Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer staff have cited work load and the social activities as the two main areas that need more focus at the firm in this year's employee engagement survey.

The results were shared in two 'town hall' meetings this month, where all staff were given the chance to ask senior management questions and provided with the first headline results from the recent survey.

The figures showed 76% of Freshfields' staff participated in the annual survey, marking an increase on last year's 68%. Staff and fee-earners were asked to rank the firm on a number of issues, with the two main themes highlighted by respondents as needing work being work load issues and the social aspects of the job.

Following this feedback, management discussed solutions with staff such as improving IT and providing more opportunities for people to network across groups. Management is set to consult further on the issues raised before coming to any conclusions about how to tackle them.

Freshfields London people partner Nigel Rawding said: "Two-way communication is a key feature of our engagement efforts and the town hall meetings provide another forum in which our people can be updated and ask questions about important topics affecting the firm.

"We've focused on making the meetings as interactive as possible – involving real-time voting and Q&A with the firm's leadership team – and have involved associates and business services staff in shaping the content for discussion. The town hall sessions supplement many other initiatives in this area, including regular bulletins, the annual employee engagement survey and regular contact with our associate engagement group."

The first meeting was hosted by managing partner Ted Burke, senior partner Will Lawes, London managing partner Mark Rawlinson and Rawding, and was made up of 55% business services staff and 45% fee earners, while the second meeting was without Burke and saw a more even split between fee-earners and other staff.

Freshfields has run the employee engagement survey for the past few years, however this is the first year it has been followed up with a Q&A feedback session. The results of the survey are compiled by an external company and fed back to the firm.

The news follows a number of ongoing attempts by Freshfields to address work/life balance, with newly-appointed London managing partner Rawlinson currently in the process of executing a London business plan that focuses on taking this further.