QA Michael Greene The message to our partners and team is to be bold and confident

In our latest Q&A, Henry Davis York managing partner Michael Greene discusses the importance of being prepared to road-test new ideas and why strong domestic firms are well placed in a competitive marketplace.

After many years as a leading litigator, you have been in the managing partner’s role at Henry Davis York for about eight months now. How is the new position going?

“It’s hard work, but satisfying and rewarding. The things I most enjoy about the role are the whole-of-firm exposure and getting a deeper understanding of all aspects of the business; the front line and working with the practice group leaders and also working with the business support groups to learn more about the operations of the firm. Working with the leadership team and partnership generally has been very satisfying, in particular developing the firm’s strategic plan. I think I’m through the honeymoon period now, but the first (eight) months have been really good.”

You have been working with the other partners and leaders in the firm to hammer out your strategic plan. Can you tell us about that?

“That’s been challenging, but challenging in a good way. The entire partnership has been involved in the process of developing the strategic plan, which provides a framework for HDY’s purpose and direction. We agreed our purpose is to transform ideas and knowledge into outcomes that matter to our clients, our people and our community. We are passionate about this.

“We will do this through achieving our vision of being a market-leading, dynamic and diverse firm – a firm that grows through a commitment to the success of our clients and people, (with) a focus on innovation, providing outstanding client service and at all times being true to our values. It’s great when you see the work you’ve done in recent months getting some traction and people starting to use some of the language that we’ve been using in the growth of strategic areas and our focus.”

What objectives have been set for HDY to achieve its vision?

“We are focusing our efforts on our six strategic objectives. The first and second objectives are very much around determining the strategic growth of our business and looking at it through the eyes of our clients’ success because their success is our success. So how can we continue to do that and develop our strategic client portfolio, particularly our geographic expansion in Brisbane and in Canberra going forward? How do we develop a client base in those jurisdictions as well? And how do we look at new client opportunities and get structures in place within the firm to make sure that we are identifying and pursuing those new client opportunities?

“A third area of focus for us is our client service delivery and making that a point of differentiation in a very competitive marketplace. How do we make HDY stand out and really try to own that client service profile? We have a well-deserved reputation around our people and culture. They are two things that we hold very dear and they are interconnected.

“Our fourth objective is to make sure that we have strategies in place to invest in our people – to ensure that they feel they have opportunities in the firm to grow and develop and to have a successful and fulfilling career. We are also focused on being true to our core values around excellence, teamwork, collaboration, integrity and respect and really making sure they feature in all that we are doing strategically as a business.

“A fifth area is around engaging with the community and making sure prominence is given to the work that we do both with our legal staff, including pro bono support, making sure we reach our pro bono hours target and looking for opportunities to partner with our clients. We also want to provide legal and non-legal staff opportunities to be involved in fulfilling community engagement activities. The last of the six objectives is operational efficiency – being the most productive and efficient business we can be and determining the drivers around that.”

What are your employees saying about the new strategic plan?

“We’re getting positive feedback from our people that they like our vision and the six objectives being clearly defined. They can all see a role for themselves and, in some cases, many roles for themselves in terms of the delivery of these objectives.”

There has been a significant power shift in favour of clients. How should law firms respond to this trend?

“There are two ways to go. One is making sure that, through listening to our clients, we have a very clear understanding of what they want from us and how we can really support them to be successful. Our strategic client relationships are very close. We have an intimate knowledge of the ins and outs of their businesses so we can make sure that we give them exactly what they are after in ways that can really help drive their business or their policy objectives.

“(Second), this trend has really forced us to have a sharp focus on our own operational efficiency and that’s exactly how it should be. Our clients are absolutely entitled to expect that we are driving efficiencies in our business in the same way that they are in theirs. That’s why operational efficiency is one of the six pillars of our strategy – whether it is through using technology as an enabler or looking at our own systems internally. (It’s about) making sure we continue to deliver that the highest quality service as efficiently as possible but, also importantly, as cost-effectively as possible.”

What are the key management challenges you are facing?

“Well, the ongoing challenge of being able to provide a high level of expertise and service in a cost-effective way. But equal to that from a management perspective is recognition of the highly mobile labour market we’re in at the moment in the legal profession at all levels. Partner movement is unprecedented. We’ve been impacted by that and we’ve been a beneficiary of that at the same time. It’s a very big challenge to be constantly engaging the hearts and minds of all of your partners, lawyers and business support teams, as well as looking to recruit the best grads and to keep them for as long as possible.”

How can HDY stand out from the pack?

“One thing I’ve been instilling in our partners and team generally – and they have embraced it – is the idea of being prepared to try to do some things differently. We need to embrace the idea of challenging the status quo in all respects in terms of how we operate as a business, where we look for strategic growth and how we service the needs of our clients. The message to our partners and team is to be bold and confident – be prepared to try something different and road test some new ideas and new thinking within the firm. And then share those ideas with our clients and ask them what they’re doing as well. It should be a true partnership with our clients.”

So there’s a real place for innovation.

“Indeed, quite deliberately that word features very prominently in the vision that we have for our firm. While I do think we’ve embraced innovation in the past, we have very deliberately given it a headline in our new vision as we go forward in the same way as we talk about being dynamic, market-leading and wanting to be a diverse business from a people perspective.”

Do you bring particular management philosophies to the managing partner role?

“It would be very arrogant of me to say that I’ve got it all sorted out after eight months, particularly when there are many other managing partners of law firms that I have great respect for who have been doing this for a lot longer than me. But some of the philosophies I have brought into my role from my other leadership positions are just what I’ve learnt over years of practice. The number one thing is never taking people and clients for granted. I think that is a good philosophy regardless of your role and particularly in a leadership role when you are leading a firm of almost 400 people and when you are in a client-oriented and client-service environment.”

Do you take your cues from any particular role models?

“I’ve had some great professional and personal role models, but there is one who I would focus on – and thankfully he is still one of our partners, Philip Crawford. Philip has had a very long and successful legal career and has become one of Australia’s pre-eminent banking and insolvency lawyers. He’s our chairman of partners and has instilled in all of us over the years (the importance of) investing in long-term relationships with clients and trying to get that intimate understanding of the clients.

“Philip recruited me to the firm back in 1993 and instilled that approach in us from day one – and he has practised this strong client philosophy. The clients’ problems became Philip’s problems. The clients knew that and they felt comfortable with that and it’s no surprise that he has just become an accredited mediator because these are the types of skills that Philip brings to problem-solving.

“He has also shown me the power of investing in your people and supporting them and their success. I sit here today as one of the beneficiaries of Philip’s philosophy because he has always supported me. He supported me to the partnership, he supported me as a partner and he supported me as a leader of the firm, but it has always come back to that underlying philosophy of never taking people or clients for granted.”

After the initial influx of multinational firms into Australia, some strong domestic firms are finding that they have some advantages over the international players. What is your view?

“I think that is the case. The entry of the multinationals has shaken up the market, particularly partner movement. But there has been a bit of a strike-back and we are part of that. Recent history has shown that there is still a very clear role and a clear need for quality domestic firms, whether they be national or not; ones that know what they are good at and stick to that.

“With clients, while they recognise that there is a role for international firms, some don’t necessarily look to that option, including many of our current clients who are very happy with the work that were doing with them. So we are very well placed. The key is to know what you are good at and to know what strategy best suits your firm and where you want to be seen in the market and being true to that.”

And where does HDY fit into the picture?

“The focus for us is on being a market-leading law firm in the areas in which we focus our business – financial services, government, infrastructure and other areas that have an alignment with our current client base. We want to make sure that we continue to evolve as a business and set up ourselves for long-term success.”

Do you have any final messages?

“The challenge for all leaders is to pick the business model that best suits your business and the one that best resonates with your clients and with your people. Work out what that direction is and then pursue it with an absolute laser focus while being open to the idea of making changes along the way. That overarching philosophy will stand you in good stead.”