In this episode, I talk about annual reviews. This topic might be cringy to many people because the idea reminds lawyers of sitting down to be evaluated or critiqued. While that is undoubtedly the customary way of doing an annual review, I want to give you a framework for actually thinking about annual reviews differently. 

 

Law firm owners are not only trying to create the right culture and create sustainability in business, but they are also trying to create a value proposition for retaining promising talents. And a big part of employee retention is about meeting the needs of employees and the firm's needs contemporaneously.

 

Tune in to today's episode to learn more.

 

In this episode we discuss:

• Meeting the needs of both the employee and the firm.
• Building a culture in your law firm.
• The importance of changing our point of view regarding the annual review.
• 9 Questions to ask in an annual review that will get the best qualitative answers.
• How every time you approach your employees, you’re having a sales conversation.
• Differentiating needs over opportunities while communicating with your employees.
• Building employee loyalty by meeting their needs.
• Reaffirming that value systems are in alignment with what your law firm has as a value system that will give you both a win-win.

 

Bio:

Allison C. Williams, Esq., is Founder and Owner of the Williams Law Group, LLC, with offices in Short Hills and Freehold, New Jersey. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney and is the first attorney in New Jersey to become Board-Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in the field of Family Law. 

 

Ms. Williams is an accomplished businesswoman. In 2017, the Williams Law Group won the LawFirm500 award, ranking 14th of the fastest growing law firms in the nation, as Ms. Williams grew the firm 581% in three years. Ms. Williams won the Silver Stevie Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017.  In 2018, Ms. Williams was voted as NJBIZ’s Top 50 Women in Business and was designated one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. In 2019, Ms. Williams won the Seminole 100 Award for founding one of the fastest growing companies among graduates of Florida State University.

 

In 2018, Ms. Williams created Law Firm Mentor, a business coaching service for lawyers.  She helps solo and small law firm attorneys grow their business revenues, crush chaos in business and make more money.  Through multi-day intensive business retreats, group and one-to-one coaching, and strategic planning sessions, Ms. Williams advises lawyers on all aspects of creating, sustaining and scaling a law firm business – and specifically, she teaches them the core foundational principles of marketing, sales, personnel management, communications and money management in law firms. 

 

Contacts 

Contact Law Firm Mentor:

Scheduler: https://meetme.so/LawFirmMentor  

Free resource: https://lawfirmmentor.net/getting-prospects-to-yes/

 

Snip-Its

32:32 (26 sec)

I don't want you to think about that as a loss, like, oh my God. I just found out that my employees are not happy. They don't want to do what we're practicing here. I'm going to lose this person even though this person is good at what they do. Because the reality is, if someone is not satisfied in the work that they do, they're a risk. They're a risk to the quality that they will bring to your law firm. They're a risk to the clients that they will serve. They're a risk to you. And that's the last thing that you want, right? You want to free that person, not fire that person.