BD735-MyCareer-business services, secs, kd lawyers and para…

BD735-MyCareer-business services, secs, kd lawyers and para…

My Career

Our approach to talent and performance management

a

Contents

MyCareer

1

•

your responsibility defined

Ongoing cycle and honest conversations

3

• the ongoing performance cycle • discussion prompts for check-ins and the end of year review • end of year performance review and summary • giving and receiving feedback Career development opportunities

7

• performance expectations and role levels • setting meaningful objectives • learning and development available to you Reward and recognition

10

• •

salaries

discretionary bonus scheme

• transparency, eligibility and moderation • recognition Transparency and consistency

11

We are committed to supporting our people to achieve their full potential throughout their time at the firm. We want to foster a culture where excellence is the norm, and where exceptional performance is recognised and rewarded. MyCareer, the firm’s approach to performance and talent management, has been designed based on your feedback and with exactly this ethos in mind. And it’s global: we want everyone across our business to be working towards the same goals, under the same framework, and with the same focus on high-performance. We see this as a partnership: we provide the tools, structure and support, and you take responsibility for using them. The following pages will talk you through what this looks like in practice.

JeffMarlow Director – HR, learning, central management

b

MyCareer

Welcome to MyCareer, the firm’s approach to talent and performance management based on feedback from you, to meet your needs and those of the business. It is designed for a robust, fair and commercial approach to talent, performance management, progression and development, which supports and rewards high performance. The four key areas of MyCareer are:

Ongoing cycle and honest conversation

Career development opportunities

Reward and recognition

Transparency and consistency

• Quarterly check-ins, providing more

• More clarity on expectations,

• Focus on merit based

• Consistency across

financial and non-financial recognition, rewarding high performance. • More focus on retaining key talent.

departments and offices.

opportunity for open and honest two-way conversations, ending with end of year performance summary. • Opportunity to discuss performance, development and manage objectives.

performance and development opportunities. • Honest conversations and opportunities to help development and readiness for progression here or elsewhere.

• Transparency on the

expectations of all levels. • Transparency on salary and bonus opportunities. • Consistent principles and messages globally.

Everyone plays a part in ensuring MyCareer is successful. To gain the most from the approach, teammembers, line managers, partners and PGLs/OMPs all take shared responsibility to drive both your own careers and, where applicable, those of others, delivering high performance at all times. This booklet will provide you with the background information, guidance and best practice advice for all areas of MyCareer and talent management at Stephenson Harwood.

1

Your responsibility defined

Everyone plays a role in ensuring MyCareer is a success and therefore needs to commit to different responsibilities.

You’ll see below what is expected of the different roles within the firm. Note that you may fall under more than one of these roles (e.g. a teammember and line manager), so make sure you become familiar with all the responsibilities applicable to you.

Central management team • Role model behaviour/champions

• Sponsorship of one firm approach and global consistency

Heads of business services/practice group leaders/office managing partners • Role model behaviour and champion culture change • Responsible for driving a high performance culture within the team/department • Ensure a fair and consistent approach is applied across the team/department • Chair the talent review sessions and ensure a consensus is agreed • Ensure quarterly check-ins take place

• Accountable for effective communication and ensuring processes followed • Final sign off for team/department decisions on end of year summary description, progression and salary/bonus proposals. • Provide input to objectives and development plans for all direct reports

Line managers/partners

• Role model behaviour and champion culture change • Provide ongoing constructive feedback • Conduct mid-year, end of year, and check in discussions • Assist and support teammembers with their objective setting and development plans.

• Attend talent review sessions: • Summarise key strengths, development areas, proposed end of year summary description and areas for future focus for teammembers • Contribute to wider discussion and provide views on others not directly assigned. • First point of contact for HR, learning and development and any matters relating to teammembers

Teammembers • Open minded and accepting of change • Take responsibility for managing the process • Transparency, honesty and clarity • Take control of their own development and career

• Develop trusting relationshipswith linemanagers/partners • Respond to/act on feedback for next check-in • Take an active part in the two-way approach

HR and L&D support • Facilitate and attend talent mapping sessions • Ensure a consistent and fair approach is applied across the team/department/office and firm • Coach and advise on performance and talent management discussions

• Initiate and moderate salary and bonus proposals • Salary/bonus benchmarking and market review • Provide continuous training and guidance

2

Ongoing cycle and honest conversations

y

Check-in

Salary/ bonus comm- unication

The ongoing performance cycle The performance cycle is continuous with regular check-ins throughout the year. Thecycledemonstrateswhen these regular check- ins takeplaceandhighlightswhenmoderation meetingsareconducted tomakeconsistent decisionsonsalariesandendof year summaries. Everyone is expected to deliver high performance and rolemodel best behaviour.Whilst themajority of peoplewill meet those objectives, a fewwill exceed themand a fewwill requiremore support. Therefore talent reviews take place twice a year by Heads of business services, linemanagers, partners and PGLs/OMPs to help identify and support those individuals. Further information on check-ins and the end of year performance review can be found in the following pages of this booklet.

Salary and bonus moderation

Talent mapping

Finalise salary/bonus proposals

Talent review

Ongoing feedback and honest conversations

End of year review and summary

Mid-year check-in

Talent mapping

Salary/bonus review starts

Talent review

andendofyear summary moderation

Check-in

Discussion prompts for check-ins and the end of year review

Check-in meetings will usually be 15-30 minutes and the end of year review shouldn’t take any longer than an hour.

During these meetings you should aim to discuss the points below.

Take stock • Reflect on your progress over the past three months. • Any projects you have been involved in? • What worked well? Challenges encountered? • Any internal/external training attended? • Progress on objectives? Any obstacles or support required in achieving objectives? Feedback • Any feedback received and collated over the past threemonths. • Reflect on feedback–bothstrengthsandareas for development. • (Informal feedback is discussed at check-ins and formal feedback is collated at the end of year review). Future focus • Areas in which you would like to develop. • Any support you would benefit from in achieving your objectives, including training. • Discuss the performance expectations and focus for the upcoming months. Career focus • Discuss career aspirations and longer term goals. • Discuss anything you would like to have more involvement with/stretch objectives.

• Take stock • Feedback • Future focus • Career focus

• Take stock • Feedback • Future focus

End of year performance review (April)

Check-in (July)

Check-in (January)

Mid-year check-in (October)

• Take stock • Feedback • Future focus

• Take stock • Feedback • Future focus • Career focus

Full check-in and end of year performance guidance for both reviewers and reviewees can be found on Quest .

3

End of year performance review and summary

As regular check-ins will have taken place throughout the year, the end of year performance review should start with a brief summary of the last year and spend the majority of the conversation looking forward and focusing on the upcoming year.

The review will cover similar areas to check-ins, but with a more in-depth conversation and looking across the full year.

End of year performance review process

• End of year performance review launch. • Reviewee sends nominations for feedback coping in their reviewer. • Reviewee schedules end of year performance reviewmeeting.

Mid February

• Reviewee completes end of year review form and sends to the reviewer by the end of the first week in March. • Nominee feedback sent to reviewer by the end of the first week in March. • Feedback moderation and talent mapping for end of year reviews. • Reviewer completed end of year review feedback summary (own feedback, collated verbal feedback during moderation).

March

• On 1st April reviewer sends completed end of year review form along with any written feedback received by nominees to reviewee. • 2nd April to 30th April end of year reviewmeetings take place and end of year performance summary is confirmed and updated on the form during the meeting.

April

Reviewee adds any additional comments to the end of year review form and sends to reviewer and HR to complete end of year review.

Second week of May

4

End of year performance review form A short end of year performance review formwill be completed by the reviewee before the end of year review and updated after the meeting. This does not need to be longer than one page and should summarise key points from check-ins throughout the year, together with the areas of future focus discussed during the end of year review.

The form can be found here on Quest .

End of year summary At the end of the year, everyone is given an end of year summary. The end of year summary is based solely on performance for the year under review. Performance in previous years is not reflected, and therefore variation from year to year in terms of summary outcome can be expected. Based on the firm’s high expectations, the vast majority of people will have an ‘achieving’ year (75-90%) with a small proportion receiving ‘improvement required’ or ‘outstanding contribution’. The end of year summaries are linked to reward and detail of this can be found under reward and recognition in this booklet. To ensure a fair and consistent approach across the firm, all end of year summaries will be moderated centrally before final decisions are agreed and communicated at the end of year performance review.

The end of year review summaries are:

Improvement required

Achieving

Outstanding contribution

Met someexpectations inperformanceand/ or behaviour thisyear. Development required in some areas to meet the firm’s high expectations.

Met or exceeded high performance and behavioural expectations this year and serves as a role model to others, both in own team and wider firm teams.

Consistently exceeded high expectations of performance and behaviour this year.

5-15%of population

75-90%of population

5-10%of population

5

Giving and receiving feedback

Throughout the ongoing performance cycle you will give and receive continuous feedback during quarterly check-ins as well as informally throughout the year, as and when it is appropriate. Giving feedback (positive or developmental)

Give the feedback as soon as possible after the event • The longer the gap between an event and the feedback, the less effective the feedback

Ensure the feedback is accurate • Ensure the feedback is related to an observed event or actual result rather than based on an assumption or hearsay. • This approach will help to make the feedback objective rather than subjective and possibly judgemental.

Make the feedback specific For maximum impact, make the feedback as specific possible. For

Explain the impact Feedback is even more powerful when you explain the impact the person’s actions had - on you, the team or the firm. So, building on the previous feedback example, you might add ‘Your input at the meeting has really helped to overcome some of the resistance to the project. Thank you’.

example, instead of saying ‘You did well in the meeting today’, you could say ‘I thought you handled the difficult questions put to us at the project meeting today really well. You kept calm and your answers were really well considered.’

will be – so give the feedback as soon as

possible and don’t wait until the next check-in or reviewmeeting. • You don’t have to be someone’s manager to give feedback - if you’ve observed a colleague doing something well or something that’s really helped you, tell them about it as soon as possible.

Receiving feedback There are two main things to consider when receiving feedback:

Understanding the feedback Receiving feedback is a process of sorting, filtering and understanding another person’s viewpoint. To do this effectively you may need to ask questions such as: “When you say “assertive,” can you say more about what you mean?” “Can you be a bit more specific about particular times or instances I wasn’t assertive?”

Viewing feedbackasawaytogrowand improve In order to view feedback as a way to grow and improve, you need to develop a growth mind-set.

To create a growth mind-set:

• Embrace challenge – set high standards and choose difficult tasks that might be out of your comfort zone. • Embrace failure and look at feedback as a learning tool to help you improve and hone your talents. • Be open to feedback and identify blind spots, which are ways in which you come across to others that aren’t visible to you.

“Can you give examples of what “assertive” looks like to you? What specifically could I do differently?”

6

Career development opportunities

Career development should be discussed during the mid and end of year check-ins and how you are performing against expectations, including objectives, should be discussed quarterly. Performance expectations and role levels for business services, secretarial and paralegals Based on the size and structure of the firm, performance expectations consisting of seven levels are used to help clarify expectations and prompt development opportunities and discussions.

The areas of focus in the performance expectations are:

Inclusive management and development

Delivering quality

Driving change

Working together

• Takes accountability for service delivery • Applies expert knowledge

• Initiates, adapts to and promotes change • Communicates effectively

• Builds relationships and collaborates across functions, teams and offices • Self management and development

• Driving inclusion • Developing talent (n/a for level 1 and 2) • Managing others (n/a for level 1 and 2)

You can access the full performance expectations on Quest where you will see a breakdown of the expectations at each role level. Before your check-in, mid-year or end of year review, please refer to the expectations to prepare and analyse how you are performing against your role level, including both areas of strength and areas where you need to develop. This analysis will inform your personal development plans and help you set your performance objectives. As a line manager, use the performance expectations to assess your teammember’s performance within their current role. This will help shape the conversation at your meetings.

Role levels The performance expectations are broken into seven role levels to reflect the size and structure of the firm and are consistent across all offices and departments. This allows you to easily understand what the firm expects of your role, alongside your job description and goals. This will help you identify more tailored areas for development and to set objectives against these. It will also help you identify what would be expected of a role at the next level, should an opportunity arise. Each role is aligned to a level, reflecting the global team’s structure. A level is assigned to a role and is independent to an individual’s performance. If you feel that you or your teammember demonstrates strengths in all areas of their current role level and many of the areas at the next level, it is important to have an open discussion about progression and opportunities for development at the firm and, if not possible, elsewhere. For further details on role levels, please see the FAQs on Quest .

7

Performance expectations for knowledge management paralegals and lawyers The full expectations framework for knowledge development paralegals and lawyers available on Quest are used to help clarify expectations and prompt development opportunities and discussions. There are three roles within the framework, knowledge development paralegal, knowledge development lawyer and senior knowledge development lawyer. The areas of focus in the expectations are:

Technical expertise and client service

Developing and growing our business

Financial and risk management

Working together

Before your check-in, mid-year or end of year review, please refer to the expectations to prepare and analyse how you are performing including both areas of strength and where you need to develop.

Setting meaningful objectives

There are two different types of objectives you should set yourself.

Performance objectives Performance objectives focus on what you need to achieve in your role for the current of forthcoming period. A performance objective could be: A quantitative target • Business services/paralegal example: lead on three processes relating to know how by reviewing, documenting (policy guidelines and step-by-step processes) and sharing with the team in the next four weeks. • Knowledge development lawyer example; lead on writing three thought leadership articles on ESG topics in the next quarter including highlighting potential topics, drafting content and editing partner input. Specific projects or deliverables • Business services/paralegal example: train all members of the department in how to use the new purchase ordering software. • Knowledgedevelopment lawyer example: implement changes toLIBORdrafting in relevant precedents, including training the teamandupdatingQuest guidance. • They should be written and ‘owned’ by the reviewee and should support the firm’s overall goals.

Personal development objectives

If you identify specific areas inwhich you need to develop in order to achieve your performance or career goals or to improve an aspect of your performance against the performance expectations, it is important to formulate some personal development objectives. • Apersonal development objective could be to develop a specific skill or behaviour, or increase your knowledge in a particular area. The objectivemay relate to something that you need to improve, or itmight equally be about further developing an existing strength. • Like performance objectives, personal development objectives should be SMART. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timebound). • A set of personal development objectives is sometimes referred to as a personal development plan.

Key tip: When setting objectives you should think about howmany can be achieved in the given period of time. As a guide 4-6 are usually sufficient. If you wish to set personal development objectives these should be around 25%of the total, the remainder being performance objectives. A template to help you create your development plan can be found on Quest . They should be written and ‘owned’ by the reviewee and should support the firm’s overall goals.

8

Learning and development available to you There are a wide range of development opportunities available for our people globally. These opportunities can help you to develop a variety of skills and to meet your objectives and the expectations for your role.

L D hub

You can find all training available to you on the learning and development hub. Topics range from IT training to soft skills development and are increasingly available in a blend of face-to- face training, virtual sessions, e-learning and videos. To see what specific soft skills training is available to you and to book onto training, you can browse the L&D hub . Line manager training There is a global programme designed to support line managers to meet their expectations and fulfil the roles and responsibilities required as part of the approach to performance and talent management. Line manager training may be relevant if you supervise the work of others. This programme helps line managers develop the skills needed to have effective and continuous conversations with team members during check-ins, end of your reviews and regular day- to-day catch-ups. These developed skills in havingmeaningful conversations help increase engagement and encourage high performance at all levels. End of year performance review training Performance review training will be available to both reviewers and reviewees in advance of end of year performance reviews each year. This training will help you get the most from your own performance review as well as prepare and deliver effective reviews for others.

9

Reward and recognition Our approach to reward and recognition aims to support a high performance culture that is merit based and recognises individual performance and contribution to the firm. We also appreciate the need to remain competitive with our peers, to attract and retain the best people, ensuring we are in line with market rate. Transparency is also key and the firmwill be open and honest when awarding salary increases or bonuses to provide a clear line of sight between your performance and your reward.

Salaries Each year salary ranges for every rolewill be identified by detailed benchmarking against external >Page i Page ii Page iii Page iv Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12

Made with FlippingBook Annual report