On 8 February 2022, the SRA published a thematic review into law firm culture, focusing on how firms can improve and maintain their workplace culture, ensuring employees feel supported, risks are managed, and clients are protected.
In this three-part video series, we focus on the following key themes coming out of the report:
- Mental health and wellbeing
- Creating a “speak-up” culture
- Supervision and support
As part of its review, the SRA examined how firms support employees in the following areas:
- Managing client pressures
- Management of workload and allocation of work
- Reporting mistakes and near misses
- Supervision, learning and development
- Measuring performance, reward and recognition
- Recognising the signs of poor mental health and helping people to speak out
The SRA survey found that while 75% of individuals in law firms feel mostly content with their workplace culture, a quarter of individuals feel their firm does not have a positive culture. The review highlights how a poor workplace culture can affect not only personal wellbeing but also competence, ethical behaviour and ultimately the standard of service received by clients.
In the first of our three-part video series, Partners Beth Hale and Emma Bartlett focus on mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, in particular:
- Encouraging staff to speak up and report workplace culture issues, and the importance of management leading by example
- Supporting employee wellbeing, including devising and implementing clear strategies and ensuring strong policies and procedures are in place
- Balancing client and employee expectations
- Reminders on working remotely and the wellbeing implications this continues to have for employees
Link to the SRA workplace culture thematic review
If you have any questions in relation to the SRA’s review, or would like to discuss further, please contact Partner and General Counsel Beth Hale, or Partner Emma Bartlett, both of whom specialise in employment and partnership issues for multinational employers, senior executives, partnerships and partners, or Andrew Pavlovic, who specialises in regulatory and professional discipline issues for law firms and partners, high-net-worth individuals, companies, charities and regulators.
