By Lisa-Jane Curtis (MSc 2018/19)

A huge amount has been written about Millennials in the workplace. They have been the subject of plenty of negative press and a quick search on Google will be bring up the popular stereotypes of Millennials as “entitled” and “lazy”. Millennial lawyers are not immune to this criticism and are perceived in some quarters as less committed to their job than previous generations, more interested in lifestyle rather than hard work and reluctant to pursue partnership as a career goal.

Millennials are broadly identified as those born between 1980 and 1995 and currently aged between 24 and 39. The impending retirement of the older generations of partners has increased the resolve of City law firms to attract and retain the next generation of Millennial talent in order to survive in an increasingly competitive, global market. Legal staff turnover in the top City law firms is higher than expected compared to other similar organisations providing professional services (PwC Law Firm Survey, 2019) and is particularly high for lawyers aged between 24-35 (Law Society Survey, 2015). Given it costs around £40,000 to replace legal professionals (Oxford Economics, 2014) meeting the expectations of Millennial lawyers in the workplace is even more crucial.

What do Millennial lawyers want?

Millennial lawyers want more than simply the kudos of working on high calibre matters with prestigious clients. They also want a positive workplace culture, and to understand why decisions are made. They value transparency around career and compensation decisions and prefer a more collegiate and collaborative working environment (Andert, 2011). A recent study has indicated that they are frustrated by a lack of information, particularly in relation to the partnership selection process and remuneration, and this makes it hard for them to commit to partnership as a career goal (Curtis, 2019).

When you consider the societal context in which Millennials have reached adulthood, e.g. major world events such as the economic downturn of 2008 just at the outset of their careers, it may be unsurprising that Millennials prefer to prioritise work-life balance. These events have influenced them to focus on having a life and not living just for work (McDonald & Hite, 47 2008). However, Millennial research also shows that they do not have less of a work ethic than previous generations, but instead seek a work/life blend and fluidity between the two aspects of their life and desire more flexibility in the way in which they carry out their work (Eddy, Schweitzer & Lyons, 2010).

Millennial lawyers also highly value flexible working and appreciate the trust shown by their employer in allowing them this flexibility. This, in turn, enhances their feelings of loyalty and impacts their turnover intentions (Deloitte, 2018). They expect law firms to invest in the technology that makes it possible and to embed a policy of flexible working within the organisation.

Opportunities for self-development are also highly prized (Eddy et al, 2010). Given the uncertainty and length of time it takes to make partnership, they want to make sure they take every opportunity to obtain skills and experience for a potential career outside of a law firm. This can also increase their feelings of having a rounded life-experience and keeps up their motivation and interest during the increasingly long time it takes to become a partner (Curtis, 2019).

Millennials have been shown to prioritise inclusion and diversity (Deloitte, 2018). Diversity appears to be understood in a very broad sense beyond simple demographics and embraces difference and alternative ways of thinking (Deloitte, 2018). Recent research indicates that Millennials lawyers also value diversity in respect of working patterns and lifestyle priorities (Curtis, 2019). Millennial lawyers would like to have role models in the partnership that they can identify with and who demonstrate that it is possible to combine the lifestyle that they aspire to have with the demands of the job. The Millennial lawyers in this study, whether male or female, largely indicated an active desire to participate fully in family life. The lack of positive lifestyle role models appears to impact significantly on the decision of both male and female Millennial lawyers as to whether they should make partnership a career goal.

How can a City law firm attract and retain the best Millennial talent?

 • Millennial lawyers highly value working flexibly and investment in the necessary technology and training to support this. Flexible working policies should be embedded in the culture of the firm and partners should adopt flexible ways of working to demonstrate commitment to the policy.

• Millennial lawyers want the right balance between work and home-life. Radically different approaches could be considered by law firms to address the work-life balance preferences of Millennials, such as allowing lawyers to individually contract with the firm for the hours they are prepared to work or being hired on a project-by-project basis.

• Millennial lawyers appreciate a team-focussed and collegiate approach, and they prefer more frequent and regular feedback on their performance from the partners. Partners should consider adopting an ongoing coaching approach with Millennial lawyers, developing informal mentoring relationships and giving regular feedback rather than relying solely on annual performance reviews.

How can a City Law firm encourage partnership aspirations amongst its pool of Millennial talent?

• Partnerships should be more transparent about the partnership process even with relatively junior associates. The secrecy and opaque decision-making deters associates from being able to commit to partnership as a career goal.

• The preferences of Millennial lawyers present a significant challenge to the highly structured linear career path offered by City law firms. They want to see positive role models within the partnership who live the kind of lifestyle they would aspire to. Fundamental changes to the traditional partnership model and remuneration structure are required to make partnerships more diverse and representative of a range of different ways of working.

Conclusions

Some researchers question if there is such a great difference between what Millennials and other generations want from work (Zaharee, Lipkie, Mehlman, & Neylon, 2018). Many of the workplace preferences of Millennials may also be valued by non-Millennials. For example non-Millennials have also been shown to value positive workplace culture, regular feedback and flexible working (PwC, 2013). By making changes to accommodate the preferences of Millennial lawyers, it seems that even non-Millennials will appreciate the benefits.

References

Andert, D. (2011). Alternating leadership as a proactive organizational intervention: Addressing the needs of the Baby Boomers, Generation Xers and Millennials, Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 8(4), 67.

 Curtis, L.J. (2019) “What do Millennial lawyers want from their career in a City law firm?”, A Qualitative Study. (Unpublished masters thesis). City, University of London.

Deloitte Millennial Surveys retrieved on 30.11.19 from www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/millennialsurvey.html

Eddy S. W. Ng, Schweitzer, L., & Lyons, S. T. (2010). New generation, great expectations: A field study of the millennial generation. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), 281-292 Law Society Survey (2015) retrieved on 15.10.19 from https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/research-trends/careersatisfaction-report-2015

McDonald, K. S., & Hite, L. M. (2008). The next generation of career success: Implications for HRD, Advances in Developing Human Resources, 10(1), 86-103. Oxford Economics (2014) retrieved on 30.11.19 from https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/recent-releases/the-cost-of-brain-drain

PwC Annual Law Firms Survey (2019) retrieved on 30.11.19 from https://www.pwc.co.uk/industries/law-firms/pwc-law-firms-survey-report-2019.pdf

PwC Next Gen Study retrieved on 30.19.19 from https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/hrmanagement-services/pdf/pwc-nextgen-study-2013.pdf

Zaharee, M., Lipkie, T., Mehlman, S. K., & Neylon, S. K. (2018). Recruitment and retention of early-career technical talent: What young employees want from employers: A study of the workplace attributes that attract early-career workers suggests that millennials may not be so different from earlier generations. Research-Technology Management, 61(5), 51-61