Getting through the annual performance review cycle is a huge relief for many supervisors. You might even hear some say “now I can get on with the real work”. However, in my view at least it would be a mistake to view this as “job done”.
As a people leader, your responsibilities towards the organization you serve and the people you lead are ongoing and continue throughout the cycle. Organizational - facing duties include quality control and, for your lawyers, feedback to enable career development and individual growth is key. The good news is that, with planning, those two responsibilities can be discharged as one.
Much has been written about quality control for law firms. Less for in-house law departments. However, much of this is focused on quantitative metrics. No doubt in the data driven environment we inhabit, these measurements can be useful. But they should be balanced by a systematic focus on quality. How quickly a lawyer turned around a draft contract is interesting but, taken in isolation, it won’t tell a leader anything about the quality of the work product. But measuring timeliness or pace coupled with a quality review and feedback discussion could really tell you something useful about the lawyer’s work and help them along their career path.
Ideally, leaders would outline during the annual performance review how they plan to execute a feedback/QC plan, to set expectations. One way to approach this would be to let each of your team members know that once a quarter you will review their work product (e.g. a presentation, contract or advice) to set up a feedback session.
Making these conversations specific events in the calendar is mutually beneficial. You will be able to offer guidance and enhance career development and get a deeper understanding of the quality of the work product of your team. In turn, these regular sessions can provide better inputs to appointment decisions and improve the quality of the annual performance reviews.
Admittedly, making time for this is not easy. But if you engage and commit to the process the rewards can be valuable for the organization you serve, the lawyers you lead and your career.
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