The new approach requires each solicitor to complete a five-step process in order to assess and certify his competence. A solicitor should:

On 11 March 2015, the SRA published a competence statement to guide solicitors on certain matters that should be taken into consideration to maintain competence to practice (the statement) (www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/competence-statement.page).

The statement covers four broad competency areas: ethics, professionalism and judgment; technical legal practice; working with other people; and managing oneself and one’s own work. The statement is then further broken down into 18 performance criteria, incorporating 91 positive indicators and behaviours which set out what a competent practitioner should be able to demonstrate.

Encouragingly, the SRA has recognised the importance of working with other people (competency C) and managing oneself (competency D) as key to maintaining competence to practice, which are both essential emotional intelligence capabilities (see box ”Working with other people”). In-house lawyers will know only too well that these are the “make or break” skills in an organisation. Technical legal skills may get you in the door, but people skills are a far greater predictor of success, whether in terms of personal performance, team effectiveness or organisational impact.

So how do solicitors identify what is relevant to their practice and begin to translate these desired indicators and behaviours into SMART or even stretch goals (see box “SMART and stretch goals”)?

As the US baseball player Yogi Berra is credited with saying: “If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else”. A good starting point is to compile a list of the key tasks, responsibilities and demands of the role and the corresponding ideal skill set required in order to deliver fully. This needs to be looked at holistically, having regard to each individual’s total business contribution, not just in terms of legal tasks.

It may be useful to think in terms of the World Economic Forum’s top ten 2020 workforce skills (see box “Top ten skills”). Unsurprisingly, at least half of those top ten skills are people skills.

The nature, timing, complexity and purpose of the tasks, responsibilities and demands of a role will inform the thinking and planning processes needed to identify, schedule and achieve each individual’s learning and development needs. For in-house counsel, this list will be highly influenced by what the business expects of its legal advisers.

For in-house lawyers, in addition to technical legal skills (competency B) which support the organisation’s strategic objectives, people skills (competency C) and the ability to manage oneself and one’s work (competency D) are likely to be of paramount importance to the organisation. The ability to connect with business colleagues, communicate, collaborate and contribute to general organisational management and leadership is the new norm for in-house lawyers. In addition to traditional technical legal skills, most job descriptions for in-house counsel require key knowledge, skills and behaviours, such as the ability to establish and maintain effective liaison and working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

The SRA’s competency C, working with other people, simply reflects the two key themes valued in the modern working world: effective communication and relationship building. These key skills require emotional intelligence capabilities such as: self-awareness; social awareness; empathy; self-management; and social skills.

The next step is for each solicitor to identify the unique culture of his firm or business and how he fits in with that culture. This involves working out:

This will help to determine whether the solicitor is a good fit for the organisation and if he can trust in and have a genuine interest in the business and what he is working on, and if he can relate to, get along with and enjoy working with others in that environment.

Solicitors should take this opportunity to reflect honestly and to critically analyse their individual strengths and weaknesses. It will be useful to identify what they should stop doing, what they should start doing, what they can do better, and any attitude adjustments that are needed to maintain or improve their skills, behaviours and knowledge to be fit for their organisation’s purpose.

Although self-assessment is a valuable exercise, it can be helpful to balance this against independent input or feedback such as a 360° review from managers, peers and direct reports, or from external advisers. Another very useful tool is the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) (www.psychometriclab.com). TEIQue is one of the world’s best-researched and reliable psychometric instruments, supported by the London Psychometric Laboratory of University College London.

TEIQue comprises 153 questions and takes about 20 to 25 minutes to complete. There are no right or wrong answers. For each question there are seven possible responses, ranging from “disagree strongly” to “agree strongly”. The results are expressed in percentiles (compared to a majority of others in a norm group) and provided in the form of a global score of general emotional functioning, together with separate scores for 15 facets including: self-motivation; well-being; self-control; emotionality; sociability; and adaptability.

There is no such thing as a good or bad TEIQue result. When evaluating results, it is important to look at the scores in the context of the individual’s particular work situation to understand how a certain facet might be effective or ineffective, or interpreted as a benefit or a detriment to performance. For example, the results may indicate how individuals react to pressure and reveal how well they develop and manage relationships with clients, co-workers, stakeholders and others.

The next step is to assess the ideal demands of the individual’s job in terms of the 15 facets, and to rate each facet to ascertain which facets are required, in frequent use, or essential, to the job demands. The individual’s TEIQue scores are then mapped against job demands ratings to ascertain what facets are under or over-supplied. It is all about the context. This exercise provides valuable insight into what makes a solicitor successful in his role, his team and within the business as a whole. It also highlights any personal limitations. It can be very useful to help solicitors to see and understand themselves and others more realistically, and to assist them in being more productive and effective.

For an in-house lawyer, for example, above-average scores for self-motivation, adaptability, impulse control and stress management would be key. However, those who discover that they are below average in any of these facets can take action to develop and enhance their capabilities in these areas and expand their comfort zone.

The second part of this series will set out an action plan of exercises and activities for solicitors to follow.