Lawyers appoint ‘chief wellbeing officer’ amid talent war

CITY law firm Clifford Chance will this week unveil its first ever “global wellbeing” chief to overhaul its staff perks as a battle for talent in the legal industry escalates.

The socalled magic circle firm, which last month raised wages for newly qualified solicitors in their mid20s to £125,000, has hired Aon executive Charles Alberts to the new role.

Mr Alberts will be tasked with creating the law firm’s first “global wellbeing strategy”, a strategy which sources said could shake up everything from training, promotions and interviews to bonuses and perks. “This is not about fruit Wednesdays,” insisted one person close to the hire. “The day one job is to create a wellbeing strategy. This isn’t someone in the HR team who is doing 20 other things as well. It’s not ‘let’s just do an employee survey every five years’.”

The firm is ploughing money into the wellbeing of its workforce amid a battle for staff across the legal sector.

Earlier this year a senior lawyer at the Canary Wharfbased law firm proposed hiring a “chief happiness officer” to ensure the law firm is “the most vibrant, happy and uplifting place to work in the world”.

His other suggestions include sixweekly microretreats, books from employees’ favourite authors sent over on publication, a fourday week pilot and “sponsorship for passion projects and hobbies”.

Insiders said that there are no current plans to hire a chief happiness officer and that its appointment of a wellbeing head is unrelated as it has been in the pipeline since last summer.

The move comes as new research compiled by Yougov found that nine in 10 City lawyers have experienced stress or burnout as a direct result of their job and less than a quarter felt properly supported by their firm at the time.

Respondents also cited a poor worklife balance as the main reason for quitting the profession.

Known for having longhours cultures, City law firms are increasingly offering new perks to keep staff onside and retain top talent amid a period of high turnover.

This has included raising salaries to record levels and offering new benefits such as subsidised fertility treatment.

A survey by Legal Cheek last year found that City lawyers were working increasingly longer hours, with associates at Kirkland & Ellis working until 11.30pm on average. Kirkland & Ellis said it had brought in a psychologist and an addiction expert to help its staff.