Developing our people

We are committed to becoming one of the leading international professional services organisations in developing the capabilities of the people who work here. One of the reasons behind our success is that we were one of the first law firms to recognise the need for ongoing training throughout an individual’s career. The only way to maintain our excellence in all we do is constantly to invest in the legal and professional skills of our people.

We aim to recruit people with an appetite for personal development and we continue to invest in many formal development opportunities. Everyone who works here has equal access to training and other career development.

Our learning and development team provides a range of professional skills and language courses, including focused workshops, longer personal development programmes and online ‘skills at your fingertips’ training. The team also designs tailored projects to support an individual practice group’s development objectives.

Associates attend three international development programmes at key stages in their career. Since 2001, 462 of our international partners (including 176 London partners) have attended our partner development programme and 48 international partners have attended our leadership programme for partners in management positions.

London learning and development attendees 2004-07	Attendees 04/5	Attendees 05/6	Attendees 06/7
Development programmes	651	116	204
Skills workshops	454	454	614

We adapt our learning and development interventions to meet the needs of our people. Examples of new innovative programmes are the principal associates residential programme in Germany at St Gallen University, the ‘Real Deal’ programme for mid level corporate associates and the award-winning ‘Virtual Office’ for our junior litigators. We invest in creating development interventions that are enjoyable and challenging.

We provide development and coaching for partners and staff who are promoted so that they can successfully discharge their new duties and responsibilities. Each new partner is offered an external coach to support the transition.

We have provided business development, knowledge-sharing and soft skills training to the newly integrated knowledge management and business development (KBD) teams, providing them with the requisite skills for their new roles. We will be implementing a structured development programme for KBD at key stages in their career, akin to the associates’ programmes, to ensure we attract and retain the best KBD talent.

Legal training and knowledge management

The firm is a market leader in its investment in knowledge management and legal training. Every department and team provides extensive technical legal training in its particular specialisation, as well as knowledge management resources (eg precedents, standard forms, survival guides, practice notes and current awareness) and support, ensuring our professionals work as effectively and efficiently as possible. A number of departments fund associates who wish to pursue postgraduate study in a relevant field.

However, most development occurs on the job. How to provide effective day-to-day feedback is therefore a common theme throughout our development courses.

Appraisals

All employees have a formal appraisal at least once a year. Partners and senior managers are encouraged to participate in 360-degree feedback programmes, promoting greater self-awareness and providing opportunities for change. Each partner develops a personal business plan annually. Our appraisal system is currently the focus of an associate working group.

Secondments

Secondments provide lawyers with the opportunity to experience clients’ businesses firsthand, or to broaden their cultural awareness by working in an international office or with an organisation such as the human rights group Liberty. We take a broad view of our professional responsibilities and contribute to the legal, business and regulatory community in many ways.

Find our more at www.freshfields.com/careers/learning/.