Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld chief legal talent officer Elizabeth Miller, working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, in Alexandria, Virginia.

Editor's note: This article is part of The New View, a special report from The American Lawyer on how the coronavirus crisis is changing the way work gets done across the legal industry—now and in the future.

When Elizabeth Miller accepted the role of chief legal talent officer at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in February, she was looking forward to visiting the firm's various offices, meeting with her business services colleagues and laying out a plan for the position.

"And then we transitioned to working from home in month two," she says.

First and foremost, the job of a chief talent officer at a law firm is about people. The specifics of those responsibilities vary from firm to firm, but in general the CTO has purvey over recruiting, human resources and diversity and inclusion, and is closely aligned with marketing and business development. People jobs, if you will.

So when you can't onboard a lateral face-to-face or facilitate team interactions in person, challenges arise. Despite the difficult circumstances, many CTOs have been using this time to lean into initiatives that could have staying power even after the pandemic's hold on business subsides.

Credit: Roberto Jiménez/Shutterstock.com

At Paul Hastings, as at most firms, orientation is typically an in-person process, full of paper forms and the usual requirements, says Michelle Varady, the firm's chief talent officer. But the pandemic has changed her perspective on what works best.

"Our virtual process is a good one, and it might be better," Varady says. "Why don't we keep doing that?"

The recruiting process has actually been streamlined during the crisis, according to several chief talent officers. No one has to travel for meetings, and it's become easier than ever to get everyone in a room together—even if it is virtual. And in those meetings, questions and concerns from potential hires that might not have been top of mind six months ago are now commonplace.

"They really want to know how well-suited we are for remote work," Jennifer Bluestein, chief talent and human resources officer at Seattle-founded Perkins Coie, says. "A year ago, that wouldn't have been a big issue."

Remote recruiting hasn't all been rosy, though. While it may simplify certain aspects of the job, chief talent officers say it's complicated the effort to develop bonds between new hires and their teams. It's just one of the challenges CTOs are facing as they adjust to remote work and plan for the future.

Cross-Training

Perkins Coie was in a period of change and growth before the coronavirus hit, Bluestein says.

"We needed to alleviate concerns of people who were less busy and show them that we could give them a path, and encourage them to raise their hand because they weren't that busy," she says.

In a time of furloughs, layoffs and workshare programs, stating that you don't have enough to do at work could seem like a dangerous proposition. But Bluestein and Perkins Coie managed to take what could be an awkward conversation with an attorney or staff member and turn it into an opportunity for both the firm and the worker.

For example, Bluestein cites the firm's travel and events team. When the pandemic began, they were busy tying up loose ends from canceled or postponed in-person events, conferences and discretionary travel. But once that was done, their work dried up. Instead of furloughs or layoffs, Perkins Coie tried cross-training.

One member of the travel and events team was redeployed to the pro bono squad, which was seeing an increase in workload. Others were trained on creating and conducting virtual events, allowing them to both aid the firm and provide themselves some job security at a time when more than 40 million other workers were filing for unemployment. Redeploying the travel and events team helped Bluestein build trust and encouraged more firm employees to acknowledge they didn't have enough work without fear of being laid off.

On a Kitchen Island

In an office environment, expectations are fairly standardized regarding working hours and available resources, such as equipment, connectivity and even the ability to work without distraction.

At home, and even as offices begin to reopen, those standards are in flux, and it can be a challenge to understand everyone's needs, Varady says.

"As we approach the pandemic, we have guiding principles: strategic, coordinated and thoughtful," Varady says. "But there are mass transportation concerns, child care concerns, people in varying degrees of taking care of other people. It falls into the challenge category."

Miller, of Akin Gump, says that in March, her second month on the job, when stay-at-home orders came fast and furious, she had to deal with some of those concerns on a personal level.

"Getting a desk and a chair and a dedicated space, not a kitchen island, is something I dealt with," Miller says.

Miller, like Varady, says being able to recognize the varying challenges facing the firm's employees during this crisis is critical to keeping them proactive in their work—and happy, too.

Mental Health and Communication

Melanie Priddy, a former Big Law attorney who is the chief talent officer at Katten Muchin Rosenman, says trying to adjust such programs as leadership retreats and associate summits to cater to a displaced staff is important, but smaller, less formal communications are often just as necessary to feel connected to those you work with.

"Your job is about people and those people being satisfied and happy," Priddy says. "Now that people are in their homes, it is more important than ever to stay connected. You miss those simple and informal interactions you get day-to-day with people you work with."

Priddy stresses the importance of affinity groups, such as those catering to parents, LGBTQ concerns or diversity and inclusion issues, as anchors to help people stay connected and engaged.

She expects the focus on mental health, which has been an ongoing issue in the legal industry for some time, to receive more attention even after the worst of the pandemic is over.

Bluestein says employee well-being has been a focus at Perkins Coie as well, as the many moving parts that affect job satisfaction and personal wellness have been complicated by the pandemic.

"We never want someone to feel badly about how they are feeling," Bluestein says. "But not everyone is comfortable coming to their practice heads with problems. We want to keep people working and sane, but we don't want to enable them to work 18 hours a day. It's complex."

While staying connected and caring for employees on an individual level is even more of a challenge in the midst of a crisis, the CTOs have all found solace in uniting with their peers to find a way forward.

"A silver lining in all of this is people in my position and in other positions have been talking to each other and sharing best practices," Priddy says. "There is an incredible amount of connection with the talent folks at other firms as we struggle with how to do so many things in a different way. That has been happening at all levels. It's really something."

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