The legal profession is diverse, so what motivates each of us can differ. At our core, most of us are inspired by the desire help others and often fulfilled in doing so. Intuitively, we also recognise that feeling valued at work helps outweigh the challenges we face and sacrifices we make for the job. So, it’s unsurprising that sense of worth protects and promotes wellbeing. But in an industry that widely champions a ‘profit over people’ approach, employee value erodes until everyone feels like just another cog in the money-making machine.
Recent research by Krill et al. (2022) explored the relationship between legal professionals’ wellbeing and employer values. The study surveyed nearly 2000 legal professionals from various backgrounds, including private practice, government, and in-house corporate settings. To determine the impacts of profession-centric versus business-centric approaches, participants were grouped according to what they felt their employer valued most: professionalism/individual, financial work/availability, and no value/no feedback.
Most lawyers in the study (62%) were categorised under the professionalism/individual group, meaning they felt their employer valued their skills, professionalism, and intrinsic worth as a human. The study found this group enjoyed the best mental health and wellbeing outcomes, such as lower perceived stress, better mental and physical health, and less work overload.
Of concern were the 37% of participants that experienced poorer mental health and wellbeing. These legal professionals occupied one of two groups. Financial worth/availability group members (27%) who felt valued at work for their ability to be on-the-job and earn revenue for the organisation. The lawyers who felt under-valued by their employers or received no feedback about what their employer values about them (10%) experienced the worst health and wellbeing of all groups. Members of these groups reportedly consumed more substances (than those in the professionalism/individual group) and stated they were considering leaving the profession due to stress, burnout, or poor mental health.
Rogers and Ashforth (2017) studied how respect for employees facilitates psychological safety and wellbeing in the workplace. They defined two categories of respect that may operate, and can co-exist, in organisational settings: generalised respect (“we are all valued here”) and particularised respect (“I am valued…” for particular attributes, behaviours, and achievements). Generalised respect is linked to employees’ need to belong and particularised respect to the need for status. When these types of respect are both demonstrated well there is a risk of mixed messaging, such as, “this organisation values you all equally,” and, “your attributes and achievements show you are more valuable than other employees”. However, the authors advise the mixed messaging risk can be mitigated if organisations position generalised respect as the foundation for basic civility and trust. They claim this would foster connection among employees such that they experience social rewards from associating with their fellow valued employees. The study indicates that communicating how and why people are valued by organisations both as a group and as individuals is critical to positive self-related outcomes like self-esteem and self-worth.
Both studies suggest feedback is an important aspect of a respectful, mentally healthy, flourishing legal workplace. And the type of feedback given as well as what employees feel their bosses value are critical indicators of organisations treating law as a business or a respected profession. In many organisations, this is something still requiring attention. As the research shows, even workplaces that have open dialogue about what they value in their employees can have staff who struggle with wellbeing. But with genuine words and actions, organisations and leadership can support and improve the wellbeing of their most valuable asset – their people.
References
- Krill, P. R., Degeneffe, N., Ochocki, K., & Anker, J. J. (2022). People, professionals, and profit centers: The connection between lawyer wellbeing and employer values. Behavioral Sciences, 12(6), Article 177. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12060177
- Rogers, K. M., & Ashforth, B. E. (2017). Respect in organisations: Feeling valued as “we” and “me.” Journal of Management, 43(5), 1578–1608. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206314557159
