You may have heard the phrase ‘company culture’ bandied around a lot in recent years, but what does it mean and why is it important?
The company culture of a law firm is its shared set of workplace beliefs, values, attitudes, standards and behaviours, in other words, its personality. If you’re at a firm with a positive culture, or more importantly, a positive culture that closely matches your individual beliefs and approach to work, you’re more likely to enjoy your job and be more engaged and productive in your role, and ultimately be happier at work.
A big part of a law firm’s culture is its values – beliefs, philosophies and principles that create a sense of commitment and drive the business forward. While good pay is still a dealbreaker for most people, according to LinkedIn, more than half (58%) of Gen Z and millennials in the UK wouldn’t work for a company that doesn’t align with their values.
So it’s clear that culture plays a big part in our career satisfaction. In some cases, a poor culture can lead to lawyers deciding to explore new opportunities. In fact, Realm’s 2022 state-of-the-market research revealed that nearly a third of lawyers would consider a move to a new role if the firm offered a better workplace culture.
If you’re considering moving to a different firm, before accepting any job offer, it’s really important to find out about its culture to make sure that it’s the right firm for you.
How to find out about a firm’s culture before making a move
You can usually learn a lot about a potential employer from how it presents its culture to the rest of the world.
While visiting the firm’s website and social media accounts and reading its recent press coverage are good first steps, you’re likely to get a deeper understanding of a firm from hearing from legal professionals who already work there. Look out for interviews with current employees on LinkedIn, on Youtube or podcasts or on the firm’s website and check out the firm’s Glassdoor profile to see what people say about the firm. You might even have connections at the firm – reach out to those contacts and ask them what it’s like to work there.
You can also get a feel for a firm’s culture from how they advertise their vacancies. The words a firm uses to describe the attributes of their ideal candidate, the role at hand and their offering as an employer (including their company benefits) will give you valuable insight. For example, do they use words like ‘fast-paced’ and ‘target-driven’ or do they describe themselves as ‘family-friendly’ and ‘down-to-earth’?
If you work with a recruiter like Realm, as a brand ambassador for the law firm, your specialist consultant will also be able to explain what the company’s culture is like so that you can assess whether it would be a good fit for you.
Are you looking to move to a firm that more closely aligns with your values?
More and more lawyers value a positive company culture than ever before.
At Realm, we work with plenty of law firms with supportive, friendly and rewarding company cultures. To find out more, explore our latest opportunities or get in touch with our specialist legal recruitment team for a no-obligation conversation about your career.
