Organisations around the world are embracing hybrid working models – but what about in more traditional industries?

The HSM Advisory team recently completely a project which allowed us to take a deep dive into the specific challenges faced by one such industry. Working closely with Linklaters, we were able to explore the challenges the legal sector faces following a year of hybrid working, during which expectations have changed for both legal professionals and their clients.

Through a series of Collaboration Jams with Linklaters employees, we were able to draw out some key insights for their sector, and get an idea of what sustainable high performance looks like for them in practice.

Centre on people. More than ever, over the past 18 months we have learned that people can do astonishing things and employees can really make a difference if invited to the decision-making table. As we emerge from the pandemic, organisations must keep harnessing this potential by making sure that strategic decision-making focuses on enabling people to succeed.

Take a long-term view. Many organisations have stumbled across strategies with long-term benefits and implications while reacting to immediate circumstances. Now is the time to change mindsets and carve out time to focus on long-term strategies rather than short-term tactical needs.  

Empower your employees. Allowing teams and individuals to design their own approaches to work is the best way to ensure your organisation is designing work that meets the needs of different clients, locations and cultures. Senior leadership should focus on providing frameworks that are flexible enough to meet a variety of needs and encourage teams to think about how to enable sustainable performance.

Co-creation. No leader has all the answers – especially not when it comes to designing work for the future. Senior leaders need to ensure they can plug into a network of employees from all locations, career stages and capabilities to co-create solutions.

Of course, like any other organisation, law firms must focus on the fundamental drivers of performance, using both time and place to design work. But by focusing on the elements outlined above, they can ensure they design for a future state that meets the real needs and challenges of their industry.

Interested in sustainable performance? You can download our white paper on Redesigning Work for the Legal Sector or watch our webinar featuring former Linklaters Global Managing Partner, Gideon Moore.