Hiring new employees is an expensive and time-consuming task, so it is important to make sure they start on the right foot. In the legal field, proper onboarding and training is vital to ensuring that fewer mistakes are made, and that your new hires will be valuable to you for years to come. Optimization of training and welcoming of new employees can go a very long way toward helping those employees get settled into their new roles.

Training Comes First in Onboarding Legal Talent

No matter how much legal experience or education someone has, every law firm they work for will have different procedures. The laws they work with will be the same, but there are nuances to be addressed. Consider specific training for:

– The procedures for handling files
– Requirements when working with clients
– The best way of providing information to paralegals
– How to optimize scheduling
– Any specifics related to safeguarding client information
– How technology is factored into the daily work
– Who to talk to if stress becomes a problem

If training is not optimized and the legal recruiting process is not taken seriously, it can be difficult for any attorney to get a foothold at a new firm and perform well.

Make Sure New Employees Feel Welcome

Another way to optimize the legal onboarding process is to ensure that a new law firm employee feels welcome, as that can help reduce stress levels. When people do not feel like they are allowed to become a part of their workplace, they can withdraw and avoid asking questions or learning new things. Onboarding is more than just giving a set of instructions, it is also about welcoming new employees to the firm’s culture.

Listen to What Your Employees Need

Ask your current employees for feedback on their onboarding experience. Listening to what they thought was done well, along with what they felt they had to learn on their own, can go a very long way toward the onboarding process. Collecting this information helps law firms realize:

• Where they might be falling short when they onboard employees
• What changes need to be made to the legal recruiting and onboarding processes
• How they can improve their firm’s training

While not all attorneys will need as much onboarding help as others, it is very important to provide more, not less, for optimal value for the attorneys and the firm as a whole.