There are many reasons why working with a professional team of employment lawyers is a good idea, no matter how big or small your business is.
For one thing, a professional employment lawyer has unrivalled access to the industry, and is always ahead of insight, compliance, and changing regulations that you need to be aware of. What’s more, London employment lawyers can work with you on an ad hoc and as-needed basis or under a retainer, granting you unlimited access to their skills, advice, and expertise.
But how do you make the most of their advice and expertise from day one of your retainer or contract? Here are our tips on how to prepare to onboard an employment lawyer…
1. Identify your needs
The most important thing that you need to do before onboarding with an employment lawyer or law team is identify your need and how you wish to work with them. It could be that you sign up for a retainer and enjoy access as and when you need it – or it could be that you need support with a specific issue in your business.
Whatever it is, the chances are that your needs will change. However, acknowledging the gap in your own legal knowledge and how a professional team can help is a good starting point.
2. Create a team structure complete with talent mapping outline
As part of any onboarding with an employment lawyer, you should always try to balance your existing team structure and hierarchy with potential and where you expect to see different team members moving over the progression of their career.
Talent mapping enables us to look at where your team are and how you can use existing talent to fill gaps in your business – acknowledging along the way where you need to hire new talent, and if there are any roles that will ultimately become redundant amid structural change.
Understanding this and both where your team currently is and where you want and anticipate it going is important for employment lawyers. It changes the way we approach internal conversations and can help us to understand future plans for the business.
3. Hand over access to what they need
Finally, in order for an employment lawyer to really support you and your business, they need to have access to everything. That includes contracts, any notes on team disciplinaries and other issues, and information that relates to contracts between employees and suppliers.
Employment lawyers are invaluable when it comes to protecting your reputation ahead of a leal proceeding or tribunal, and they can help you to navigate the most complex of cases inhouse without any issues. But in order to offer that support, you need to be open and honest and provide them with access to all the documentation they need, when they need it.
For more advice on instructing an employment lawyer, get in touch with your local firm today.