The Blog
The Worry List in #UKEmpLaw
Posted: 14 April 2015
We are all "snowploughs" now, apparently. I was unfamiliar with the term, but it describes how conscientious parents try to clear the road ahead for their kids: from the right mix of bought-kit-to-sown-bodging for school dressing up, to coaching, crammers and internships. Nowadays it's the norm (although we all differ by degrees, I guess). Being a snowplough Dad (or more accurately a snowplough Mum supporter) when my youngest was in a heap - crying about 3 heavy duty A levels, grade 7 cornet and piano grades to boot, I was gutted. We agreed to prioritise: bin the piano; the History revision is already nailed, so on that she could relax a tad too. Hey presto the cornet was back to being fun, and the last lap revision became more manageable.
I was reminded of this when our analysts came up with their Executive Summary points for the new Employment Law Report. It was a blizzard of statistics; conscientiously compiled and cross referenced. What it should have been, was a guide to dealing with the worry lists; the darkest hour worries; the 4am fretting; something more than it-will-be-alright-on-the-night.
Perhaps we all just need to know if Our worry list is a waste of time or "on point". The solutions will be very individual, but to move the game on, what are the issues we should refer to? For employment law services teams in the UK we think we've nailed that. It's very much what any decent NED worries about to.
Much of it is counter intuitive.
Much of it is about knowing (strategically) what you don't know (or don't know enough).
Much of it is simple pragmatic economics.
Doing fixed fee employment law services, for example, is not simply a matter of hiring a few CIPD qualified people and making them feel part of the team (but it can be a good start). Calling an Associate Partner a Director can show willing, but if the decision making is still Byzantine, it's not going to be enough. Offering clients strategic HR support is a radically different choice from competing with employee relations specialists. Equally IT is very convoluted. Partner or build an employee admin system? Deliver BPM and DMS services? Cloud/self-service/SaaS, White label, etc? It can be less about getting systematic over the documents and advice so much as the sales process - that penny takes time to drop. What is best for medium sized company clients and what do major companies want differently? The devil really is in the detail here, and the firms who've made the most headway have understood what not to do every bit as much as what to try next.
So we've spelt out the 25 worry list headliners. We've also quantified the issues as well as the degree of urgency, investment or challenge involved. This is the first time anyone has treated the employment law firms and consultancy teams on an equal footing from an economic stand point. The market shape and implications are profound. For more details see: the Employment Law &Employee relations Market report.
My daughter's history results were spot on as predicted, ditto the other A levels, and she got her first choice uni. The cornet was nailed on too and will be an ice breaker anywhere in the country for decades to come. And I never have to hear Fur Elise mauled ever again (yeay - wins all around).
I was reminded of this when our analysts came up with their Executive Summary points for the new Employment Law Report. It was a blizzard of statistics; conscientiously compiled and cross referenced. What it should have been, was a guide to dealing with the worry lists; the darkest hour worries; the 4am fretting; something more than it-will-be-alright-on-the-night.
Perhaps we all just need to know if Our worry list is a waste of time or "on point". The solutions will be very individual, but to move the game on, what are the issues we should refer to? For employment law services teams in the UK we think we've nailed that. It's very much what any decent NED worries about to.
Much of it is counter intuitive.
Much of it is about knowing (strategically) what you don't know (or don't know enough).
Much of it is simple pragmatic economics.
Doing fixed fee employment law services, for example, is not simply a matter of hiring a few CIPD qualified people and making them feel part of the team (but it can be a good start). Calling an Associate Partner a Director can show willing, but if the decision making is still Byzantine, it's not going to be enough. Offering clients strategic HR support is a radically different choice from competing with employee relations specialists. Equally IT is very convoluted. Partner or build an employee admin system? Deliver BPM and DMS services? Cloud/self-service/SaaS, White label, etc? It can be less about getting systematic over the documents and advice so much as the sales process - that penny takes time to drop. What is best for medium sized company clients and what do major companies want differently? The devil really is in the detail here, and the firms who've made the most headway have understood what not to do every bit as much as what to try next.
So we've spelt out the 25 worry list headliners. We've also quantified the issues as well as the degree of urgency, investment or challenge involved. This is the first time anyone has treated the employment law firms and consultancy teams on an equal footing from an economic stand point. The market shape and implications are profound. For more details see: the Employment Law &Employee relations Market report.
My daughter's history results were spot on as predicted, ditto the other A levels, and she got her first choice uni. The cornet was nailed on too and will be an ice breaker anywhere in the country for decades to come. And I never have to hear Fur Elise mauled ever again (yeay - wins all around).
Eledecks
A leap forward from regulatory consulting, solid IT work and an ability to help law firms punch above their weight in client content marketing makes this quite a unique team in employment law legal services.
Employment Law and Employee Relations
There may be over 4000 employment lawyers in the UK, but there are only are 150 law firms focusing around 2200 solicitors and fee earners on employment law services for UK business as a core service nationally. There are also 170+ consultancy businesses doing so now too. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, and this report highlights how this market now works, how it will perform to 2020, and more importantly what GCs expect from it irrespective of who is supplying it.
For law firms - is version 1.0 of client marketing enough any more, or will version 5.0 deliver now? Having the best people may no longer be enough and the Who?s Who guides take you only so far. Segmenting clients by size and type is key, and this report shows the competitive dynamics involved at each level. What are the 20+ firms who just do employment law up to now? How successful are law firms at delivering HR consulting solutions too? Why are Irwin Mitchell and others tackling the regulatory consultancy market head on now? And how should it be done?
From the core market economics to what GCs will and won?t outsource - and all points in between - the competitive axes in play are spelt out in detail. The 5 key issues (and the components of them) behind a commercial employment law service are examined in rigorous detail. This then informs assessing what to do next with the content marketing strategies, whether to bring an HR function in-house, what the critical mass is for a national team, the role of IT and many more questions are addressed. It need not be a matter of matching the millions behind teams like Riverview, but you do have to know how to play it smartly. This is the evidence you need to make your choices - all based on hard economic facts. Comparative corporate finance approaches to investment are clarified so you can see how steep the hill could be for your chosen strategy.
Summarising 70 of the leading players in terms of their market share from 1995 and projected to 2020, you can see at a glance how the main consulting players are doing too. Unique market share charts covering decade of performance for suppliers show who is struggling, who?s just swimming with the tide and who?s setting the pace. Dismiss these challengers at your peril, they are already represented on some of the major blue chip legal panels and they want more.
Every supplier is listed and click throughs from logos and innovative infographics enable GCs and purchasers of employment law services to assess each supplier directly.
This major Report is comprehensive and full of surprises - the largest employment law specialist is no longer a law firm - 9 of the top 20 suppliers are consultancies, not law firm Big brands... Perhaps most important of all: it really is no longer an "Us v Them" choice in the mind of even professional buyers any more - GCs are as likely to buy from a consultancy as a law firm now. The costs of market entry also favour the innovators - be they solicitor led or not - with teams like 3HR, HCR, Law at Work, Outset and rRadar showing how its done and done well.
This is indispensable reading and research for any legal services team looking at developing in employment law. The evidence bundle for your strategic away day - all of the key issues for teams managing a future in employment law are critically examined and the evidence presented.
Then it?s your call - we can?t promise you more sales, but we can level the playing field, and we can certainly save you a vast amount of time in collating the facts you need to make your plays effective and lasting.
Employment Tribunal list and fee changes hit law firms hard too. On top of PI business dwindling, it has made the more commercial firms get real. To help you up your game - get your copy of this Report today.
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