Michael Sukenik, the Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Bissell Homecare, Inc., talks with Corporate Counsel Advance about the challenges around growing your legal department in a difficult talent market, how to build a cohesive team, and the importance around gaining influence and trust in your organization.

Global Leaders in Law: You are currently in the process of growing your department and attracting new talent. What lessons have you learned? 

Michael Sukenik: In this environment, having a clear message around our team values and the value proposition is key. Like most, there have been challenges during this interesting time to attract employees, but we've been successful in attracting strong talent. I couldn't be prouder of the dynamic team we have assembled across geographies – diligent, commercially-minded, thoughtful. But it did take longer than perhaps I would have expected, which is one of the biggest changes from my prior experiences. Previously, when you were looking for talent, you would put out a post or hire a recruiter and within a month, you would have several prospects. Yet, over the last couple years, in some instances it took 9 – 12 months to locate someone who would be a good fit.