For many Australian lawyers, the days of working in the office between nine-to-five, five days a week, are over. “Courtesy of technological advancements, progressive leadership and, to an extent, the pandemic, employees are able to work away from the office, saving overhead costs, travel time, increasing productivity and overall employee satisfaction,” says Hall & Wilcox partner Fay Calderone
Such accommodations are welcome and necessary. That notwithstanding, the next generation of leaders in law need to deduce the best and most appropriate approaches to these allowances, for the sake of career progression. Those hoping for promotions and other incentives while just working virtually will need to rethink their strategy.
As Hamilton Locke partner Nick Edwards explains, while it is not a prerequisite, those seeking leadership positions “should be aware of the positive impact that being present in the office can have”.
“It is far easier to be noticed for leadership initiatives and build relationships if you are in front of people, both junior and senior peers, which also provides an opportunity for natural collaboration. Putting aside complete lockdowns, most people I am aware of are back in the office at least a few days a week. From what I have seen, those who are continuing to progress are managing a good balance of working remotely and being present in the office,” he details.
Why visibility remains important
There are, of course, some law firms intentionally established with remote workforces. Outside of this, however, reversion to partial or majority time in the office will likely be the case for most law firms, Mr Edwards surmises.
“Albeit COVID-19 has correctly shown that flexibility is very possible and all firms should be accommodating, generally speaking, lawyers are by nature naturally collaborative and benefit from being in an environment, like an office, that fosters that,” he declares.
“The role of a lawyer (save perhaps a sole practitioner) is to work with their peers to produce the best result for their clients. Being able to walk across the floor to a lawyer in a different practice group or bounce ideas around is much easier if you are in the office. As we all find ourselves seeking or needing greater flexibility as a result of the pandemic, a factor in progression will be finding the right balance of remote working and being visible in the office.”
Given how many sole practitioners utilise collaborative co-working spaces, it may also be fair to say that particular demographic also thrives, or will succeed, via in-person interaction.
Lawyers may not be required to be in the office five days a week, but it may be lucrative to be there often enough to glean necessary skills, Ms Calderone hints.
“A skill that is lost when working virtually is the ability to read body language of colleagues and clients when in conversation. You cannot read body language from a screen. Examining such language helps one identify unspoken issues often missed when working virtually. This is especially important for lawyers, particularly when interviewing clients and as a leader to determine then mental and physical state of employees,” she notes. “Another skill which may be gleaned in-person is the ability to socialise. Face-to-face interaction is critical to our wellbeing – working in a physical office fosters human connections which are difficult to replicate online. Working virtually exposes one to the risk of being detached from the day-to-day realities of the business. A leader may see outputs, but be unaware of the emotional state of the team.”
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<h2 class="blue">Proximity bias</h2>
<p>There are also potential downsides to increased uptake of flexible and remote working arrangements by individuals. <a href="#" class="a_text">Former prime minister Julia Gillard noted, on International Women’s Day last year,</a> that she feared women will disproportionately opt to work from home while men will disproportionately choose to go into the office, meaning the latter cohort will be more visible when management hands out promotions and bonuses.</p>
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<h2 class="h2-30">Julia Gillard’s concern for gender equality in law post-pandemic</h2>
<p class="f20">While COVID-19 seemingly opens the door for parity in legal workplaces, the former PM is worried there may actually be setbacks</p>
<p><a href="https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/biglaw/30878-julia-gillard-s-concern-for-gender-equality-post-pandemic" class="a_link_blue">READ MORE</a></p>
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<p>Whether such fears manifest by way of gender splits is yet to be determined. But “proximity bias” – that is, the tendency of leaders to give preferential treatment to those in the immediate vicinity could result in “unfair advantage on career progression” – is a real threat, Ms Calderone declares, notwithstanding the operational ability and entitlement to work in non-traditional ways.</p>
<p>To overcome this, she says, current leaders must become aware of and educate themselves about such proximity bias, and be “deliberate in their response and proactively address this issue within their decision-making process. When the issue of bias is eliminated, the need for visibility in the office to achieve career progression will significantly diminish”.</p>
<p>There is a “swelling body of research”, Ms Calderone continues, together with generational shifts in attitudes, which states that utilising non-traditional working approaches is beneficial for business and employee retention, and that they “ensure employers continue to nurture their culture, train and integrate their employees and more effectively build high performance teams for the future that have access to the best of both worlds”.</p>
<p>“That will not be the case, however, if only those who continue to show up to the office and don’t access flexible work arrangements are praised, rewarded, incentivised and then progress,” she warns.</p>
<p>Another aspect that cannot be ignored, Ms Calderone points out, is that there are lawyers with carers’ responsibilities, disabilities or mental health issues, as well as employees living in areas far from the office, for whom increased time working from home is game-changing, and should not be penalised – especially by employers promoting themselves as inclusive.</p>
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<h2 class="h2-30">Julia Gillard’s concern for gender equality in law post-pandemic</h2>
<p class="f20">While COVID-19 seemingly opens the door for parity in legal workplaces, the former PM is worried there may actually be setbacks</p>
<p><a href="https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/biglaw/30878-julia-gillard-s-concern-for-gender-equality-post-pandemic" class="a_link_blue">READ MORE</a></p>
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“For me, it is about communicating and connecting <span class="highlighted-txt sky-blue-bg">with people. Like the legal practice itself, the very best leaders devote a lot more to it than others might.</span> Leadership is about authenticity, and you cannot be authentic without a significant investment”
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<h2 class="blue">Visibility has many forms</h2>
<p>This all said, McCabe Curwood managing principal Andrew Lacey reminds those coming through the ranks that in-person attendance of the office is but one way to be visible. To be a leader, you must be both visible and available.</p>
<p>“In these more challenging times as we successfully navigate working from home, you have to look for ways to maintain that visibility and ensure you are available. Most of my role as a leader involves me constantly interacting with staff. It is, on one view, easy to do that in the office. Your staff can see you and hear you and assess when is best to speak with you, etc., but when people are working in more flexible ways, it is harder,” he muses.</p>
<p>“The onus is on the leaders to work out ways to communicate and reach out to the staff. You need to do more than just send emails. You need to connect with staff. Future leaders need to be alive to the evolving world we live in and tailor their leadership to the needs of the business. That is what more senior leaders are looking for and that is how you would stand out from the pack.”</p>
<p>As human beings, Mr Lacey goes on, we cannot replace the energy that comes with face-to-face contact, as Zoom conferences do not pick up on needed silent communication. What leaders must do, he argues, is “supplement it and be creative in the way we do it”.</p>
<p>“Many clients we work with in other countries we might rarely if ever meet them in a physical sense but we have to work to gain their trust and ensure we can provide them with the legal services they demand. Some of the lessons learned from those interactions with clients can be applied to staff. It is a lot harder, but we have to adapt,” he suggests.</p>
<p>One could also extrapolate, Ms Calderone says, that the relevance of visibility in the office and its nexus to progression is “diminishing”, as demonstrated by the advent of flexible working allowing the retention of women in the workforce.</p>
<p>This is “especially significant for the next generation of leaders in law, as <a href="#" class="a_text">women comprise of 53 per cent of solicitors practising in Australia”,</a> she notes.</p>
<p>Moreover, Ms Calderone adds, “the future of success will be determined by the ability of a workplace to foster and uphold an inclusive environment rather than on one’s physical presence in the office”. As per the findings of the Diversity Council of Australia Inclusion@Work Index, she says, “an employee within an inclusive environment will be two times more likely to receive regular career development opportunities and nine times more likely to innovate”.</p>
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<h2 class="h2-30">#auslaw becoming bigger and increasingly more female</h2>
<p class="f20">New national research reveals that the size of Australia’s legal profession, and the percentage of women who make it up, are both bigger than ever before.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/biglaw/31914-auslaw-becoming-bigger-and-increasingly-more-female" class="a_link_blue">READ MORE</a></p>
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<h2 class="h2-30">#auslaw becoming bigger and increasingly more female</h2>
<p class="f20">New national research reveals that the size of Australia’s legal profession, and the percentage of women who make it up, are both bigger than ever before.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/biglaw/31914-auslaw-becoming-bigger-and-increasingly-more-female" class="a_link_blue">READ MORE</a></p>
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<h2 class="blue">Striking the right balance</h2>
<p>Depending on the idiosyncratic needs of one’s practice area, finding a good balance between being present and remote working will be important for the next generation of leaders, Mr Edwards says: “It will vary case-by-case, but two key components are garnering support from wider leadership across the firm and being present in your team (whatever that looks like).”</p>
<p>Leadership is an individual concept, Mr Lacey muses, with those in positions of power leading in different ways. One needs to pay heed to one’s strengths, he advises, “but be prepared to push yourself outside of your comfort zones”.</p>
<p>“Everyone is motivated differently and leadership is about getting the best out of everyone, irrespective of their different personalities or styles,” he says.</p>
<p>Ultimately, a one-size-fits-all approach is “not appropriate”, Ms Calderone surmises, and the correct balance will depend on unique characteristics and specific factors, including work ethic and habits and one’s home working environment.</p>
<p>“To ensure integrity in flexible working arrangements and avoiding proximity bias by leaders and lawyers galvanising around if they show up to the office every day, leaders and lawyers at all levels should be encouraged to work from the office and at home, ideally in close to equal proportions, to access the best of both worlds,” she espouses.</p>
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<h2 class="h2-30">Lawyers must be more visible</h2>
<p class="f20">As former general counsel Anna Lozynski explained on The Lawyers Weekly Show, visibility and professional standing can also be achieved with a targeted and sustained social media presence</p>
<p><a class="btn bg-color-light-blue white" href="http://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/podcast/31094-lawyers-must-be-more-visible">LISTEN NOW</a></p>
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<h2 class="blue">Finding one’s leadership path</h2>
<p>As Mr Lacey notes, all lawyers can lead if they want to – one has to determine what kind of leader one wants to be and deduce how best to achieve that.</p>
<p>“For me, it is about communicating and connecting with people. Like the legal practice itself, the very best leaders devote a lot more to it than others might. Leadership is about authenticity, and you cannot be authentic without a significant investment,” he proclaims.</p>
<p>Mr Edwards champions the virtues of honesty with one’s peers, leaders and clients about what is important to one’s self: “Every Wednesday, I take my son to swimming lessons. My team and clients know that, for an hour mid-morning, I am not contactable because I’m chasing a wed toddler. This time is important for me and my son, and because I am honest about what I’m doing, it doesn’t impact my work – it simply gets done before or after.”</p>
<p>As part of this, Ms Calderone adds, existing managers must say to those coming through the ranks that working flexibly or remotely is not, in and of itself, “not a career-limiting move”.</p>
<p>Instead, legal professionals should strive for “perceived proximity”, she says, whereby one’s cognitive and emotional sense of connection affects relationship quality more than physical distance. “To develop this, employees must communicate frequently, cultivate a shared identity and purpose, be dependable, reliable and accessible and connect authentically,” she notes.</p>
<p>Such lessons are not new. As a result, what constitutes leadership success has not evolved since the onset of COVID-19, Mr Edwards submits.</p>
<p>“Success still means being very good at what you do, building rapport with colleagues and developing deep relationships with clients. There may be added challenges over the short-term, but I do think that the medium-long term will see most people back in the offices – just with a bit more flexibility,” he posits.</p>
<p>Mr Lacey supports this: “COVID-19 and its challenges have certainly forced us all to confront a new world quicker than we might have expected, but leadership is still as much about adaptability as it is anything else.”</p>
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<h2 class="h2-30">Lawyers must be more visible</h2>
<p class="f20">As former general counsel Anna Lozynski explained on The Lawyers Weekly Show, visibility and professional standing can also be achieved with a targeted and sustained social media presence</p>
<p><a class="btn bg-color-light-blue white" href="http://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/podcast/31094-lawyers-must-be-more-visible">LISTEN NOW</a></p>
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