How to manage culture and technology changes across legal functions
Corporate legal functions across industries are facing notable challenges this year. Legal technology capabilities have advanced tremendously, especially automation, which is challenging existing operations. Couple this with shifting employee expectations, and legal teams are facing major culture shifts.
Effective communications and change management are essential to ensure you are staying ahead of these trends and providing your employees what they need.
Communication strategies to manage change trends in corporate legal work
Focus on these three things to enable and maintain a healthy legal organization:
- Create and facilitate a unified legal culture
- Provide a clear journey and support to employees
- Curate and execute an executive communications strategy
1. Develop and maintain a strong company culture with intention
Intentionally developing and maintaining a strong culture is an essential step for every organization, but particularly in the legal space. A distinct, aligned culture is essential not only for retention, but also employee satisfaction. When people understand the overarching vision and how their role supports it, they work with greater purpose and direction.
So, how do you cultivate a strong culture? Developing culture is the result of a clear, directed program that honestly evaluates what your organization is today and what you’d like it to be in the future. It is the creation and realization of values and goals and the substantiation of those values through dedicated programs and targeted actions.
When you put in the effort to develop your culture, you will see a clear change in your organization. There will be greater trust, improved collaboration and a tangible shift in employee outlook.
2. Focus on the employee experience
An essential step in developing your culture is to focus on the employee experience. For a lot of employees, this is a tenuous time in the workplace. However, that perception provides a golden opportunity to support – and even re-engage – employees by reaffirming their value and showcasing the development opportunities they have access to.
In addition to being part of a broader culture, every employee also wants to understand where they are going. Right now is a great time to really focus on what that employee journey is and to leverage new and existing professional development programs.
Not only will employees feel more satisfied, they will be more driven and confident knowing they are working towards a goal.
3. Strategic and clear employee communications are essential
In addition to developing a clear culture and addressing employee experience, how you communicate with employees is also key. It needs to be clear that all of these pieces are purposeful and promoted through a refined executive and tailored communications strategy. One size does not fit all.
An effective executive communications strategy will make it clear that the full weight of leadership is behind each message. It will also let employees know their concerns are being heard and addressed. If you want to learn more about how to build out this strategy, check out my colleague’s post, “Make your strategic priorities count with an effective communications plan.”
Over time, these efforts will strengthen the overall culture by building trust and making it clear where decisions are being made.
2023 will continue to be a big year of change for corporate legal – consider how to get ahead of the technology and culture changes.
If you want help supporting changes in your legal department, Pivot Strategies has a talented team of communicators that will not only expand your impact, but make your life easier.
Connect with us, and let’s get to work.
About the Author
Conlan Campbell, Communications Consultant
Conlan brings a mix of corporate and agency experience to Pivot, where he strives to help clients meet their communications objectives and bridge the gap between them and their audiences. Conlan’s background runs the gamut of communications strategy, but he is most passionate about communications technology and efforts to create a more modern workforce.
