A recent survey found the average lawyer works at least 53 hours a week.
Another study found attorneys who report a decline in their overall well-being are experiencing burnout at twice the rate of their counterparts who had no issues or who reported improved well-being.
“The Balancing Act” recently sat down with Jennifer Bluestein, Chief Talent Officer at Perkins Coie. Bluestein is a former practicing attorney who moved over into the HR space, leading her team through COVID-19 as one of Fortune’s top 100 professional services firms at which to work for the 20th consecutive year.
We asked her thoughts on the current state of burnout in her firm and across the legal industry, here’s what she had to say:
“I think learning about burnout is really a journey… We’ve been able to really understand engagement, lack of engagement and burnout… Burnout is when you really can’t be your best self at work because you just don’t have any more to give. Some of that is because of work. Some of that is because of personal, as we’ve seen even with COVID, but most likely, it’s a mix of the two. And so that’s how we try to look at it.”
Of course, as an employer, it can be difficult to spot the key warning signs associated with burnout. Bluestein mentions that a “decrease in work quality, increase in typos, and lack of responsiveness” can be telltale signs that an employee is struggling.
Bluestein adds that Perkins Coie has signed on to the ABA Well-being pledge and implemented key benefits to support the unique needs of lawyers and other firm staff.
She says: “During COVID, we lifted our limits on backup childcare. We also instituted Homethrive… As lawyers, we research. We’d spend hours a day researching what’s the best care place, what’s the best nursing, what’s the best congregate living… It was just, you know, leading to burnout.”
The insights and advice don’t stop there! Tune in to this week’s podcast episode to hear Bluestein’s take on the best strategies firms can take to mitigate burnout levels and improve employee well-being:
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