Employee Engagement Strategies that Law Firm Retreats would benefit from

Law firm retreats are powerful catalysts for your partners’ growth. Contrary to popular belief, they are not an unnecessary expense; they are in fact a great opportunity to strengthen your team.

With that being said, the effectiveness of a law firm retreat greatly depends on the firm’s ability to successfully engage everyone involved. Arranging effective employee engagement events can be difficult. There are many things that need to be considered but the ultimate goal is to ensure employees feel heard.

Fliplet is the go-to tool if you want to improve employee engagement at your next partner retreat. With our no-code / low-code app builder, firms can easily build apps that will enhance their employee experience and foster great communication.

The Value of Engaged Employees

The importance of having engaged employees is multifaceted. Employees consider themselves valuable members of your firm if they feel that you appreciate them and, according to Forbes, employees that are engaged in their work are more likely to be motivated and loyal to their company.

Engaged employees tend to work harder while disengaged employees do the bare minimum; ensuring engagement therefore gives your firm a great advantage through overall firm performance, as well as better employee retention.

For an industry that involves long hours, unpredictable schedules, and demanding working environments, it can be easy for partners to feel disengaged. Conducting regular law firm retreats is part of the solution.

For more on employee engagement, read our blog.

Law Firm Retreats as Drivers of Employee Engagement

Law firm retreats show employees that you are thankful for their service, give them the opportunity to de-stress, and ensure they remain motivated. Below, we explore the benefits in more detail.

Knowledge Sharing Among Team Members

Law firm retreats encourage knowledge sharing, which is a crucial aspect of working in this ever evolving industry.

There are times when partners see each other as competition, and this can harm the work environment. To avoid this dynamic, regular interaction among team members in a non-competitive setting can help build a positive work environment for all parties involved. This will also improve communication among team members, increase productivity, and build meaningful relationships.

Inspiration Through Testing New Concepts

Feeling inspired in our everyday work environment can be difficult. A change of environment helps us to see things from a new perspective, so a retreat might just be the thing that staff need to gain inspiration, come up with new concepts, and experiment with best practices for the firm.

Establish Firm Goals

A law firm retreat is an excellent opportunity to remind your partners of their goals, mission, and the firm’s values. Take a moment to remind them of their purpose within the firm and establish new goals that are due to be set.

Have a Little Fun

As well as the practical benefits law firm retreats provide, they are also an opportunity to have some much needed fun. Maybe organize a friendly match of volleyball next to the beach, where the losing team has to come up with 10 ideas for fixing office problems. This way, you solve problems while having fun at the same time.

Healthy Minds

The stress levels that come with being a lawyer can potentially harm your employees’ mental health. According to a 2020 study, “Roughly half of practicing attorneys are experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety, with approximately 30% of those falling in the mild range and nearly 20% falling in the moderate/severe range”. Firms should look for ways to help employees take care of their mental health needs, and one way to achieve that is by organizing seminars that teach them how to do that.

Communication

Successful leadership builds a culture where everyone can communicate openly without hesitation. Through a retreat like this, you can emphasize that you are there for your employees, and build deeper meaningful relationships with your team.

Apps Build Longevity

Now, you might be wondering how law firms can use mobile legal apps to improve partner retreats and boost employee engagement. There are numerous benefits of deploying an app for organizing a retreat, as discussed below.

Before the Retreat

With a personalized app for your event, you can share information swiftly; no more worrying about updating everyone about changes. Build anticipation and excitement for the event by sharing the agenda, inviting conversations with attendees and generally creating a buzz and getting everyone on board.

During the Retreat

Push notifications can come in handy during the event in order to provide real-time updates about any important changes. An app can also help build community; delegates can share images, network, and stay in contact with each other.

After the Retreat

An application allows you to stay connected with the people you meet at the retreat and share post-meeting retreat notes and other information. You can share surveys and receive feedback that you can use to improve your next retreat.

Case Study: An Employee Engagement App for Leading Law Firms

Challenge

The client represented a large international legal practice with over 1,000 employees that served businesses and industries from all over the world. Third-party conferencing software was already being used by the Manager, UI/UX Developers, and the team. It contained the essentials, but several critical features were missing and the software couldn’t be customized.

With a fully-fledged development team on staff, the company considered developing their own app, but realized that not only would it take more time than they had before their next conference (a European retreat the next month), but it would also require development time and resources they didn’t have.

Fliplet vs. Other Platforms

The problem with other platforms the firm was considering was that they were too simple, offered very little customization options, or they required complex development knowledge. Both of the other options the company considered were not a good fit for them.

Solution

We at Fliplet had to work quickly because the flights for the retreat were already booked and the event was quickly approaching.

Fliplet’s tried and tested onboarding and training template needed to accommodate new features to fit the team’s needs as well as the tight deadline.

The firm was able to add a number of critical features to the new conference app created with Fliplet, including the following:

• All delegates were cleared of their individual obligations pertaining to COVID19 tests and safety precautions, both on the way in and out of the nation.
• An admin section was created so that the onsite crew could receive notifications that ensured everyone was up to date with the conference. They could safely ignore phone calls and emails since they knew the app would notify them if crucial information arrived.
• A feature was created that allowed delegates to upload images from the retreat and conference social events, which could be reviewed internally before going public. They’d always wanted to include this feature, but it wasn’t possible with their previous software.
  

For more in Hybrid Events, read our blog.

Result

This was the company’s first conference after a long period of remote working. Some attendees were new to the firm and had never met anyone on their team in person; the app’s directory component made it easy for them to find out who to contact if they needed assistance or direction, and made networking much easier for everyone.

At the retreat, the app was effectively the “go-to” resource. People could continue to use the app if they were unsure of their schedule for the day or where they were supposed to be at any particular time.

Employee engagement is not a one time fix; you have to build a well rounded long-term plan. You have to create an emotional connection with your workforce and make them feel valued. Technology can help you bridge the gap; a well-built app will drive employee engagement, increase productivity, and increase job satisfaction.

Fliplet is a no-code / low-code app platform that will help you build custom made apps that serve you as per your needs – you don’t need a team of developers to produce mobile and web apps, as Fliplet was specifically created to allow both non-technical and technical persons to quickly create apps for their employees and consumers.

Do you want to harness highly functional apps your teams love to use for your next retreat? We stay with you throughout the development process and offer unconditional support, to ensure your event runs as smoothly as possible.