Case studies
Positive action: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Freshfields, like many other leading professional services firms, does not retain enough of the talented women it goes to great lengths to find. The firm's competitive edge relies on recruiting and retaining the best people; so failing to retain and develop a significant number of our female lawyers means wasted investment, a restricted talent pool for promotion and a less innovative and creative approach to our work.
The firm's most senior executive body therefore endorsed an action plan to improve the retention and development of female talent; one key strand of this was a gender-tailored development programme.
The development of the Strategic Excellence programme
Aspire, an internationally recognised and award-winning leader in executive coaching, leadership development, consultancy, events and research related to women as leaders, was commissioned by the firm in 2009 to undertake some initial research.
Aspire conducted in-depth interviews with a selection of associates, partners and clients of both genders to identify the real and perceived barriers to women's progression in the firm. The results were used, in conjunction with the results of employee engagement surveys and other academic and professional services studies (including work by Catalyst, CERAM , McKinsey and Ernst & Young) to work out where the programme's focus should lie.
The importance of role models, a concern among women that it would be impossible to combine work and family commitments at a senior level and the complicated issue of the effects of unconscious bias were the prime issues informing the creation of the modules.
Structure of the programme
The programme comprises four modules, which cover key stages in the careers of our women associates and conclude with a partner-level programme. The associate programmes are being piloted in London , while the partner programme involves partners from five jurisdictions around the world.
- Partner-level: a year-long 1:1 coaching programme with a senior external coach. The programme works in two ways ? first to support the professional and personal development of our women partners, but also to ensure awareness of the importance of visible role models and to support the facilitation of culture change.
- Senior associate: a year-long small-group coaching programme with a focus on strategic thinking, assertive communication, leadership skills and becoming a role model. Participants attend workshops at the beginning, middle and end of the year, with coaching calls in between, some of them with senior leaders in the firm.
- Mid-ranking associate: a small-group programme lasting six months and involving a senior sponsor from within the firm with a specific project related to business need, plus personal and professional development planning, and an understanding of relevant stakeholder engagement.
- Junior associate: a half-day workshop designed to enable those starting out on their careers to raise their profile and maximise their impact with confidence. Each participant has a follow-up 1:1 mentoring session with a woman partner to offer a broader perspective on their learning and an internal sounding board.
Assessment
The first junior associate programme ran in March; the first senior associate programme in May; and the pilot mid-ranking programme was launched in June. It is therefore not possible yet to analyse the impact on retention and development.
However, feedback has been very positive: "It has reinvigorated me and reminded me why I love this job" (partner); "The journey we took in [the launch workshop] would have taken months to cover in ?normal' life" (senior associate); "It was an amazing opportunity for me to hear what x thinks of ways to improve your career progression" (junior associate on mentoring session).