In-House Counsel

Being A Human Being, Or: Millennials Expect More

More now than in the past, people think that big institutions can maintain a personal touch. Do this to retain millennials.

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How did we do it way back when?

“You want me to thank an associate?  Are you kidding me?  It’s their job to do the work.  We pay them; we don’t have to thank them.

“Clients don’t thank you.  Judges don’t thank you.  No one thanks you.  You do what you’re supposed to do, and you get on with it.  Are you kidding me?”

What do millennials expect today?

“I know that I work at a big institution.  But people can still relate to people.  If I stayed up all night working on a project, the partner could say ‘thank you.’  It’s not such a big deal, and it would encourage me to stay at the firm.”

The millennials are right.

(Twice in my life, clients said thank you.  Once with a case of wine (in 1985); once with a fancy watch (in 1997).  Now, decades later, I remember both occasions.  Doesn’t that tell you something?)

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It’s not so hard to have a heart.

First, you can do it personally.  Just remember to say “thank you.”  Be couth.  When the bounceback message says that the associate is out of the office for a wedding and a honeymoon, pause to be a human being.  It doesn’t take so long to type back, “I’ll talk to you when you’re back in the office.  Congratulations on your wedding, and enjoy your time away!”

You just have to remember this. You can do it.

Second, you can also create institutional heart.

At my joint, we have a person in each department who tracks birthdays and work anniversaries.  One day before the event, that person sends around an email:  “Tomorrow is Fred’s birthday.”  Or:  “Tomorrow is the tenth anniversary of Susan starting to work here.”  That gives everyone the chance to say (or write) something to mark the occasion.

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That’s really not very personal.  It doesn’t take much time to set up the system.  And everyone knows that it’s a system:  After all, for every birthday other than your own, you’re receiving the reminder email.  But it still causes us to mark special occasions.

You can think about this in one of three ways.

First, this is just being polite.  I don’t care how big and bad your law firm (or law department) is; you can still recognize special days in your employees’ lives.

Second, this is responding to the desires of today’s workforce.  More now than in the past, people think that big institutions can maintain a personal touch.  Do this to retain millennials.

Finally, this increases your employees’ job satisfaction.  Happy employees will work harder, and stay at their jobs for longer, than unhappy employees.  Even if you’re just thinking about costs and benefits, the cost of sending around “Happy Birthday!” notes is negligible, and the benefit can be that a few employees will stick around for an extra year or two, reducing employee turnover.

Being polite is the right thing to do.  Your mother told you so.

Not only that:  It’s not very hard, and it gives you a good return on investment.

So do it.

Thank you.

Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and is now responsible for litigation and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Inside Straight: Advice About Lawyering, In-House And Out, That Only The Internet Could Provide (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.

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