Work-life Balance: Helping Law Firms Recruit the Lawyers they Want

Here at the JD Bliss Blog, we often write about work-life balance, usually from the individual lawyers' perspective.  But addressing work-life balance issues benefits law firms, too, in terms of employee satisfaction and retention, as well as during the recruiting process.

A recent survey by Hudson, a worldwide provider of permanent recruitment, contract professionals, and talent management services worldwide, suggests that law firms can benefit by accommodating work-life balance for their lawyers.  The survey showed that 29 percent of workers in the United States consider work-life balance and job flexibility to be the most important factor when they evaluate job offers.  By comparison, compensation was named by 23 percent of the workers as the primary reason they accepted their jobs.

Robert Morgan, co-president of Recruitment and Talent Management at Hudson, is quoted as saying, "As the pool of qualified candidates shrinks, it seems that employers can compete more effectively for talent if they can offer work-life balance to go along with the competitive pay."  While pay is important, work-life balance is becoming more of a priority among job applicants.

By Steve Imparl, guest blogger