Working in-house often means rewarding tasks and a better work/life balance – but it can also mean a flatter career trajectory. Alex Aldridge talks to leading general counsel about how they're keeping lawyers motivated

In-house lawyers have a reputation for being more content than their private practice counterparts. But there is one aspect of their working life in which frustration clearly emerges – the notoriously flat career trajectory that makes it hard to develop professionally.

Speaking off the record to Legal Week, a divisional general counsel of a financial services institution sums up the feeling: "Being an in-house lawyer is great: varied work, interesting people and the opportunity to constantly order external counsel around. The flipside, of course, is that the career pyramid is flat – and the reality is, nobody else is going to be head of department unless I fall under a bus."

And the financial crisis has, if anything, aggravated the situation, as the uncertain employment market discourages movement between jobs and companies' contracting budgets prevent promotions and even pay rises. The silver lining for ambitious in-house lawyers is that legal departments are finding themselves forced to look in greater depth at ways to keep team members motivated.

"In-house teams know they have to do better on career development than in the past," says BUPA general counsel Paul Newton, who has recently put in place a talent management programme that sees the career aspirations of the healthcare provider's 60 in-house lawyers monitored and steps taken to help employees reach their goals.

"Often there is limited scope to move into more senior legal roles internally," concedes Newton, "so we're placing a greater focus on the possibility of moving elsewhere in the business into roles that aren't necessarily legal." He gives the example of one of BUPA's former heads of legal in Spain moving into a general management role.

The approach mirrors that employed at the Belgian Post, where general counsel Dirk Tirez has initiated a process that sees mid-term plans drawn up for those lawyers wanting to develop roles elsewhere in the company.

"We identify where the individual wants to be in three years then develop a strategy to enable them to achieve this," he says. Members of Tirez's team have gone on to take positions including head of investigations, HR director and regulatory director.

The further training that is often required in order to move into such roles is also being recognised as a useful way to motivate staff in its own right. "Lawyers tend to be intellectually curious, ambitious people, so while our hands may be tied to a certain extent in terms of salaries and promotions, what we can do is assist them in gaining further skills and qualifications," says Newton, adding that over the last couple of years BUPA has sponsored two lawyers through part-time MBA courses.

Fred Krebs, president of the US-based Association of Corporate Counsel, which runs a mini-MBA in conjunction with Boston University specifically tailored to the needs of in-house lawyers, has a similar take: "Education maintains a sense of progression, which can be useful when progress through an organisation is stalled for economic reasons," he says.

Others, however, point out that a combination of staff cuts and pressure to handle more work in-house leaves little time in practice for the relative luxury of further education. "It sounds nice, but we're just too busy," says one in-house lawyer at a FTSE 100 company.

One of the effects of these greater workloads is a trend towards organising in-house teams more efficiently – with hierarchical structures becoming more common. For example, mining giant Rio Tinto has divided its 100-strong legal team into ordered product groups, each headed up by a divisional general counsel and featuring law firm-style salary banding. "We have been focusing on how best to attract and retain talent and the feedback from our lawyers was that they were looking for a more defined career path within the organisation," says EMEA senior corporate counsel Audrey Ferguson.

BAE has acted similarly, introducing tiered legal positions – alongside detailed competency profiles of the required skills for each role – across its various divisions as part of the restructuring of its legal team embarked on by general counsel Philip Bramwell upon his arrival three years ago.

"Previously we had a very flat structure, now we have counsel, senior counsel, head of practice areas and chief counsel positions in each line of business," says BAE chief counsel compliance and regulation Mark Serfozo, adding that the new structure has enabled him to promote one high-performing lawyer a year-and-a-half into his time at the company to a role that sees him manage four people.

For Newton, the key lies not only in more efficient internal structures, but "being creative and looking at opportunities as they arise." He adds: "It's amazing how opportunities come up when you're aligned in a way that allows people to take advantage of them."

At BUPA that often means taking advantage of the international nature of the company – with members of Newton's London-based team regularly doing internal secondments at overseas offices. "Most recently one of our UK lawyers, who also happened to be US-qualified, went to work in Miami for three months to cover a vacant position over there," he says.

Amid all this talk of career tracks and professional development it's easy to overlook the fact that many lawyers moved in-house precisely because they wanted to escape the culture associated with highly-defined career structures. "While individuals' motivations vary widely, a common theme among in-house lawyers is that they are looking for a greater work-life balance – and operating in a way that allows them to do this can be a good way to motivate, too," comments Tirez.

And then there are the equally easy to overlook basics to keeping employees happy: "A lot of general counsel underestimate the effect of simply telling someone who has performed well on a matter that they've done a good job," Tirez adds.

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Making it to the top – the recruiter's view

Don't go in-house too early. According to James Limburn of Gibson Limburn Search, a recruiter specialising in legal in-house moves in the financial services sector, private practice experience is highly valued by in-house employers: "Six years at Slaughter and May is always going to look good on your CV. Two years often suggests someone who didn't have time to learn the technical fundamentals – and technical skills count highly when filling in-house roles."

Too late isn't ideal either. "It can suggest you've been passed over for partnership and the move in-house is enforced," adds Limburn. "If you go slightly earlier you're seen as someone who has thought through what they want to do and is moving as part of a strategy."

Tread gently. Wary of encouraging potentially destabilising internal competition, many general counsel talk about the importance of quietly identifying someone they can groom to succeed them. Those who fall into that category should play their cards carefully. "They're ready today and make half what you make – of course they're a threat!" commented one senior lawyer at a leading bank.

Be prepared to move. "Career progression in-house is all about self-management," says James Franklin, a senior consultant at recruiters Robert Walters. "That means being proactive if you've recognised that you're probably not going to get any further within an organisation any time soon."

But don't move around too much. "It's a catch-22 situation in some ways, because if you're ambitious you often have to move, but too many moves can also count as a black mark," says Limburn. Franklin recommends staying in a job for a minimum of three years in order to avoid creating an impression of "lacking longevity".

Find an organisation that fits. Going big worked for Barclaycard general counsel Mark Edwards, who joined Barclays from Simmons & Simmons 15 years ago. "I've never found that there hasn't been an opportunity to advance my career here in some shape or form, although it's not always up, up, up, but sometimes across." While going somewhere smaller can also make sense, says Limburn, "if you've earned your stripes at a big law firm or large institution and spot a boutique looking to roll out what you've been doing on a smaller scale."

Right place, right time. Everyone agrees that luck often plays a major role in senior appointments. "Global general counsel positions at FTSE 100 companies don't often become available, so it obviously helps enormously that when the role becomes free, you are at the right stage in your career," says Franklin.