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HOW TO PREVENT IMPOSTER SYNDROME IN YOUR LAW FIRM

Imposter Syndrome
Professionals in highly stressed occupations are more likely to experience imposter syndrome

The term ‘imposter syndrome” was first coined in 1970 by clinical psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes. It describes the experience of successful individuals who feel they are not deserving of their success. These individuals are constantly waiting to be exposed as “frauds.”

Although imposter syndrome is in every profession, it is particularly prevalent in high-pressure careers. This is likely due to the competitive nature of legal and medical jobs and the high expectations placed on lawyers and doctors to perform at a consistently high level.

Law Firms and Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome can harm both individual lawyers and the legal profession as a whole. For individual lawyers, imposter syndrome leads to feelings of anxiety and self-doubt, which may affect job performance. Additionally, this syndrome can make lawyers less likely to take risks in their practice or be innovative because they fear being exposed as “not good enough”. Imposter syndrome can also create a work environment where employees do not feel comfortable sharing initiatives or ideas, thereby stifling creativity and innovation.

Steps to Prevent

Creating a supportive work culture to combat imposter syndrome in the legal sector is vital. A positive work culture is one in which employees feel comfortable taking risks and trying new things. One way to prevent this syndrome is to implement an in-house action plan. The action plan should be tailored to legal recruits and encourage positive work culture. Mentorship programs can also provide support for new employees who are struggling with trying to find their place and identity in a new work environment. Finally, by taking these steps, the legal profession can create a more welcoming environment for all incoming recruits and improve the turnover rate for prospects. 

At Strategic Recruitment Solutions, your success is our success. Our reputation for client satisfaction results from our commitment to clients’ objectives and beyond. We are the legal and tech recruiting firm for top employers in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and the Gulf Region. Our focus is on building long-term relationships with companies that employ the highest-quality professionals. Call us today at 888-366-6508. We can help you find the best fit to join a legal or IT team.

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POSITIVE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCES INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFIT

Strategic Recruitment Solutions - Employees
Employees who are engaged are happy employees!

Did you know that are not engaged or actively disengaged cost employers 7.8 trillion dollars in lost productivity last year? According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report, only 21 percent of the world’s employees were engaged at work. Employers who make engagement the controlling factor in day-to-day operations stand out from their competitors. Employee engagement translates to:

  • 10% higher customer loyalty/engagement
  • 23% higher profitability
  • 18% higher productivity (sales)
  • 14% higher productivity (production records and evaluations)
  • 18% lower turnover for high-turnover organizations (those with more than 40% annualized turnover)
  • 43% lower turnover for low-turnover organizations (those with 40% or lower annualized turnover)

Employee Productivity Equals Profit 

Employees who associate positive feelings with the workplace are by far more productive. One reason is that workers who are enthusiastic and passionate about their work spend less time on distractions.

 Studies show that employers who create a positive work experience are more likely to see a profit. Companies with a high employee engagement have 41 percent less absenteeism and 17 percent more productivity.

Specific to Law firms 

COVID and the Great Resignation combined to create a scarcity of talent. As a result, many more law firms are finding it harder to hire and retain associates and paralegals in today’s highly competitive environment.

Law firms have been transitioning since 2018 when according to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal sector reported a loss of 1,400 in January and February alone. Legal staff cited time demands and a toxic culture as the main reasons they left their jobs, while associates wanted more respect, collegiality, and kindness.

If your firm is experiencing a higher-than-average turnover rate, it may be time to consider the following five factors for employee retention.

  1. Inclusion is Crucial

When an employer commits to diversity, this helps to improve the overall employee experience. However, an effective dedication to inclusion and diversity must be genuine.

Though employers may say they’re dedicated to inclusion, it’s easy to leave implicit biases unchecked that may be more obvious to the employee. After all, they are directly affected by decisions informed by possible bias. A genuine commitment to inclusion involves a philosophy in which all employees and their unique experiences inspire each other to go the extra mile for the firm. An employer must be willing to examine its cultural blind spots and address unconscious bias to implement these ideas.

  1. Value Employees 

Employees who feel valued are likely to go the extra mile. By showing interest in your employees and getting to know them, you will learn which projects they enjoy and their aspirations for their career growth. Another way to show you value an employee is to acknowledge their work publicly.

  1. Provide paths to progression

According to the NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education and its 2021 survey of 126 law firms, pre-COVID associate hiring decreased by nearly 50% between 2019 and 2020.

Engagement research outside the legal arena suggests that systems with clear paths for progression, measurable progress, benchmarks, etc., align with what people want right now. Lawyers are likelier to thrive when leaders set clear expectations and pathways to advance.

  1. Build Trust With Your Employees 

Trust builds over time. Employees want to work for people with integrity. Always maintain a professional and ethical environment and when you are wrong, admit it. Building trust allows you to have difficult conversations without damaging relationships.

  1. Support Mental Health

Did you know that, during the pandemic, more than one-third of Americans exhibited clinical anxiety and depression? This statistic is alarming for the legal profession, whose numbers were already high. Anxiety, depression, stress, and substance abuse are no strangers to the legal profession. When you create a psychologically safe space for employees to speak up and be themselves, you create a healthy work environment. Your firm can also encourage a balanced lifestyle, respectful behavior towards others, and valuing diversity.

The world has changed. Today’s associates have different wants and needs. If you want to win the talent war, you’ll want to take the right steps to help your firm be the law firm of choice.

At Strategic Recruitment Solutions, your success is our success. Our reputation for client satisfaction results from our commitment to clients’ objectives and beyond. We are the legal and tech recruiting firm for top employers in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and the Gulf Region. Our focus is on building long-term relationships with companies that employ the highest-quality professionals. Call us today at 888-366-6508. We can help you find the best fit to join a legal or IT team.

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AVOIDING THE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT TRAP

Steering recruits away from potential job misery is one way to avoid the employee engagement trap.


We’ve learned several lessons about healthy work culture due to the pandemic’s effects on the workplace. One of the issues that continue to worsen is employee engagement. Accordingly, a recent Gallup poll reports a pattern of declining engagement, with only 32% of full and part-time employees reporting themselves as “engaged.” 17% of those polled described themselves as “actively disengaged.”

The “engagement trap” is sprung over the first five years of employment, with research from Leadership IQ reporting that the percentage of highly engaged employees at an organization can drop from 37% to 22%. Also, the percentage of actively disengaged employees often doubles in that time.

Recruiters would prefer that their candidates retain their positive attitude when entering a new role. With these statistics in mind, here are a few suggestions for both recruiters and employers regarding the employee engagement trap.

Identify the Problem: Consider the “Three Factors for Job Misery”

Patrick M. Lencioni’s book, “The Truth About Employee Engagement: A Fable About Addressing the Three Root Causes of Job Misery,” identifies three factors that cause job misery.

First is anonymity, where an employee feels invisible and underappreciated. Second is irrelevance, defined as “not seeing the connection between their work and the satisfaction of another person or group of people.” Finally, Lencioni names a factor he coined himself “immeasurement,” or lacking the ability to measure one’s progress.

Lencioni advises employers to start by taking a personal interest in their employees as people. For instance, most employees see a bump in self-fulfillment by feeling “known” to their employer.  To illustrate, employees don’t feel anonymous when an employer recognizes birthdays, remembers news about their families, and validates their hobbies.

Additionally, reminders that employees are serving others and not only themselves present opportunities for workers to regain touch. When people see their work’s effects, they’re less likely to feel “irrelevant.” Moreover, every employee should be able to answer, “Who am I helping and how am I helping?” As an employer, you can offer them a foundation to arrive at that answer.

Revisit Past Recruits

The candidates you helped through the hiring process years ago are an invaluable resource for disarming the employee engagement trap for incoming candidates. For instance, ask them about their frustrations, what motivated and discouraged them, and ask them to describe what about their job didn’t live up to the expectations they had during recruitment. Afterward, when you have this research, apply it to realistically shaping incoming recruits’ expectations.

Furthermore, you might also want to look at your recruiting data. What’s the state of your referrals? If you find that referrals from employees are at an all-time low, this may be a sign that employees are feeling so underappreciated that they wouldn’t wish their job on anyone and refuse to refer someone.

Once you’ve located the problem areas with employee engagement, you can persuade management to participate in dedicated employee engagement initiatives. In a word, dissatisfied employees cost far more money and time than investing in a healthy, engaged workforce.

At Strategic Recruitment Solutions, your success is our success. Our reputation for client satisfaction results from our commitment to clients’ objectives and beyond. We are the legal and tech recruiting firm for top employers in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and the Gulf Region. Our focus is on building a long-term relationship with companies that employ the highest-quality professionals. Call us today at 888-366-6508. We can help you find the best fit to join a legal or IT team.