Impact story: how Moore Barlow’s holistic approach to partners’ contribution spotlights D&I

The challenge

While there were clear synergies between the two cultures pre-merger, no two cultures are ever the same.

An example of this was the partner appraisal system, with one being performance-based profit share and the other less HR-led and more ‘entrepreneurial’.

We wanted to take the best bits from each and for the merged firm to have its own identity, with a culture reflecting the firms newly co-created values and to be clear from the outset on what good looks like in terms of behaviours.

As an all-equity partnership, we genuinely wanted to reward what each person brings to the firm.

The action taken

We created a Leader Contribution Framework against which to measure each partner’s performance.

Most firms weight such things heavily in favour of client service and business development.

We allocate 50% to that, but one-third is weighted towards leadership and culture, with the rest being for technical/risk/compliance.

A whole section on diversity and inclusion falls within this leadership and culture pillar, which rewards partners for leading and sustaining an inclusive workplace in their own practice through to creating and leading firm-wide inclusivity and diversity initiatives.

We also expect our partners to embody our four values, which include:

• human first – putting people at the heart of what we do
• stronger together – building an inclusive culture as together we achieve more

We know we are unusual in giving such emphasis to this, but this was a key differentiator for us as we set about creating the newly merged firm.

The same pillars apply to more junior solicitors, so they can clearly see what is needed to make partner through their career development frameworks.

With everyone, we look at their whole contribution to the firm, rather than just financials.

We held lots of workshops with the partners to co-design the framework and agree the weightings, which was successfully voted in soon after merger.

From the outset, there was complete support from senior management, with the managing partner, chair and senior partner being unequivocally on board.

Our people director has a seat at the table and is heavily involved with partner remuneration committee decisions. They help to make sure the framework is robustly moderated and followed.

The result

Most people appreciated that this was a key part of the merger deal and that all would have to demonstrate holistic contribution to the partnership.

Strong senior leadership strengthened this message and meant people were open to doing things differently.

Partners accept there is a base level expected of all partners, but that on top of this, there is an opportunity to demonstrate individual contributions and play to people’s strengths.

Partner involvement in D&I work has increased, meaning they act as inclusive role models for others, and we have seen an increase in more diverse talent joining the firm.

We have seen a clear correlation between progression and reward in line with a proper application of the principles in the framework.

We have a coaching and training programme for those partners needing development in certain areas. They have engaged with this and are happy to share how they have benefited from it.

Measuring the impact

Lateral hires have commented on the framework being a key reason for joining the firm. Partners welcome being measured against more important criteria than simply billings.

We have the right people in leadership roles across the various practice areas and they are working closely with HR business partners to embed the principles in the framework.

59% of our partners are women; and women also occupy more of the top positions in the firm now.

We have seen an increase in the proportion of women in the upper middle quartile of our partner population (an increase of 15.4%) and the lower middle quartile (14.7%), coupled with an increase in the proportion of males in the lower quartile (5.9% increase). This is starting to balance the gender split more evenly throughout the pay scale for our partnership.

Over the past two years, the majority of senior associates looking to progress into partnership have been female.

We openly report outcomes each year to the Partnership Council – this involves checking for unconscious bias and cutting the data from a D&I perspective.

We are transparent in the way we communicate with all partners, to ensure we are applying the framework fairly.

We sense check the data and review our processes to ensure there is no gender bias in our assessments.

Data is key and we continue to report above and beyond our statutory obligations.

Read our gender ethnicity pay gap report 2024 (PDF 69.4 KB)

Next steps

We still want to see more women at the top of equity, and we continue to fine tune the framework.

Peer-to-peer moderation like this can be time intensive, so we are looking at how to simplify some aspects as the framework further evolves and the process is further embedded.

We continue to upskill managers so the principles in the framework can be applied to everyone.

We are also looking to highlight what non-inclusive behaviours can look like.

Our people and risk teams collaborated to roll out a firm-wide roadshow that covered regulatory ethics and the importance of having a “speak up” culture.

This makes it clear that people in law should be treated fairly, with respect, and not be bullied, harassed, or discriminated unfairly against.

Whilst the SRA’s code requires managers to challenge behaviour that doesn’t meet this standard, we have gone one step further and given all our people guidance on being an active bystander; providing techniques to use if they witness or experience unacceptable behaviour.

There are five to choose from depending on the level of psychological safety required.

Our tips

• Genuine senior buy-in is crucial
• Role models – if you see it, you can be it
• Good data is very powerful – it helps influence and shift the dial
• Do not think that you need a massive project – gentle nudging by showcasing pockets of success can be sufficient
• Involve the next generation coming in and amplify their voices – they are the future of your firm