OnLive Learning
1 Contributions by OnLive Learning
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note offers guidance on preparing an appraisal form that can be used to evaluate and review an individual’s performance against both objectives and core skills (competencies). It supports assessment against goals and the core capabilities needed to deliver them.
Why are appraisals important?
An effective performance management process typically focuses on the following:
aligning your workforce closely with the strategic aims of the business
improving overall employee performance
supporting employee development and ongoing retention
driving improved overall business results
Creating a competency based appraisal process
It is important to recognise the appraisal form is not a script to be followed slavishly, but a tool that underpins and steers the conversation and creates a structure for capturing what was discussed. The dialogue matters more than the paperwork. Competencies describe the behaviours employees require to carry out a role to a high standard. They concern how objectives are
Practice Management
163 Contributions by OnLive Learning Experts
PRACTICE NOTES
What is continuous improvement?
The concept of continuous improvement (CI) is frequently made needlessly complex by jargon, yet it is exactly as it sounds: persistently seeking ways to enhance processes, methods and procedures to:
remove obstacles
make them as efficient as possible and therefore
save time and money
Improvements do not need to be large-scale. A sequence of modest but effective changes quickly adds up. Small wins build momentum. Benefits accumulate fast over time too. Together they save time and money. CI tools and techniques can help you repair processes that are no longer effective and reassess processes that may appear to work but could still be improved to deliver greater efficiencies and cost savings.
Above all, CI is about engaging people and sharing ideas, questioning established habits, and agreeing how to measure the success or failure of new
Practice Management
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note covers:
what cultural awareness means and why it matters at work
the importance of cultural diversity in workplaces
how organisations can show and build cultural awareness at work
the risks of lacking cultural awareness in the workplace
ways to engage colleagues from varied cultural backgrounds
key areas or skills individuals should develop to enhance cultural awareness
top tips for managers leading a multi-cultural team
Cultural awareness
Defining culture is not straightforward. In general, it reflects distinctive patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving, commonly shaped by four sources:
family influences
schooling and education
experiences in the workplace
wider life experiences
These thoughts and behaviours are acquired, refined and reinforced across our lives, and each culture carries its own norms. Avoid the pitfall of stereotyping cultures. Although people may share
Practice Management
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note is for law firms and sets out how to design and implement an effective personal development and appraisal framework. At its core, performance management relies on the employee–manager relationship, with both sides clear on what to deliver to meet personal objectives while contributing to the organisation’s overall aims.
Why are appraisals important?
A robust performance management approach concentrates on:
aligning people with the business’s strategic priorities
raising individual performance
backing development and retention
improving business outcomes
recognising and celebrating strong performance
Effective performance management enables everyone to grasp:
the firm’s objectives
how their role contributes to those goals
the skills and competences needed to perform their role
the standards of performance expected
ways to improve and support the firm’s development
how they are progressing
when performance issues arise
SRA
Practice Management
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note offers guidance on learning and development (L&D) plans and includes the following key areas:
what constitutes an L&D plan in practice
applicable regulatory obligations and expectations
the reasons an L&D plan is required
the key components of an L&D plan
budgeting and resourcing considerations
templates for L&D plans and examples
how the L&D plan fits the wider corporate context overall
why L&D plans may fail
how the L&D plan supports recruitment and the induction of new employees
reviewing and tracking L&D plans effectively
What is an L&D plan?
An L&D plan sets out:
what the legal team aims to accomplish, eg its goals and priorities
the learning outcomes needed to help the legal team meet those goals, eg what colleagues must change or improve
the training courses and other
In-house Advisor
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note offers guidance on preparing an appraisal form that can be used to evaluate and review an individual’s performance against both objectives and core skills (competencies). It supports assessment against goals and the core capabilities needed to deliver them.
Why are appraisals important?
An effective performance management process typically focuses on the following:
aligning your workforce closely with the strategic aims of the business
improving overall employee performance
supporting employee development and ongoing retention
driving improved overall business results
Creating a competency based appraisal process
It is important to recognise the appraisal form is not a script to be followed slavishly, but a tool that underpins and steers the conversation and creates a structure for capturing what was discussed. The dialogue matters more than the paperwork. Competencies describe the behaviours employees require to carry out a role to a high standard. They concern how objectives are
Practice Management
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note sets out detailed guidance on creating a learning and development (L&D) policy. It examines the main considerations to be taken into account, such as:
what an L&D policy is
who holds responsibility for the L&D policy
mandatory regulatory or statutory obligations to be met
defining the policy’s scope and content
clarifying the policy’s aims
methods to develop, draft and put the L&D policy into practice
alignment with wider business objectives, and
reviewing the L&D policy
Specific SRA requirements for training contracts fall outside the scope of this Practice Note and are not addressed here.
What is an L&D policy?
An L&D policy sets out the organisation’s stance and expectations on developing its people. It typically addresses key areas including training standards, scope, priorities, and the routes by which employees access L&D. An L&D policy differs from an L&D plan, a strategic document describing how L&D supports the business in meeting its
In-house Advisor
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note sets out what personal branding is and why creating and sustaining a strong, authentic personal brand matters for leaders.
Branding—personal or otherwise—is not identical to reputation, though the two ideas are closely connected:
branding—the ongoing process of shaping a consistent image or impression in others' minds of an individual, group or company
reputation—the beliefs or views that other people hold about someone or something
Personal branding
It was once true that only products carried a brand; yet, with the rise of social media, the notion of people cultivating their own brand has accelerated. Actively managing your personal brand is now crucial. How others see you genuinely counts. A robust, honest personal brand helps anyone seeking to make an impact and should be a central priority for leaders or those aspiring to lead. Recruiters will scrutinise your digital footprint, from
Practice Management
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note sets out how cultivating and advancing home-grown talent benefits a firm, preserving critical skills and knowledge in-house while serving as a strong incentive for ambitious, capable individuals. Recruitment is both expensive and protracted, especially for senior appointments—growing leaders internally can be markedly more time- and cost-efficient. This Practice Note covers:
how to spot potential
coaching and development for leaders
personal development plans for future leaders
delegation
succession planning
How to spot potential
The key question to pose is: which leadership capabilities do we need now, and which will we require in future? Be crystal clear about the qualities you seek before you begin to look for them. Key skills required of leaders include the ability to:
drive and manage change
spot and nurture emerging talent
encourage creativity and innovation
coach and develop
Practice Management
PRACTICE NOTES
There are five key steps to improving efficiency
Pinpoint and define the process that requires improvement (see Practice Note: Improving efficiency: Step 1—identify and define the problem)
Measure the issue (see Practice Note: Improving efficiency: Step 2—measure the problem)
Examine your information (covered in this Practice Note)
Improve the process (see Practice Note: Improving efficiency: Step 4—improve the problem)
Control, ie embed the new process so it becomes business as usual (see Practice Note: Improving efficiency: Step 5—embedding changes)
Many management consultants describe this as the ‘DMAIC framework’.
This Practice Note takes you through Step 3, ie investigating the causes of the problem you identified in Step 1 and measured in Step 2. It builds on the case study used in Practice Notes: Improving efficiency: Step 1—identify and define the problem and Improving efficiency: Step 2—measure the problem, which
Local Government
PRACTICE NOTES
A risk management policy describes the risks a business faces and sets out the measures to prevent those risks from arising and to lessen their impact if they do occur. This Practice Note provides a guide to the features usually included in a risk management policy...
What is risk?
A widely recognised definition is: Risk = probability x impact. Therefore, for any risk confronting your business, there are two key questions to ask:
how likely is it that the risk will materialise, that is, what is the probability?
if the risk does materialise, how severe will it be, that is, what is the impact?
Regulatory requirements
General risk
You are required to identify, monitor and manage every material risk to your business...
Practice Compliance
PRACTICE NOTES
An appraisal and one-to-one (121) framework is essential for law firms aiming to raise performance, align personal and organisational aims, and cultivate a culture of growth. Used well, appraisals and 121s lift engagement and retention, and contribute to firm-wide success by linking individual objectives to business strategy and enhancing client service. This Practice Note provides practical guidance on getting the best from the appraisal and 121 system and highlights the business benefits available from a disciplined, structured approach.
What does a good appraisal and 121 system look like?
The system centres on regular, structured conversations between employees and their managers to review performance, set objectives, share feedback and discuss career development. It can be tailored to the realities of legal practice, including:
Billable hours
Client satisfaction
Building on professional strengths
Schedule a formal meeting annually, supported by frequent interim 121s. If treated as a
Practice Management
PRACTICE NOTES
Delegation sits at the heart of managing and developing your team—many abilities cannot be mastered through theory alone. Colleagues must adapt and put that knowledge to work in the ‘real world’ with your expert support; that is where delegation plays its part. This practice note covers:
assessing the task and the person
using a skills matrix
the phases of delegation
building capability through gradual delegation
troubleshooting common delegation situations
tracking delegated work
Considering the task and the person
For smaller, everyday assignments you may not need to follow every stage in this practice note; but when you are delegating to grow teams, or wrestling with a particular problem, it is reassuring to check you have addressed everything. First, consider the task’s complexity alongside the individual’s capability—are they suitably matched?
Things to consider around the task
Things to consider around the
Practice Compliance
PRACTICE NOTES
Leadership can be difficult to pin down precisely, yet most of us recognise when it is done well or badly. This Practice Note considers the core ingredients of effective leadership, including:
clarifying what effective leadership entails
shaping your brand and sphere of influence
adopting a balanced scorecard for personal development
cultivating emotional intelligence
propelling innovation
fostering a diverse, inclusive culture
What is effective leadership?
The starting point is to grasp what the term leader signifies. Broadly, leadership is described as looking outward, while management is often seen as looking inward. In reality, both demand elements of each, but leadership concentrates on scanning the horizon, anticipating change, and crafting strategies so your organisation is best placed to progress and grow. Management focuses on translating those strategies into concrete actions and working closely with teams to deliver the outcomes
Practice Management
PRACTICE NOTES
Gaining insight from seasoned colleagues is among the most effective ways to build skills and advance your career. Mentors can help you interpret complex issues you’re likely to encounter as your career grows, and serving as a mentor develops leadership and people skills. This Practice Note supports all who take part in mentoring, whether mentor or mentee, offering practical and pragmatic pointers for success. At the outset of a mentoring partnership, agree clear, appropriate goals so meetings don’t drift into purely comforting conversations. Objectives can be short or long term, and may adapt over time as the sessions progress.
setting long- and short-term goals
the four Ps of goal setting
identifying (and celebrating) milestones along the way
knowing what to do at the end of the mentoring relationship
For background guidance on what mentoring is and how it can benefit
In-house Advisor
PRACTICE NOTES
Embedding firm-wide process change in law firms: Kotter’s eight-stage model for DMAIC step 5—control
Improving efficiency within a continuous improvement approach involves five core stages:
identify (define) which process requires improvement
measure the problem
analyse the information
improve the process
control, ie embed the new process so it becomes business as usual
Consultants commonly refer to this as the DMAIC framework. This Practice Note centres on step 5, ie embedding the updated process to resolve the issue you first identified (see Practice Note: Continuous improvement—law firms—step 1—identify and define the problem), then measured (see Practice Note: Continuous improvement—law firms—step 2—measure the problem), analysed (Continuous improvement—law firms—step 3—analyse what's causing the problem) and improved (see Practice Note: Continuous improvement—law firms—step 4—improve the process), using the developing case study drawn from a firm’s new client process.
John Kotter's eight-stage process
There are many approaches to managing organisational change, yet the best known and most frequently cited is John Kotter’s eight-stage model. These eight stages set out a
Practice Management
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note sets out how to embed learning and development (L&D) within the in-house legal department by aligning it with business strategy, integrating it into everyday activity, and ensuring employees are engaged
Positioning L&D in the organisation
L&D is too often treated as a standalone function, disconnected from the organisation’s daily operations. To deliver maximum value for money, it must be an integral part of the business. To achieve this, it should:
be unmistakably aligned with the business strategy
engage employees on an individual basis
deliver measurable outcomes
For further details on measuring L&D results, see Practice Note: In-house lawyers—Building the business case for learning and development.
Aligning L&D with the business strategy
To fully integrate L&D, set strategic goals and measures and include them within the firm’s business plan, cascading them to departmental and individual levels.
Type of goal: Strategic L&D goals —
In-house Advisor
PRACTICE NOTES
There are five essential stages for boosting efficiency within a continuous improvement approach:
identify the process that requires enhancement
measure the issue
analyse the data
improve the process
embed the revised approach until it becomes standard practice
Advisers often describe this as the DMAIC framework. This Practice Note gives further guidance on step 5 of the improvement cycle, namely embedding the new process to resolve the problem you have already identified, measured, analysed and improved. As people respond to change in many different ways, this Practice Note looks at the personal emotional impact of change and how you can engage and involve individuals in managing and delivering it. There is crossover with Practice Note: Continuous improvement—law firms—step 5—embed the process—making changes firm-wide, which sets out John Kotter’s method for making change. The distinction is that Kotter’s
Practice Management
PRACTICE NOTES
There are five essential steps to improving efficiency:
Identify and define the process that requires improvement (see Practice Note: Improving efficiency: Step 1—identify and define the problem)
Measure the issue (see Practice Note: Improving efficiency: Step 2—measure the problem)
Analyse the information (see Practice Note: Improving efficiency: Step 3—analyse what's causing the problem)
Improve the process (see Practice Note: Improving efficiency: Step 4—improve the problem)
Control, ie embed the revised process so it becomes business as usual (covered in this Practice Note)
Management consultants often label this the ‘DMAIC framework’. This Practice Note walks you through step 5—embedding the new process to address the problem you identified (Improving efficiency: Step 1—identify and define the problem), then measured (Improving efficiency: Step 2—measure the problem), analysed (Improving efficiency: Step 3—analyse what's causing the problem) and improved (Improving efficiency: Step 4—improve the problem), continuing the case study followed in these Practice
Local Government
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note explores the qualities of effective leadership and outlines five core abilities that help leaders bring out the best in themselves and their people. In Emotional Intelligence (1995), Daniel Goleman explained why exceptional leaders succeed beyond technical skill, determination and vision, naming this emotional intelligence (EI). He identified five key skills:
self-awareness
self-regulation
motivation
empathy
social skills
See Precedent: Emotional intelligence—summary sheet.
Self-awareness
Often the most vital of the five, without the willingness and capacity to cultivate self-awareness you cannot fully develop the others. Goleman defined it as knowing your strengths, weaknesses, drives, values and the effect you have on other people—see Harvard Business Review, 1998—What Makes a Leader?
If you are self-aware you understand:
what sits behind your actions and choices
your inherent limitations and ways to mitigate them
how your conduct influences those around
Practice Management
PRACTICE NOTES
All regulated law firms and practitioners must promote equality, diversity and inclusion. This goes beyond ticking legal or regulatory boxes; quite simply, it is the right course of action. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) expects you to act proactively and take proportionate steps to foster diversity across every level of your firm. Building an inclusive, diverse team is not only ethically sound. It can also bolster public trust in the profession and deliver clear business gains. It boosts motivation, improves retention, helps you attract the strongest candidates in the market, and cultivates a culture where people feel able to perform at their best. This Practice Note guides you through the key considerations in creating an inclusive and diverse workforce within your law firm. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued guidance on diversity in recruitment, retention and progression. See also the
Practice Management
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