New York Lawyer
June 28, 2001

Q:
I�m a junior partner in a rapidly growing firm. When I started here 13 years ago I knew everyone and everyone knew me. And I mean we really all knew each other. I knew the names of the secretaries� kids and whether they played t-ball or soccer or tennis.

Now people are hired and fired before we can even get to know their names! I pass people in the hall and have no idea if they are a client, an associate, or what. It�s alienating and I don�t think the executive committee is doing a very good job of hanging on to the great family feeling that we used to have.

Many of us have commented on this point but it just seems like the attitude is �growth for the sake of growth� without any effort at keeping up the human side. I�m torn because presumably bigger is better, more money in the long run and all that.

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A:
Rapid growth is hard in any organization. And those who remember the �family� atmosphere when a firm was small have the hardest time adjusting. Those who join later on, after the firm has grown to a certain size, don�t have the same problems because they never experienced the cozy atmosphere you�re talking about.

There are ways to manage growth, though, so that you don�t feel like a stranger in a strange land. The best and most immediate way to ease alienation is to improve communications. In a small firm you�ll know if your secretary�s daughter won her soccer game and by how much; in a larger place you�ll need help finding such things out. So a firm newsletter with personal news, bulletin boards with a variety of information, organized lunches and social outings, strengthened rituals and camaraderie in practice areas, all take on added urgency and importance as your firm grows by leaps and bounds.

Another approach is to talk through with your colleagues, in workshops or discussion groups, the issues of growth and the change in tone and culture. When discussed formally in groups, with the firm�s backing, these issues can be sorted through systematically, with plenty of opportunity for good ideas for handling growth to float to the surface. Informal griping in the hallway and behind closed doors only causes divisions within the firm.

The executive committee can�t afford to have a tin ear on this subject. Lack of communication and a failure to manage growth properly can have lots of serious long-term effects, with no guarantee ultimately of �more money in the long run.� Lots of firms have made a big play for growth and wound up imploding. Although business reasons often explain these problems, the associated decline in comfort and family feel only hasten the exit of some attorneys -- often very talented ones who don�t like the direction the firm is headed.

Sincerely,
Holly English
Principal Consultant, Values at Work