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Performance In The Law Department Human resources in the law department By Richard G. Stock performance management program Learning progresses from the first phase of position Afor lawyers should be aligned with • by transferring knowledge, skills and descriptions and classifications (including how a company reconciles its strategic tools to users of the law department that key responsibilities, indicators and behav- business requirements and individual reduce dependency for routine and non- iours) to the second phase of setting annual (lawyer) needs for “career progression”. complex matters. objectives (with the related measures,targets The continuum typically consists of: • through a competency advancement pro- and initiatives) for teams and individuals.At • position descriptions and competencies gram which allows a law department to times, the competencies required for some • goal-setting anticipate and support the organization’s of the companies which we surveyed were • training and development strategic plan and priorities. found in goal-setting and performance • compensation Leadership appraisal materials. As one general counsel • career management • by taking on the most complex and dif- termed it,“we were looking for an objective ficult legal cases/matters confronting the way to measure a subjective contribution.” Legal resources as intellectual capital organization either as lead counsel or as Legal services are fundamentally a form of co-counsel. Linkage to competencies intellectual capital. Law departments and • by assuming a leading role in a non-legal At least six departments surveyed tied the external counsel are involved with virtu- capacity for objectives, programs or proj- annual, personal objectives (goals) directly ally every aspect of activity within an ects of strategic value to the organization to the competencies needed to achieve the organization. However, like financial cap- as found in business unit plans. Initiatives optimal contribution of their “human ital, intellectual capital must be leveraged here should dominate the law depart- resources”.These departments begin in the if it is to be strategic and if it is to add ment’s priorities each year. fall of each year with strategic corporate value. Otherwise, it will erode. Performance excellence goals,translated into objectives for the gen- Four elements should be retained to • by using Key Performance Indicators eral counsel,and from there to each lawyer anchor a law department’s program for its (KPIs) which measure the effectiveness of in the legal department. own human resources. In some cases, a the law department as a group. variety of initiatives found in law depart- • by being an“early adopter”of the organi- Weighting ments can serve as an example to the zation’s initiatives for advanced perform- Because of strategic business priorities,and remainder of the organization. ance management in the near term. for reasons of variable compensation,goals will usually be weighted. In the case of Contemporary workplace It follows that a law department can one department, the weighting is locked • through the appropriate deployment of then select two initiatives for each of the into the job description. In another case, legal services dealing with labour, employ- four elements in support of a focused the proportions vary with the goals ment, FOI, privacy, human rights, restruc- human resources strategy to better leverage assigned to other members of the depart- turing and work safety-related issues across the contribution of the law department. ment. At times, the weighting is decided the organization.These are essential build- These initiatives should be accompanied between the general counsel and the ing blocks of a contemporary workplace. by quarterly status reports to management department member. • by creating an environment in the law against measurable results. Number of objectives ISTOCKPHOTO department which succeeds in recruit- Goal-setting There is a tendency to establish fewer ing and retaining top-tier, experienced objectives (from 4 to 6),with more specific, The performance management continuum legal talent. AUTOMNE 2011 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 9