Notes from my lunch with Bluesky - a coaching organisation which provide parental coaching for law firms
BlueSky are a coaching organisation which provide parental coaching for law firms. Set up by 2 former lawyers, Sarah Lyons and Hannah Bradshaw, they provide targeted and career focussed parental coaching for women in law. I was recently asked to collaborate with them and host a lunch with an incredible group of professionals in the legal sector. Here are some of the items we discussed.
Networking lunch – note of our discussion
Observations on the female legal career;
The first pinch point for women at all respective firms was observed at 1-2 years PQE, where some observed women questioning whether their particular firm, or the type of firm, was the right choice for them. Some women at this point were opting out of “Big Law” although some said they were also seeing more men jumping at this point too.
There was then another pinch point observed at 2-3 years PQE, often women making this decision ahead of having a family and wanting to get their feet under the table at a new firm first.
Having children – often around 5-6 years PQE -- was observed as the biggest pinch point, but often it was after their second maternity leave -- generally after return and once the claw back on maternity pay had expired.
Interestingly though, the claw back terms that some firms have in their policies are becoming less of a deterrent to moving – it’s becoming more commonplace for firms to buy out these obligations as standard.
One observation on the lack of female advancement in the equity was the emphasis put on revenue generation and the difficulty in doing business development outside of regular working hours when you are also juggling more and operating in a less elastic day.
The value of coaching;
All of the firms in attendance used some form of Executive Coaching – reasons for this included assisting with promotion to partnership, support during difficult periods and for remedial use / performance issues.
Some firms have internal coaches, but there was some discussion around whether internal coaches are seen as being “less confidential” or an extension of HR and are therefore a less well utilised resource.
Where attendee firms have parental coaching in place (which the majority did) there was discussion around the feedback received. Some found that the standard of coaching had been criticised, one had been informed that the coach did “too much listening” and did not offer enough practical guidance. Others felt their coach made them busier than they already were and gave them too much to do outside of sessions.
Most firms agreed that lawyers preferred to be coached by lawyers, and that the insight into law firms and the legal career would provide more relevant and useful support for lawyers.
The general benefits of coaching women around their parental leave were identified as assisting with better decision making, helping participants think more strategically about their long-term careers (both of which attendees felt would have an impact on retention), and general support during a challenging period.
Many attendees identified that coaching delivered at key pinch points, on the lawyers’ terms, was more useful than coaching delivered at predetermined points.
Some attendees had good experiences with peer-group coaching programmes. Being a lawyer in private practice requires resilience and peer coaching helped with support and a “this too will pass” mindset.
Are gender neutral policies harming women:
This was widely identified as a very tricky and increasingly controversial area.
Most firms agreed that policies and attitudes were moving away from treating one gender differently to the other (i.e. there were quite a few firms where the provision of female leadership programmes, or women only events, had been refused because of not being inclusive to men.)
There was a feeling that professional spaces to discuss “female issues” were generally shrinking.
Inclusivity was widely welcomed but there was also a feeling that “gender hasn’t been solved yet” and we’ve perhaps moved to a gender-neutral approach before dealing with key issues around female retention and increasing the number of women in the equity.
Some expressed a frustration that they had ambitious firm targets on women in the equity, but felt their hands were somewhat tied as they were unable to take any targeted action that could help their firm meet those targets.
Some expressed that their firms knew they wouldn’t meet the targets, but just having the targets there was seen as optically important.
Are women seen as less of a flight risk:
Attendees widely agreed that women were generally seen as less of a flight risk than men. Some attendees identified that women at their firms often negotiated a level of flexibility that they felt grateful for, and this loyalty stopped them from looking around. Many women think “better the devil you know” – the disruption of leaving the flexibility they’ve negotiated or the team they’ve built relationships with isn’t worth it.
One attendee noted that women at her firm were more likely to think that success comes from putting their heads down and getting on with the job. Another attendee noted that women are less likely to even answer the phone to recruiters.
It was noted that in her experience women weren’t less of a flight risk, but often women leaving came as more of a surprise. In her view, they were often better at “keeping up appearances” and seeming to be motivated. Firms only realise there has been a problem once they’ve resigned at it’s too late.
There was a discussion around the impact of this on the pipeline of female talent. Some observed that there are often large numbers of talented women at senior associate level, all supposedly on the road to partnership. all suddenly pushed back down the pipeline by a male lateral hire who hops to the top of the list, usually sponsored by a senior partner.
Conclusion
Thank you all for your valuable insights above. It was great to come together as a group of firms and professionals to grapple with some of these issues. They key theme that came through to us was that most firms are very far from gender equity at the senior levels of their firm, despite some ambitious targets. None of the firms were close to achieving their targets, but are finding that conversations about taking targeted action to increase female retention and progression are becoming more difficult to navigate. The key pinch point for retention was identified as motherhood, but other pinch points remain. Coaching was seen as a useful tool for firms during these pinch points. The benefits of coaching were seen as helping with better decision making, providing more strategic thought around long-term career plans and providing much needed external support. Peer group support was identified as another key area, and a way to improve female retention, something that BlueSky coaching helpfully provides as standard!
Contact: hello@wearebluesky.co.ukOr visit our website: www.wearebluesky.co.uk