How legal firms can use HR data to tackle the talent shortage

Is your firm struggling to find good talent? You're not alone.

Finding good people has been a long-standing issue for legal firms. 

The industry is unbelievably competitive – especially in highly specialised practice areas – with numerous firms vying for a limited pool of high-skilled professionals. 

This poses the question: what can your firm do to be a more attractive employer? The answer lies in your HR data.

In this blog, we explore how you can use HR data to optimise the workplace and attract more candidates.

The use case for good HR data

Is sickness absence increasing? Have people completed their training? Which team has the most churn? Are staff happy?  

There is a never-ending number of questions you can ask in your journey to improve the workplace and become an employer which attracts top talent.

However, for you to make meaningful change, you must first and foremost be able to answer the questions.

This is where your HR data can support.

Good HR analytics can unlock rich insights into employee sentiment, engagement and satisfaction, helping you bolster your recruitment and retention efforts.

Unfortunately, many firms struggle to manage their HR data and miss out on key opportunities to improve their firm!

Why is HR data so difficult to obtain and use?

Without the right tools, such as comprehensive cloud HR software, compiling and using HR data is often a hugely manual task and time-consuming challenge. 

When data is stored in different locations, pulling it together can take an enormous amount of time.

Additionally, manipulating the data from multiple sources into a usable format can be a massive task.

How legal firms can use software to make the most of their HR data

Analysing and using HR data doesn't have to be so daunting.

With good HR software, your data can easily empower you to make a huge difference. 

Here are three ways you can use HR software to optimise the impact of your workforce data.

1) Capture the necessary information

The first questions you need to ask are: what are your goals and are you capturing the relevant information?

For example, a common goal relating to improving the workplace is to reduce employee attrition.

However, to do this, you must understand how quickly staff are leaving and why.

If this was an issue you were looking to tackle, some key metrics you might want to track within your HR software include: 

• Are people leaving certain teams? 
• Are certain roles leaving at a higher rate than others? 
• Are people leaving after a particular length of service? 
• Are people using the training on offer? 
• Are people having learning & development (L&D) discussions? 
• Are people having regular objectives set? 
• Are people being promoted? 

To get answers to these questions, you need a good interface for collecting information. 

In this scenario, HR software can provide a dedicated leavers screen directly in the system, collecting information such as the reasons for their departure, and can also feature questionnaires. 

However, this functionality can apply to a range of data-capture scenarios, from obtaining information when onboarding new starters to regular employee surveys. 

Podcast: What does better data offer the HR department?

Listen here

2) Simplify data consolidation 

HR software provides a centralised location for capturing all your workforce data and by integrating your HR software with other key systems, such as payroll and finance, you can ensure a single source of truth.

Now, where it gets exciting is that good HR software enables you to easily export reports and create handy dashboards directly within the system.

Say goodbye to spending hours trying to decipher various data points and understand the bigger picture.

These reports and dashboards can be customised to contain any data points you need, such as cost of sickness, days lost, headcount status, etc.

Additionally, you can use automation within HR software so key reports, which are required frequently, are automatically pulled and sent to the relevant stakeholder without the need for manual intervention.  

3) Safeguard your data distribution

Now that you have an easy way to capture and analyse data, the final piece of the puzzle is ensuring everything is secure.

Safeguarding the data you have within your firm is a critical job and a fundamental GDPR requirement. 

Our HR Director, Lizzy Barry, reflected on an incident she witnessed at a previous company where data landed in the wrong hands, saying: “We had a payroll manager who was organising the Christmas party and accidentally sent out the final payroll file to the entire Christmas party invite list. Horrendous! Possibly one of the worst things they could have done." 

Unfortunately, incidents like these aren't too rare and are reminders for us to ensure the necessary security measures are in place.

To tackle these risks, HR software should offer features such as password protection, so even if data is sent to the wrong person, without a password the file remains safe.  

Access controls within HR software also ensure only authorised personnel can view, edit and download sensitive information, reducing the risk of data breaches. 

Improve your workplace based on facts, not feelings

In such a competitive talent market, unlocking the power of your HR data can be the difference between being a thriving employer or struggling to secure any decent candidates.

Hopefully the above has showcased the use cases for good data and offered some insight into the role HR software plays.

If you're looking for more ways to improve your workplace, we recently published a guide covering the top three HR challenges impacting firms.

The guide covers the above in more detail, alongside tackling other challenges like managing a hybrid workforce and managing staff wellbeing.

FREE guide: How legal firms can tackle their biggest HR challenges

Download here