There’s another way to go and it’s the path of patience and introspection. The early steps involve writing a detailed position description and induction plan. Without these items being set as the foundation of a successful career with your firm, you run the risk of a poor hiring and induction experience that can lead to you needing to go through the whole hiring cycle again.

At this point I bet some or all of these thoughts have been running through your mind;

“I’ve never had to do this before”, “I don't have the time” or “a desk and chair should be enough for anybody to get started.” If you can relate to these statements I ask you to think about why people have left your firm recently and what you could have done differently. Most of the time there are controllable factors that prevent staff turnover.

Wouldn't we all prefer to avoid the inefficiency and financial cost of having to hire and rehire? Putting the time in at the start of the process to define the role, the skills required, the personality type to complement your culture will go along way towards this. Coupled with an induction plan that is deliberate, thorough and allows for time to be invested at the beginning of a new hire’s journey with you will lead to greater staff satisfaction and tenure.

If you don't know where to start, there are many resources online to assist. If you need more help but don't have the time, lean on your HR consultants, your chosen recruitment partner or even a person in your firm that has a keen interest in coaching and development.

Once you have laid the foundation you can then move onto the next question of “who can help me source great staff?”. The better you understand and can explain the foundation of the role the better others will be able to assist you with finding talented people. One step further down the path of increased staff tenure, enjoyment and productivity.

About the author; Alex Antal is the head of Alleviato’s Business development and Talent services. He has over 11 years of experience working with law firms to solve efficiency problems. He has joined Alleviato (alleviato.com) to head up their efforts in offering the legal industry an alternate recruitment model and business development training solutions. Alex can be contacted via email, alex.antal@alleviato.com or Mobile, 0404 730 590.

About Alleviato; Alleviato delivers management consulting, recruitment and support services within the legal industry across Australia. Independent and legal industry focused, specialising in practice & financial management, recruitment, training and technology for immediate and sustained business improvements for our clients. Website http://alleviato.com/