leaders in 
   the firm, both in the management and professional ranks, ensures support.

If you can say that your firm is running at a high profit margin, has low turnover, 
and that, when you look around the firm, the associates are coming up are clearly 
stars on a partnership track, you likely have no need to improve your current internal 
mentoring model. If, on the other hand, you wake up at night wondering if any of the 
associates working at the firm are going to end up staying, and whether your top 
billing partners will be able to retire and hand over their practice with no concern, 
you may need to revisit your mentoring program.

Originally printed in VALA Topics
Fall 2004.