Linklaters

Engaging with our people and, in particular, encouraging them to let us know what issues matter most to them is imperative, as we aspire to be a leading global law firm.

In 2010, we carried out our first global engagement survey of everyone in the firm to listen to their views about working for Linklaters and what we were doing well and where we needed to focus our efforts more. In response to the findings, we made a number of changes, particularly to improve feedback processes. In 2011, we conducted the survey for a second time, which showed significant improvements in a number of key areas. 

• Comparing the two surveys

  	2010 score	2011 score
  Engagement	67% favourable	71% favourable
  Knowledge and Learning	66% favourable	70% favourable
  Diversity and Inclusion	53% favourable	60% favourable
  Participation rate	55%	68%

   

• What we found in the global engagement survey

  This year, around two-thirds (68%) of our people completed the survey, up from just over half (55%) last year. Our scores have improved in the three core areas of Engagement, Knowledge and Learning, and Diversity and Inclusion. We aim to build on these improvements year on year.

  As a result of the 2010 survey, we concentrated on two areas that our people wanted to see improved: feedback and more flexibility in our working practices. The 2011 survey results showed greater satisfaction on both counts, but we will continue to work for further improvements. We also included a broader range of questions in this year’s survey relating to our values, which indicated we have more to do to ensure our people see the values in action every day. We have set up a cross-functional working party to explore these findings and make recommendations over the coming year.

Feedback Campaign

In December 2010, we launched the “Global Feedback Campaign”, in response to our people’s views that they would like to receive more regular constructive feedback. The campaign included raising awareness of the importance of feedback, training in giving and receiving constructive feedback, feedback champions in each office, and presentations and discussion groups led by partners and managers. The results of this year’s survey showed improvements but we know this is an area in which we need to continue to focus to meet our people’s expectations.