Tuesday, October 02, 2007 9:36 AM
I found interesting a post today at The National Law Journal's Legal Pad, Sheppard Mullin hires new recruiter.
The first paragraph of the short post noted that:
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton has hired Robert Neufeld as its chief talent officer. In that role, Neufeld, who is the former director of talent management at Philadelphia-based Blank Rome's New York office, will work with associate recruitment, diversity and performance issues. Neufeld has held management positions at BearingPoint Inc. and what is now Lehman Brothers Inc.
I had not realized that talent management had been incorporated into the law firm lexicon. But, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Especially given the headlines about the challenges firms face in associate retention.
Obviously, there is more to the story than just hiring a bunch of new associates every year, only to watch them leave in relatively short order. The cost tied to high churn levels makes me wonder how sustainable such churn is for any but the most profitable firms. And, from all that I have read, it seems evident that at least some firms are exploring ways to keep those associates more than a few years.
Won't improved associate retention require management of the firms already hired associate talent?
In the end, Sheppard Mullin's Chief Talent Officer position may simply be a proactive step to create new and/or expanded job descriptions to meet the changing needs of a continually evolving, and ever more competitive, legal marketplace.
Good stuff.