That is the view of the firm’s global head of diversity and inclusion Danielle Kelly, who – in conversation with Lawyers Weekly – said that businesses like HSF need to hold themselves to account in supporting its staff “in all their life circumstances”, including and especially those with children.

“The COVID-19 lockdowns have been particularly difficult for those with young children given the difficulty of trying to work on often complex matters with young children at home,” she said.

HSF thus thought about how best it could practically support working parents during the pandemic, and – according to global managing partner for corporate Carolyn Pugsley – “productively occupying” the children of those parents for a few hours a day was the solution.

Dance workshops for kids

As any working parent knows, Ms Kelly explained, “when your children are happy and occupied, it’s like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders as the guilt of feeling like you are doing nothing properly dissipates”.

To this end, HSF opted to engage NIDA-trained performing arts professionals to run daily singing, dancing and drama workshops virtually for the children of staff – both current and alumni, she added.

“Once we thought of the idea, we quickly formed a small project team who tapped their networks and, within a few days, we had all the tutors lined up. It was super important that we didn’t let perfection get in the way of a good result, and for that reason, we ran a few pilot sessions to see how they went before committing to something more medium term. Engaging tutors who already had experience keeping easily distractible young children engaged online was critical to the success of the program,” Ms Kelly detailed.

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“Arranging these workshops during the Melbourne lockdown became something of a no-brainer – the feedback from our people was overwhelming. It was the icing on the cake when, as the Legal Partner of The Australian Ballet, we were also able to offer daily live ballet classes from the living rooms and kitchens of some of The Australian Ballet’s wonderful dancers.

“When some of our lawyers mentioned to clients that HSF had arranged these workshops for staff, the response was incredibly positive – in a sense, it was an opportunity to connect with clients at a more empathic level as parents shared how they felt during the lockdown.”

Australia is, of course, faring exceptionally well with the pandemic relative to our global counterparts, and Melbourne is now out of its lockdown. But, Ms Pugsley noted, HSF has received requests from families to run similar sessions over the coming summer break, which the firm is currently considering.

“Although we expect and hope that many of our Melbourne-based families will be enjoying a long-awaited family getaway over the December/January period, given that the coronavirus situation in other parts of the global network (especially Europe and the UK) looks more challenging at the moment, we’ve passed on the feedback about how well these kids’ sessions were received in case there is a need to do something similar in other parts of the world,” she said.

Relieving the parenting burden

The classes, Ms Pugsley continued, were the “highlight of my year”.

“Organising them and seeing the positive impact they had on our team members and their children gave me an enormous boost of energy at a time when much of the rest of my work was pretty heavy and energy-sapping. I was hugely proud to play a part in the firm delivering on its commitment to its people in a real, tangible way,” she proclaimed.

“And, on top of that, I got the extra benefit of having my two eldest kids participate in a range of the session (which only left my husband with the youngest of our three to keep an eye on whilst we got our work done). The only disappointing factor from my perspective is that I didn’t get to join in any of the sessions – work meetings seemed dull by comparison to what was going on in the next room!”

HSF head of alternative legal services disputes Emily Clarke said that the development and running of such classes was a “really strong signal” that the firm’s partners were actively considering how the lockdown in Melbourne was affecting staff members “as people, and as families, not just as fee earners”.

“The classes themselves were amazing, and turned what could have been a stressful and unsettling time for my kids into a really fun term – so much so that they were upset when lockdown ended! My five-year-old daughter was probably the most enthusiastic participant in the classes, and was doing five hours a day, squeezing her school work in around the edges,” she recalled.

“They didn’t just keep her occupied so I could get my work done, they also helped her make new friends, and boosted her confidence ahead of starting a new school once the lockdown lifted. So taken was she with the singing classes that she now does them once a week after school!”

HSF business finance lead for corporate David Sheridan agreed, saying the classes were an “invaluable support”, not just for himself but also for his daughter.

“Personally, it helped relieve the pressures of balancing work while keeping a seven-year-old entertained during a time that was particularly tense. These sessions also brought joy and excitement at a time all of us were trying to deal with the reality of limited interaction with others. The teachers introduced new songs and creative play that were easy to follow, always engaging and inclusive,” he said.

The duty of employers moving forward

Looking ahead, if law firms – big and small – are serious about better supporting staff members during turbulent and uncertain times, they cannot turn a blind eye, Ms Kelly argued, “to the very real disruptions to people’s lives that an external event like the pandemic caused”.

“When your people are trying to work under externally imposed stressful conditions, they have a very keen radar for perceived inauthenticity in the firm’s response – such as if a firm’s only response is to direct people to self-help measures such as accessing the firm’s EAP. Firms need to consider what they can proactively do to support people,” she surmised.

Moreover, Ms Pugsley said in support, firms have to ensure they are catering to all employees who might be disproportionately affected by the external environment.

“For example, team members living alone were another group we were conscious of trying to support, whether it be through things as simple as more regular check-ins from supervisors and peers, or through specific sessions targeted as these employees. And supporting wellbeing and mental health was a focus across the board in our offerings to both employees and clients,” she insisted.

Virtual performing arts classes for children are but one way that firms can bolster their diversity and inclusion efforts, Ms Kelly concluded, thereby ensuring not only a more supportive workplace but also a more collegiate legal profession.

“As the profession continues to attract and retain a greater diversity of people – and to become more inclusive of this diversity, we can expect to see more firms considering how they might better support their people in how they mesh their work and private lives,” she said.