City firms mandate phone and face-to-face comms bootcamps for Gen Z lawyers
City Law firms are rolling out mandatory programmes to train their junior lawyers in communication skills, including how to speak on the phone and deal with clients in person.
Addleshaw Goddard’s ‘early careers’ team introduced a training programme after identifying that some early-career lawyers “may have had limited exposure to a professional services environment and may benefit from additional support around workplace expectations, communication and confidence”, the company told Morning Wire.
The programme includes coaching young employees to use workplace technology, professional etiquette, “business communication”, and “working with colleagues from different generations.”
Aisha Saeed, early careers manager at Addleshaw Goddard, told Morning Wire that when designing the firm’s development pathway, which spans different progression routes to take individuals from apprentices to fully qualified lawyers, “we identified communication as a key area of focus.”
“Our aim is not to address a skills deficit, but to provide practical support that helps people navigate professional life, build relationships and communicate effectively with colleagues, clients and stakeholders,” Saeed added.
Ella Clarkson, a solicitor apprentice at Addleshaw Goddard who was part of the programme’s trial, said it “has had a positive impact on both my development and the quality of my work.”
Other City law firms have rolled out similar programmes for young hires, including Winston Taylor.
Wendy Tomlinson, chief people officer at Winston Taylor, told Morning Wire the firm also mandates telephone training for its junior lawyers. She said the training is “focused on communication, collaboration and relationship-building, including understanding different communication styles and learning how to adapt their approach to clients and colleagues.”
“While there is a lot of discussion about whether younger professionals need training on telephone calls, we think the broader issue is helping people become confident and effective communicators in every setting,” she said.
Tomlinson added that “today’s lawyers need an even broader communication toolkit than previous generations, because they’re navigating a greater variety of channels and audiences from the start of their careers.”
‘Phone anxiety’ courses for Gen Z
Often referred to as ‘telephobia’, the issue, however, is not unique to younger staff who are first cutting their teeth at law firms.
According to YouGov polling from March, only a third (33 per cent) of Gen Z said they were comfortable making phone calls, while 67 per cent of Boomers and 49 per cent of millennials were. When asked about their preferred method of communication, just 17 per cent of Gen Z said telephone, whereas 65 per cent opted for text, email, or instant messaging.
British universities and colleges are also introducing similar concepts to help young people build their communication skills before entering the workforce. For example, Nottingham College has a course which is designed for companies to “help your Gen-Z employees overcome phone anxiety” and “its impact on professional performance”.
The college aimed this course at a variety of sectors, including the professional services industry, such as law firms, teaching Gen Z employees how to communicate with clients on case updates and financial matters.
The course originally began as an interview skills course, but the college said telephone interviews “emerged as a very significant need, and as a result, we developed the bespoke session off the back of this.”
“Many young people have grown up communicating primarily through texts, voice notes and online platforms, so they often have fewer opportunities to practise real-time phone conversations,” Nottingham College careers advisor, Liz Baxter, told Morning Wire.
Baxter added that because of this, young people often “lack the experience of the back and forth of a two-way conversation and having to listen and then formulate a response in real time.”