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Tag: Building Relationships with Employess

  • 6 Things to Consider Before Becoming a GC From an Associate

    As you have been enjoying the perks and the higher than average salary in a law firm, but now you are thinking of becoming the General Counsel (GC) of your own firm. So, what happens next? In the legal profession,  the next step of an associate in his career is to become a GC or a General Counsel. A general counsel is a chief lawyer of the legal department in a company.

    Although being your own boss is a rather tempting idea, it is fundamentally plastered with certain inherent problems and issues. This is because being a general counsel includes a lot of effort and hard work. This is particularly so because the work of a general counsel never ceases. Thus, the person who is contemplating such a tectonic shift in his career must know and understand certain key factors.

    In this article, we will talk about 6 things that you must consider before becoming the General Counsel from an Associate. So, let’s take a look at it.

    Developing Legal and Non-legal Skills
    Seeking a Comprehensive Sectoral Understanding
    Strategize Your Business Right
    Build Better Relationships
    Knowing the Stakeholders
    Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

    Developing Legal and Non-legal Skills

    The esteemed role of GC might sound tempting, but it’s not that simple! There’s a difference between being an associate in a law firm and working in the office of general counsel. For the latter, a command over the legal and non-legal skills is very important – but not in quite the way that you’d expect. You may not spend your entire day arguing in court and validating legal points, but you will be validating business by communicating with the clientele.

    One very important element that is a part of a GC’s primary duties is handling matters related to a company’s business development and advising them on every issue in the periphery of operations. This is why general counsels are always busy and don’t even have enough time to stand and wait in one place!

    Seeking a Comprehensive Sectoral Understanding

    The core competency of a general counsel stems from a holistic understanding of the domain or the industry in which the company operates. Thus, it is essential that you build a holistic understanding a develop a complete knowledge of the sector or the industrial segment in which your company tends to operate.

    This understanding should not be myopic or restricted merely to legal and compliance standards. Neither should you concentrate more on regulatory knowledge only. A complete understanding of this sector stems from an overview of all nuances relating to the industry’s practical working and business trends and governing conventions in general.

    Strategize Your Business Right

    It is amazing to know how some GCs can turn young businesses into hugely successful corporations. This rapid growth is attributable in no small part to proper planning and strategizing. Most GCs are not aware of their company’s corporate or financial position, and it goes downhill pretty quickly from there.

    The business strategy primarily covers both the parts of learning about the business and planning it well to manage it better. Ascertaining all relevant information is integral to planning your company’s operations. As GC, you will need to pay attention to these minute details and create the right strategies to propel your business to the top. Thus, at its core, strategizing includes gathering information on all corners of the business and then involving each corner in the mainstream business.

    Build Better Relationships

    Relationship management is a serious business in the legal world. A general counsel should not just be concerned with what is happening externally in the industry. He should also focus on the workings of the company also. In order to do that, as an associate GC, you should start by developing a keen idea about the company and its workings.

    Not just that, but you should also be aware of the various people who are working within the organization, what their profiles and designations are, and what their jobs entail. Building better relationships and networking with fellow employees and peers helps you gain the right knowledge about the organization’s internal values and culture. An associate GC who identifies with the organizational ethos and has a complete understanding of the company’s internal work and functionalities can better fulfil his role as a general counsel.

    Knowing the Stakeholders

    To be a general counsel, it is very important to know the various parties and the stakeholders involved with the company. The various stakeholders of the company are important points of consideration for an aspiring GC. Understanding their perspectives manifests almost entirely from perfect listening skills.

    In fact, if an organization wants to better understand the stakeholders’ needs and expectations, it’s kind of impossible not to listen to their concerns. It offers better insight into what drives and motivates them.  It is by completely understanding the drivers you can be equipped to advise them of the best possible recourse for the company in any given scenario.

    Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

    As a general counsel, it is your job to contemplate the right decisions for the company’s benefit and advise the same to the senior management. Occasionally, this might entail the need to shoulder certain risks and advise from a commercial perspective. The ultimate agenda to do this is to ensure that the company’s problems and grievances are redressed and that they can go about their businesses in a more productive capacity.

    This job’s primary responsibility is to support your company through proper problem-solving abilities and ensure complete compliance even if the resulting problem is outside your comfort zone. This is the reason that helps you maintain positive relationships with colleagues, staff, and other members of senior management. Who knows, maybe their recommendations can help you to transition from the associate general counsel to bigger, better, and greener pastures.

    Conclusion

    These days, the competition and search for better opportunities have become tougher. This means that there still has to be twice the effort for a normal candidate with the right profile. Hence, it is important to understand that one needs to chalk out a few details before committing full time to the cause. A general counsel’s job is anything but easy, and you quite simply will run out of time and patience on multiple occasions. So it would be better if you stay prepared for the first instance.

    FAQ

    Who is a General Counsel?

    A General Counsel is a chief officer of a legal department of a company.

    Who should a General Counsel report to?

    A General Counsel should report to the CEO of the company.

    Do you need to be a lawyer to be a General Counsel?

    To be a General Counsel one needs to be an expert in both law and business.

  • Internal Networking: An Indispensable Skill to Climb The Corporate Ladder

    Attributed to Mr. Gautam Saraf, CHRO at Ferns N Petals

    The command over the domain, sense of unflinching responsibility, diligence and brilliance are among the prominent skills that every person aspires to acquire to succeed at the workplace. There is no denial of the fact that they play a crucial role in shaping one’s career and become the measure to know how swiftly the person would scale the corporate ladder. But over the course of the evolution of the work culture across the globe, some interpersonal abilities have emerged as dominant forces leading the path of progress of a person. Among these aptitudes, internal networking capability has become a major quality having the power to take the person to the zenith.

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    Internal networking, a process of reaching out to and building relationships with co-workers within the company, has emerged as an inevitable skill for employees to grab prominent positions in the organisation. It acts as a crucial factor behind perception developed among colleagues that goes a long way when it comes to promotion and team building. Managers are unlikely to develop a good team and get the required support as leaders if they don’t have a camaraderie with team members. On the other hand, communication with team members can do wonders. Employees who invest time in knowing and communicating with their colleagues understand what talent they possess and what their co-workers. This very understanding ultimately helps in distributing tasks and accomplishing personal and organizational goals.

    The work environment turns into an enjoyable one if employees are connected with one another. The networking among workers from different departments makes them understand the business better that ultimately results in enhanced satisfaction and performance. Such employees come into notice of the senior management that with further assessment tries to comprehend their potential to handle a role with higher responsibilities. Upon proving further eligibility and winning the trust of the management, they get easy promotions as companies perpetually look for personnel who can fill a more critical position. And most of the time, they become successful in the role.

    Networking in Team by Communicating
    Networking in Team by Communicating

    Communication skill that is closely connected to the growth of an individual within an organization can be improved significantly by giving attention to internal networking. This is an obvious fact. A better communication ability for an employee is inevitable to give a swift push to the career and successfully execute the responsibilities given by the management. Connected employees make the internal communication of the organisation more efficacious and productive. It facilitates in finding the solutions to the most complex and tiring issues related to business, assisting the realisation of the collective goals. Overall, frequent employee communication boosts the company culture and encourage employees to ensure optimum output.

    For companies, it’s a cumbersome task to keep the employees excited throughout the day, but it’s an absolute necessity in order to ensure quality products and services to the consumers. On the other hand, motivation helps the employees in finding the best and easiest way to attain the targets without compromising on the quality of work. A good rapport with co-workers helps employees in collaborating and drawing out the best while acting on a particular task. One can imagine the reduction in challenges after working together with experienced and talented team members. Here, the credit goes to internal networking skills. Internal networking promotes development of great ideas to gathering insights into other function, understand industry interface better and be more open to learning functional roles. Collaboration in between departments, mentoring and career development is what we seek out of this.

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    Owing to an ever-increasing competition in the market, companies today require to perpetually innovate with products and services being provided to the consumers. At the same time, it is extremely important for employees to remain innovative and try making difference throughout their careers to create ample opportunities in the organization. Regular communication with co-workers not only builds a tenacious bond among them but also promotes the exchange of ideas and knowledge that ultimately enhances the creative abilities of the personnel involved. Hence, having internal networks can work as a prominent factor of growth within the organization.

    With enhanced internal networks, the workplace becomes a home that eventually results in happiness, satisfaction, and prosperity. It subtly develops the abilities required to thrive in the organization. Employees utilize all their capabilities to ensure a steady expansion of the company as well as their personal progress. This very pursuit encourages employee advocacy that is harnessing the potentials of the external associations of the staffers. It is not only advantageous for the company but for the employees as well; it assists in making the existing bonds firm while checking the opportunities. It further stimulates the creation of an efficient network of people.

    At a time when hybrid work model, which is a mix of onsite and offsite working is flourishing, the networking skill has become even more important. In the work model, many employees work from remote stations, thus coordination with them is vital to get the work done. For coordination, it is important to have a good rapport among co-workers so that they can make concerted effort to accomplish a task. Apart from that, on the personal level, it proves one’s ability to take up leadership role in getting the task completed while developing confidence in colleagues who are not present in person.

    In developing a robust internal networking skill among employees, employers can play a key role. They can adopt a lot of encouraging practices to help employees develop the skill. Creating a supportive work environment, planning fun activities, planning for outings and fostering inter-departmental relations are some of the measures employers can adopt to enhance internal skills of the workforce. On the other hand, employees must take part in every activity or meeting of the company.

    A good internal connection increases the likelihood of an employee staying longer with the company that cultivates trust among senior leadership making them look for an elevated profile for the person. On the other hand, staying with a company for a longer period makes the employee understand every detail of the business, enabling him to contribute to the evolution of the organization efficiently while generating more opportunities for career advancement. This very sense of involvement makes them feel empowered; they aspire to grab a certain level of decision-making autonomy in the company to achieve massive objectives. Apart from that, it helps them to be free from worries associated with jobs such as insecurity. Instead of losing employees, HR leaders can use the power of cross company social connections to help employees develop passion and purpose in their workplace to maintain a stronger rapport with the colleagues.

    Conclusion

    In a nutshell, connections and relationships with co-workers within the organisation is the fundamental element of attainment and growth. To establish such connections that sustain for a long time, employees need to work with assiduousness on their communication and internal networking aptitudes. It’s a time tested fact that employees are good at communicating their opinion to others and listening to their feedback make strong relations with colleagues of all ranks. Everyone appreciates people who are mature, skillful and open to positive and negative responses. The human resources departments of companies today come up with ideas and team-building exercises that aid every employee significantly to establish a friendship with others. It is quintessential today, and every employee must involve in activities and office atmosphere to build alliances to reach the apex in the organisation.