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McKinsey & Company How likely is McKinsey to rescind an offer if there's a recession/downturn before my start date? Received an Associate offer with a start date early in the Fall. But I'm worried about the offer being rescinded due to the ongoing McK scandals/issues and a potential recession in the making (which may prompt them to freeze hiring and/or renege offers).
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Why do you care?
If you own 80% of your firm, it should be run the way you want it to be. You establish the culture and you can get your way by adjusting compensation. Unfortunately, you may establish a whole new set of headaches.
I had a similar problem in a similarly sized firm where I served as the MP. A partner who did not conform to any rules or expectations insisted that such things were irrelevant and without meaning. When we talked about firm culture, he insisted it was a fiction in my head. Ultimately, he left and while the rest of us made more money, the firm as a whole suffered.
You need to consider the ramifications. Can you afford to lose this partner? What do the clients think of him/her? If s/he leaves, will the client(s) go with? You need to be honest with yourself. I wasn’t and it took me 20 years after that partner’s departure to stabilize the law firm and the business.
What are the actual affects on the staff sneaking out a half hour earlier
Is it something perhaps you can work on with the staff to give them a rostering system so they get the time but still the office is manned
I understand compliance completely and also agree it shouldn't matter if people think you're the bad guy but is there a way to structure this so everyone is happy
Also I think the deeper issue might be you do more work than the partner and feel they aren't pulling their weight and perhaps a conversation about roles and responsibilities should be had to make sure you don't feel as if you're being treated unfairly
Area you partners or the other guy your employee because you have 80% and he has 20%? That is certainly one away to run a firm. I don;t understand why you need everyone to work to 5:30. It makes sense to have someone at the front desk from 8 or 8:30 to 5:30, but why don;t you offer your staff some flexibility as to when they work? In a really big firm, you need pretty definitive rules that apply to everyone, but smaller firms have the chance to be more flexible and address the individual concerns of employees.
Our staffs’ contracts stipulate work hours as m-f 9-530. Clearly this changed over the pandemic and we have tiered down to 3 days a week, but honestly it feels like we’re being taken advantage of for them to leave before 530 if they only have to be there 3 days a week.
There been several times over the last 4 months or so when I’ve wanted someone to do some task after 5 only to find out they had left already.
Continued: This strikes me as nuts as he has 4 of 7 days to do whatever he wants schedule wise with his kid, we only work in office 3 days of the week. I own 80% of the firm. I wanted to ask if people think I’m crazy for requesting partner put a full day in the office when staff is in office or if my partner is being unreasonable about his claims about “missing his kid grow up” if he is in office from 9-530 3 days a week. I should add this is not about “work” he does bill from home. It’s a culture setting thing.
As managing partner, sometimes you have to be the bad cop. Tell the employees to stop. Don’t make this into a partnership issue.
Agree with P3. Why do you care if the staff knows you are the bad cop? You are the Boss - they already think you are the bad cop. Maybe the can start 1/2 hour earlier or take 1/2 hour for lunch. I assume your staff is not putting in an extra 1/2 hour from home like your law partner. Enforce the rules or give up on any rules. That is my experience.
I believe that P2, P3 and P4 all make valid points. However, I would not treat the situation as binary — your approach should not be all “carrot” or all “stick”.
If you’re going to change the rules don’t just change the ones that fix the early departure issues. Tell the staff that our post-pandemic business environment requires that we embrace changes in the manner of how we work (i.e., WFH options) and how we deliver that work (i.e., Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.).
None of these things are so different than they were pre-pandemic, but our attitudes have changed. We are less interested in meeting clients in person, and they are certainly less interested in meeting with us. So we have to find effective new avenues to build and maintain those relationships.
So what can you do that’s different? How about asking that those who wish to work from home contribute an hour of every such day to CLE (which they can report in their timesheets). If you want to be a real sport, tell them that a certain amount of annual CLE time will be credited as client-billable time.
Don’t lose sight of the value of the carrot — combining rewards with greater business discipline is nothing more than good management.
If it’s non-staff leaving early, have them clock in and out. Then dock pay accordingly.
They are salaried. No one clocks in or out
Good points all. Some additional background: 1) partner and I are very good friends (I know I know) and have known each other from 1st week of law school. I have always tried to govern by consensus rather than % ownership. As far as not being the “bad cop” I’ve been coming down on everyone for a lot of things over the last few months, mostly minor stuff, and I’m exhausted of it. I want some respite from that. P5 has hit the nail on the head regarding a “larger issue”. My partner does bill a lot, but does nearly no origination, bd, or admin. Also I bill (and collect) more than partner on top of all that.
I appreciate all the responses, But I think that my original questions was missed: has anyone had a partner use the “I won’t see my kid grow up argument” and secondly, am I crazy In this instance telling him that 9-530 3 days a week in office is a small ask?
If he is your partner, you really shouldn’t be worrying about whether he leaves the office an hour early or not.
Tell the staff they have to stay to 5:30, period. Those are the work hours. If your partner’s leaving at 4:00 does not affect his production for the firm, but don’t worry about it.