Latest news – Law firms in hiring mood; Disruption under the microscope; The high cost of toxic workers

Legal employers lead search for talent

Just over half of legal employers are seeking to increase their employee numbers this year, despite a tough legal services market, according to a new report. The Hudson Report: Forward Focus 2016 surveys the hiring expectations of 3793 employers and reveals that 51 per cent of legal bosses are planning to grow their ranks in 2016 – more than any other profession.

The report lists the legal sector as one of the top three professions most eager for new employees, along with human resources (37 per cent) and financial services (36 per cent). However, the news is not all good for employers, with the report indicating that many workers will be trying to find new jobs this year. The key findings in the survey include:

• 9 out of 10 Australian employers plan to increase or maintain their permanent headcount in the first half of 2016
• 6 in 10 Australian professionals are looking for a new job.

Dean Davidson, executive general manager, Hudson Australia & New Zealand, says some of the hiring will be the result of pent-up demand as many organisations have tried to make do with less for as long as possible. While the main reason companies are adding headcount is to grow (50 per cent), almost a third are addressing an increased workload. Not surprisingly, salary tops the list of what professionals want in a new role, followed by work-life balance. However, dissatisfaction with a job is not primarily to do with money; boredom and a lack of career progression top the list of employee gripes.

Study to assess impact of disruptive innovation

Australian researchers are set to test the big issues facing the legal sector around disruptive innovation and explore strategies on how firms should deal with such change. The aim of their study is to help law firms make more informed decisions about how to maximise efficiency while protecting client interests. Vicki Waye and Jane Knowler from the Law School at the University of South Australia and Martie-Louise Verreynne and John Steen from the University of Queensland Business School have joined forces to undertake the research. Areas of relevance to the legal profession to be covered in the study will include:

• key drivers of innovation in the Australian legal profession; for example, suppliers such as legal software providers
• areas of innovation; for example, around pricing, service delivery, firms’ organisation, marketing, strategy or business processes
• the distribution of innovation
• degrees of innovation; for example, whether it is efficiency oriented without restructuring a business model, or whether it involves a radical change of the model
• the impact of innovation in the market on law firms and their behaviour.

The researchers note that panic is rising that the legal profession may face a fate similar to the print newspaper industry as technological advances allow routine legal work to be automated and new business models facilitate commoditisation of service delivery. “The spectre of artificial intelligence that can replace the traditional advisory role played by law firms and computerise dispute resolution also threatens to undermine existing business practice,” they write.

The researchers believe that by assessing the drivers of innovation, and the breadth and depth of innovation, the Australian legal profession will be better able to determine whether it is in a state of disruptive innovation, and, if it is, to make more informed decisions as to how to maximise efficiency while protecting client interests, the rule of law and the interests of the profession overall.  The research will involve participation in a brief online survey.  If you would like to participate in the survey and contribute to greater understanding of innovation in the Australian legal services market, please click on this link. Further information about the research is available here.

‘Toxic workers’ come at a hefty price

The cost of “toxic” employees in an office has become a lot clearer following a recent Harvard Business School study. The research paper, called Toxic Workers, describes such workers as “overconfident”, “unethical” and “corrupt”, and suggests they can ultimately cost a business millions of dollars in lost productivity and profits. They typically destroy morale and often result in good staff members starting to consider leaving a firm.

According to the HBS paper, toxic workers are so damaging to the bottom line that avoiding them or getting rid of them delivers twice the value to a company that hiring a superstar performer does. While a top 1 per cent worker may return US$5303 in cost savings to a company through increased output, avoiding a toxic hire will net an estimated US$12,489, the study suggests. That figure does not include savings from avoiding litigation, regulatory penalties or decreased productivity.