Pepeliaev Group is the top law firm for motivating staff
Pepeliaev Group has been hailed as the top firm in the “Staff Incentivisation” category in the Successful Personnel Management Awards organized by Legal Insight magazine.
The Legal Insight Law Firm Awards contest is an annual recognition of law firms’ most successful activities in the area of personnel management. The “Staff Incentivisation” category assessed firms’ strategy in motivating staff, innovations in managing employees and the system of benefits and privileges in force in the firm. Ernst & Young is the competition’s official auditor.
In assessing Pepeliaev Group’s achievements in incentivising staff, the experts noted that the firm had been able to keep its team together and even strengthen it, despite the economic downturn.
In 2009-2010, the firm hired more than 100 employees, around 30 of them fr om international law firms. Moreover, the rate of staff turnover remained unchanged compared to previous years. In addition, Pepeliaev Group’s HR Department has developed and put into action a set of measures aimed at retaining staff as well as supporting and strengthening a corporate spirit. The range of social benefits for employees was enhanced, with the standard of service being improved and the range of services on offer being broadened. Many acts of goodwill and measures which were begun in the time of crisis have now become standard. Internal communications within the firm have been improved, and in particular, starting fr om 2009, there have been weekly and monthly updates of news within the firm. Meetings for new employees with the Managing Partner are held regularly. There is an ongoing Photo Gallery to showcase the best photography of our employees, and we have formed sports teams both in football and in the quiz Who? Wh ere? When? These teams take part in competitions and tournaments against other companies. In 2010, the Pepeliaev Group team took first place in the Moscow tournament of Who? Wh ere? When? We also have an active Children’s Aid Fund.
Our internal training system has been improved. Staff development remains one of the key priorities in Pepeliaev Group’s talent management process. All employees must undergo training in our corporate study centre. Only those who undergo training and who take part in training others can be promoted to the most senior positions in the firm. In the last five years, there have been more than 230 staff promotions and 11 employees have been made partner. In addition, following successful training periods with the firm, more than 40 trainees have joined full time.
In our Corporate Study Centre we hold between 60 and 80 training sessions and seminars annually. Among them are regular sessions, including Management Training, The Intellectual Environment, Corporate Cinema, Experience Sharing, Communication Skills and English Language Course. The firm’s employees also take part in training programmes organised by foreign law firms, both in Russia and overseas, including annual programmes organised by the University of Iowa’s College of Law, which are held in Arcachon, France.
“Many of our employees value their work at Pepeliaev Group because it gives them the opportunity to grow and to achieve their goals within the firm without impinging on their spare time and without affecting their most important personal and family relationships,” relates Alexander Vinogradov, Pepeliaev Group’s Deputy General Director, who oversees HR work. He recalls more than a few examples of employees who have left for other law firms, in particular international law firms, then returning, acknowledging that working at Pepeliaev Group gives them a better work-life balance. “We are ready to do everything we can to increase incentives and to create a pleasant working environment in our firm,” asserts Alexander Vinogradov.