header-logo header-logo

Rules of engagement

22 November 2019 / Catherine Calder
Issue: 7865 / Categories: Features , Profession
printer mail-detail
11901
Are your set’s employees ‘fully engaged’ or are they simply ‘coming to work’? Catherine Calder of Serjeants’ Inn lays down some ground rules for running a successful & happy chambers

How engaged is your set’s staff team? The ADP Research Institute’s ‘Global Study of Engagement 2018’ concluded from a sample of 19,346 employees across 19 countries that only 15.9% were ‘fully engaged’, with the rest simply ‘coming to work’. Similarly, the ‘2018 State of the Global Workplace Report’ from Gallup found that 85% of employees were either ‘not engaged or actively disengaged’ at work.

Employee engagement is defined by the CIPD as ‘emphasis[ing] both employees’ well-being and performance… offer[ing] a mutual gains view of the employment relationship, seeking the good of employees and the organisation in tandem’. Its benefits are well established. While we may be understandably wary of some of the theory—terminology such as ‘enculturation trajectory’ and ‘neuro-linguistic programmes’ are unlikely ever to be bandied about at the Bar—it’s hard to ignore the results. A University of Bath School of Management 2012

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Pillsbury—Steven James

Pillsbury—Steven James

Firm boosts London IP capability with high-profile technology sector hire

Clarke Willmott—Michelle Seddon

Clarke Willmott—Michelle Seddon

Private client specialist joins as partner in Taunton office

DWF—Rory White-Andrews

DWF—Rory White-Andrews

Finance and restructuring offering strengthened by partner hire in London

NEWS
Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP [2025] EWHC 2341 (KB) continues to stir controversy across civil litigation, according to NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School—AKA ‘The insider’
SRA v Goodwin is a rare disciplinary decision where a solicitor found to have acted dishonestly avoided being struck off, says Clare Hughes-Williams of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) imposed a 12-month suspension instead, citing medical evidence and the absence of harm to clients
In their latest Family Law Brief for NLJ, Ellie Hampson-Jones and Carla Ditz of Stewarts review three key family law rulings, including the latest instalment in the long-running saga of Potanin v Potanina
The Asian International Arbitration Centre’s sweeping reforms through its AIAC Suite of Rules 2026, unveiled at Asia ADR Week, are under examination in this week's NLJ by John (Ching Jack) Choi of Gresham Legal
In this week's issue of NLJ, Yasseen Gailani and Alexander Martin of Quinn Emanuel report on the High Court’s decision in Skatteforvaltningen (SKAT) v Solo Capital Partners LLP & Ors [2025], where Denmark’s tax authority failed to recover £1.4bn in disputed dividend tax refunds
back-to-top-scroll