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What does a real work-life balance look like?

Written by: Sellick Partnership
Published on: 6 Oct 2022

What does a real work-life balance look like?

By Ellen Shone, Recruitment Consultant, Sellick Partnership Limited - Legal Division, Private Practice

The concept of work-life balance has gained increased prominence in the legal sector in recent years. Although this has always been an important consideration for professionals trying to manage their workloads, the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed this matter to the forefront in unprecedented ways.

For busy legal professionals with heavy workloads, a real work-life balance has historically been difficult to achieve. However, Sellick Partnership’s recent survey of private practice legal professionals has shown that more and more people in this sector are now actively seeking a better work-life balance — and are willing to look for a new role to achieve this.

Here, we will break down some of the key findings of our recent survey in greater detail, in order to unlock further insight into what today’s legal professionals are looking for in a work-life balance, and what employers may need to improve to deliver this.

A good work-life balance is in higher demand than ever

One of the most striking findings from our survey of private practice solicitors, lawyers, legal executives and paralegals based in the South of England is that a good work-life balance is now a greater priority for professionals in this sector than ever before.

When asked what specific workplace benefits they would be most likely to be looking for in a new role, the most popular answer was ‘a real work-life balance’, with 64% selecting this response. In a separate, more general question about what overall improvements they would be looking for when seeking a new role, 69% said a better work-life balance — the second most popular choice after an increased salary.

This growing emphasis on work-life balance represents a relatively new trend. In the past, it would be expected that more conventional factors such as salary, location and career progression opportunities would be the main priorities for legal professionals, but the conditions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic have changed many perceptions. Now, it has become much more common for staff to place an emphasis on personal happiness, fulfilling work and hours that do not pose a risk of burnout.

We are already seeing signs that employers are responding to this, with even high-powered Legal 500 firms looking to move away from long hours towards more regular 5pm or 5:30pm finishes to the working day. However, as our survey showed, there remains room for improvement.

Are employers currently falling short?

According to the respondents from our survey, many legal professionals are not currently getting the work-life balance they seek from their current employer:

  • Only 32% of those polled said they receive a real work-life balance in their current role — half the amount of those who said they would be looking for this in a new role.
  • 81% said they work additional time over and above their contracted hours, with the average being nine hours per week.
  • 8% regularly work 20 or more extra hours per week, with the highest reported weekly figure being 38 additional hours.
  • 42% of survey respondents are not guaranteed to stay within the legal profession, with 12% planning to leave.

There are a number of factors that are making it difficult for legal professionals to achieve the work-life balance they seek, with high levels of activity in many legal sectors since the onset of the pandemic resulting in heavy workloads and a demanding client base. At the same time, the cost of living crisis is persuading many professionals to take on additional hours, or seek security through better-paying roles with more challenging schedules.

In the longer term, these trends can lead to dissatisfaction and burnout, resulting in skilled, qualified professionals leaving the sector for good. In order to prevent this, employers must adjust and improve their offering to meet candidates’ expectations of what a real work-life balance looks like.

How do legal professionals define a good work-life balance?

The findings of our survey revealed a number of important insights into the support measures and benefits that legal professionals find most meaningful in terms of providing a good work-life balance:

  • 93% of respondents said they want options to work from home, while 56% are keen to have flexible working patterns. This is particularly important for professionals with family responsibilities, as it allows them to work around school drop-offs and pickups and avoid spending money on childcare, while also helping them to beat traffic and reduce the amount of time spent commuting.
  • 47% would like a job with a four-day working week, with pay for five days. This model is being trialled in many parts of the world, including the UK, as a potential means of improving wellbeing without harming productivity, but it remains rare — only three respondents in our survey said they are currently offered this option. Should this model prove successful, forward-thinking firms could mark themselves out by being early adopters.
  • Currently, only 21% of respondents say they are able to take Christmas off without using up some of their annual holiday allocation, whereas 39% said they would be keen to have this time off without dipping into their annual leave. It is becoming an increasingly common trend among private practices to offer this time off including the week between Christmas and New Year — as extra days of paid holiday by essentially closing the offices during these dates, so firms should be aware that this is an emerging new norm.

Entirely remote roles - not the answer?

Although most of our survey findings indicated a strong emerging demand for remote working options and flexible hours, it should be noted that by and large, most private practice legal professionals are not currently seeking entirely remote roles:

  • 93% of those polled said they would like the option to work at least one day from home, with 70% wanting to work at least three days remotely each week.
  • However, among these, only 18% said they would want to work remotely five days a week.
  • The most common response was three days (34%), while a further 30% said they would ideally spend two days or fewer working from home.

These findings indicate that a hybrid approach to remote working is in greatest demand, with a focus on home working. This shows that many people have become accustomed to working remotely since the pandemic, and are not willing to sacrifice the additional flexibility this provides.

However, for many, a full-time remote role does not offer a true work-life balance either, as most people want to be able to have at least some time in the office, especially junior staff who rely on working with senior colleagues as they develop their skills. As a result, few legal sector employers are actively recruiting for entirely remote jobs in the current market, reflecting the fact that face-to-face time is seen as a net positive by workers and businesses alike.

The overall findings of the study highlight the various ways in which legal professionals are keen to experience a better work-life balance, and are potentially willing to seek a new position in order to achieve this. By taking heed of these trends and identifying what workers are really looking for and catering to their needs, legal employers can maintain a high level of job satisfaction and fulfilment within their organisation, while bolstering retention at a time when competition for talent has never been higher.

 

For more advice or to discuss locum opportunities, please contact myself or my team on 0203 997 9255 or get in touch with Sellick Partnership via our website. Alternatively, you can find all of our Legal Private Practice roles here.

 

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