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As the attention to mental health within the legal industry is increasing, more law firms are hiring professionals to head up their well-being efforts. With few road maps or even a clear definition of what a well-being professional is, it can be difficult to determine the right fit for a particular firm's needs.

These professionals come from a variety of backgrounds with a wide breadth of knowledge and experience and with credentials in vastly different areas. They are licensed therapists, social workers, personal coaches, nurses, mindfulness experts and even personal fitness trainers.

They bring their own unique talents to the table, and while all of these talents have a place within the larger framework of well-being, law firms should look for four key elements when bringing on a professional to design and head a well-being program.

Systemic understanding.

A well-being professional who works within any organization is working within a system, and that system creates the culture, structure and institutional history of the organization. Those elements, in turn, have significant impact on the experiences of those who work there.

Law firms, especially, have markedly different cultures depending on the firm. A well-being professional's ability to identify and properly assess how the larger system bolsters or inhibits individual well-being increases the ability to create programming that improves not only the wellness of individual attorneys, but also productivity, success and well-being of the firm as a whole.

To make a medical parallel, a doctor can treat the symptoms of a child's asthma attack, and the child can experience momentary relief. But when the doctor also inquires about the child's environment, such as exposure to second-hand smoke, she can assist in providing resources such as smoking cessation programs that positively affect the child long term as well as the health of the entire family system.

To determine whether an applicant for a well-being director position at your firm meets the "systemic understanding" criteria, consider this interview question: Describe how your work addresses individual well-being within the context of the organization's larger system? How does your work promote or, if necessary, challenge the culture that impacts employees?

Continuum of care.

There is a parable about people standing beside a river bank when they notice someone drowning in the rushing current. They pull the person to safety only to realize that more and more people are coming down the river, struggling to stay afloat. They rescue and revive as many as they can, but some are swept away too quickly. Eventually, one rescuer realizes that they can't keep pulling drowning people out of the water. The real solution is to go upstream, find out where people keep falling into the river and repair the broken bridge that is causing the accidents.

Understanding continuum of care means being able to provide programming and services that range from proactive and preventative (making sure the bridge is sturdy so people don't fall in the river), to restorative treatment and care (pulling people out of the river when they slip in). A professional skilled in addiction recovery or physical fitness plays a vital—and even life-saving—role within a well-being framework. Such a targeted area of expertise, however, might not best serve a director's role that requires holistic programming along the continuum of care.

Interview questions: What assessments, tools and programs do you use that engage with employees along the continuum of their well-being? What can be offered to those who are already high-achieving and resilient and how is it different from what is offered to those struggling with burnout and mental health challenges?

Knowledge of industry standards.

More and more industry associations are creating standards of well-being as a guide to their member organizations. The American Bar Association's Well-Being Pledge and Toolkit was born out of the 2017 ABA National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being. Some of these guidelines are just that—suggested guidelines. Others, like the ABA Pledge and Toolkit, encourage law firms to become signatories to the pledge and commit to specific standards. A well-being professional within the legal industry should have a deep understanding of the seven pillars of the ABA Well-Being Pledge, best practices for attorneys and legal professionals, and strategies for not only meeting but exceeding those standards.

Interview questions: Describe your understanding of ABA Well-being Pledge. How would you use that as a framework for your efforts to increase resilience and well-being within the firm? Do other industry association standards inform your practice? How do they apply within the legal community?

Use of assessment and evaluation. 

You can't repair what you don't know is broken. Many times we know something is wrong, but the exact "what" can be harder to determine. When the water starts dripping from the kitchen ceiling, we know we have a problem. Determining what precisely is causing that leak and getting it fixed requires a call to the plumber.

A well-being professional should have a the ability to evaluate an organization's challenges and strengths through skilled observation, interviewing and formal diagnostic assessment. Furthermore, they should have the ability to set targeted outcomes and collect data on those outcomes for evaluation.

Interview questions: What are your standards for evaluation? What are your methods for assessing both the needs of an organization and the outcomes of a well-being program? Are you licensed to use or have access to use formal assessment tools?

As with any professional position within a law firm, there is no one-size-fits-all. Having a strong foundation in the four key areas above ensures that the professional you hire has firm footing to meet your law firm's unique needs.

Read more – Minds Over Matters: An Examination of Mental Health in the Legal Profession

 

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Renee Branson is the founder of RB Consulting, which works with lawyers, law firms, legal marketers, business professionals and nonprofit groups to create more humanized and healthier workplaces, as well as to strengthen highly achieving individuals and teams. Find her at reneebranson.blog.