Serving the self-reliant learner at Linklaters

Learning and Development at Linklaters

Linklaters is one of the 'magic circle' of large global law firms with a head office in the City of London. It is a global partnership with 5,500 staff worldwide. About half of these staff are based in London - but there is a significant presence in other Western European countries, in the developing countries of Eastern Europe, in Asia and also a growing practice in the US. The firm covers a broad spectrum of law and is ranked in the top three law firms across a range of disciplines. It has a particularly strong and well-regarded corporate law practice.

Half of the 5,500 staff are fee-earners, 450 of whom are partners. The other half are involved in a variety of business support functions.

The importance of self development

Fee-earners at Linklaters are highly intelligent self-motivated individuals; selection is rigorous and standards are high. The firm would claim to provide the best legal advice in the most complex situations. The training provision must be judged against its ability to support and develop such expertise.

A new approach to learning and development at Linklaters is concentrating on developing an appropriate framework in which the fee-earners can manage their own development. Entry into partnership is a compellingly attractive goal for lawyers. If they cannot achieve progress towards partnership they are likely to leave to pursue opportunities elsewhere; it is essential for continuing relationships that any parting is amicable.

There is a potential contradiction here. The emphasis on technical excellence is associated with a top-down teaching mindset (it is consistent with a legal practice of 'taking instruction'). Training is often seen as the need for people to attend courses to improve their technical knowledge. However, learners are expected to demonstrate, and be capable of demonstrating, a high degree of personal choice. An ability to manage these two approaches ('we must be taught to deliver best legal advice and we must learn to fend for ourselves') is a strong indication of an ability to progress in the firm. One consequence is that there is not a tradition of coaching, counselling or developmental management. However, career development in the sense that it allows people to progress to the ultimate goal of partnership is recognised as crucial to the firm's continuing business success. Any processes that improve career development will command wide support.

A different approach to delivery

So far the preponderance of training has been course based and centred on technical legal content. It is almost entirely delivered in-house, by Linklaters' subject matter experts. Non-technical subjects are growing in importance, particularly training concerned with client handling; these non-technical areas will be delivered in part by external consultants.

The new Head of Learning and Development, Des Woods has articulated the role of his department in the following terms:

'To optimise the competitive advantage of the firm by providing our people with the awareness, understanding and skills they need to develop their careers and provide excellent service to our clients.'

Such a statement emphasises the self-reliant learner and the clear link to career development as well as the business objectives. The challenge is to create an appropriate climate and an organisational context and the related opportunities.

Des Woods is clear about what constitutes success. The softer indications, which can nevertheless be assessed through survey data, include:

'People will talk about "my learning" rather than "your training"; they will recognise that the firm, while remaining firstly commercial focused has created an active environment for career development; people will be a lot more involved in their own development.'

Harder indications will include a move away from event-based training to managed coaching, there will be greater coherence between knowing something and doing something; there will be a shift away from purely technical training to client/management training.

To achieve this transition a number of short-term steps are in hand. First, there is a major initiative, on a global basis, to improve coaching capacity at all management levels. This follows a review of the performance appraisal system, which highlighted some deficiencies. A second initiative is to create a more visible leadership for the firm achieved through partnership development. Harvard Business School faculty will be delivering an in-house course but a wider offering will be made available on a self-select basis. Courses, e-learning modules and other developmental activities will be presented and partners will choose their own portfolio. Individual coaching support will be made available.

The firm has a well-developed technology platform and infrastructure. However generic e-learning offerings to date have not achieved significant penetration. A revised approach will seek to place an emphasis on electronically available performance support tools (blurring the distinction between learning and performance). The emphasis will be on knowledge-based activities ('I want to know something' rather than 'I want to do something') and on refreshing existing knowledge rather than the acquisition of new knowledge. All these l earning modules will be produced in-house. Existing portals and search engines will be developed further to support this initiative.

Some dilemmas

The emphasis on self-reliant learning and the link to career development cannot fully meet the needs of all Linklaters' learners. Des Wood emphasises that people have different motives for learning and what is on offer must reflect that motivation - rather than the hierarchical position of the learner.

As an indication of a possible approach, Des Woods has suggested four different sorts of employees, each with different motivations to learn.

The main challenge is a need to change the mindset, to move away from 'training is what is done to somebody else'. In this respect Linklaters is experiencing similar problems to those encountered in many other organisations. The shift to learning must be pursued, however, as it will bring many benefits. Generally, almost irrespective of the organisation, a perception that there are opportunities to learn and develop will create satisfaction for the individual. It will help to build trust. Circumstances will differ, not every organisation will have staff as self-reliant as Linklaters. However, the opportunities for learning must be communicated effectively and the experience must be on appropriate quality. Linklaters is particularly demanding and expectations are high.

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