The end of one year and the start of another is always a time when individuals and businesses alike decide that ‘now’ is the time for big changes, for seizing new opportunities. Of course, that’s often all forgotten about by the time that the remains of the Christmas nibbles have been polished off, which is a shame because change is often not only achievable but highly beneficial too.
For law firms 2013 may be a bumper year, if they can commit to boosting their training schedule and keeping it regular. It may even be the year that they break into a lucrative new field full of potential.
With the economy still shaky and businesses continuing to struggle across the board, this year really is the right year to train, train, train.
Benefits of additional legal training for law firms
There are very few (if any) reasons not to train, but there’s plenty of very good reasons to increase your training programme in 2013:
- Good for morale – Few things boost productivity and passion more than the feeling of being valued. Extra legal training on a regular basis has a potent side-benefit of showing your employees that you’re committed to them. And in these days of insecurity over jobs, that can count for a lot.
- More effective teamwork – Interacting and learning together away from the regular routine can help people to get to know each other better, and help them develop better ways of working together.
- Open new doors – Undertaking training in unknown territory can be a powerful way of transforming your fortunes in 2013. For example, personal injury training can enable you to tap into a lucrative and meaningful avenue of the legal world.
- Pays for itself – Unlike other investments, such as redecorating the office or purchasing a new company car, legal training can pay for itself many times over. Employees who are trained regularly should be sharper, and have access to the most up to date information and best practice techniques.
- Reduces costly errors – As well as improving results, extra training can help to prevent negative outcomes that can prove costly to a law firm’s bottom line and its reputation.
Whether 2012 was a good year or a bad year, kicking up your training schedule in 2013 makes perfect sense. If performance was bad last year then additional legal training can help to reverse the trend and reinvigorate your business. While investing extra money at a time of difficulty may seem counterintuitive, forward-thinking bosses will realise that the training will pay for itself further down the line.
Conversely, if 2012 was a good year in which everything went right, extra training can keep things going smoothly along the right tracks and shore up past successes. It can also be seen as a reward for your employees’ hard work in the previous year.
If you have your training carried out in-house, it needn’t even take much time away from the normal work routine, while also costing less in terms of travel expenses and other additional costs.
