Linklaters: Attracting the Lawyer of the Future with a New Global Employer Brand

Situation

The world Linklaters was facing was one of rapid, multifaceted and unprecedented transformation. New technologies, sectors and innovations were disrupting the world and dismantling old assumptions about business success and the role of the law.

The profile they had recruited in the past would no longer bring them the candidates necessary to secure and expand on their position as a heavyweight global law firm. Linklaters needed a whole new type of lawyer—a nimble business advisor using their legal expertise and global mindedness to help clients navigate a time of huge complexity.

The problem was that every law firm in the world was chasing this new breed of lawyer.

Linklaters approached PeopleScout to help them define, promote and manage a compelling new global employer brand, allowing the business to cut through the noise as an employer of choice in a ferociously competitive market.

Solution

Knowing, Not Guessing

We met with hundreds of professionals in 20 Linklaters offices across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific including recruitment, HR, hiring managers, associates, graduates and interns to gather insights.

After 17 focus groups in 13 international offices, we had a sense of the key themes which gave us a foundation from which to build the employer value proposition (EVP) and the framework of the employer brand which would inspire our global advertising campaign.

• Linklaters is global firm with almost unmatched strength across practices and geographies.
• Linklaters lawyers don’t just embrace the change, they direct it.
• They are at the epicenter of work that will shape law, commerce, industry, the environment and society for decades to come.
• The quality of training on offer and the caliber of colleagues to learn from means those who join will never stop learning.

A New EVP – Great Change is Here

We created an employer value proposition (EVP) that was a combination of a big picture philosophy and a Linklaters-specific selling point: GREAT CHANGE IS HERE.

In a time of unprecedented change, this EVP makes progress healthy and exciting. It serves as a foundation for an employer brand that reflects Linklaters as a modern, international, hugely diverse cohort offering employees the opportunity to have an influential voice that redefines the legal sector and sets them up for an ever-evolving career.

Global Relevance

As an international brand with diverse target audiences, we built flexibility into the brand so it would resonate widely across geographies and cultures.

We created four underlying message pillars that we could dial up or down as required to create the right combination of messages with the right geographies.

1. Human Experts – Collaborate with smart, down-to-earth people on complex issues.
2. One Team – Multi-jurisdictional work calls for a truly aligned and collaborative environment.
3. Innovation – Whether you’re solving client problems or setting legal precedent, Linklaters celebrates creative thinking and innovative approaches.
4. Career Platform – Through prominent projects, high-profile clients, training, support, early exposure, external secondments, Linklaters is investing in their employees’ careers.

Linklaters received a full employer brand toolkit explaining the EVP, the messaging behind the brand, visual design and advertising principles and the tone of voice to be used internationally. We rolled this out to recruiters across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific so that local activity could be fully supported.

Results

The project was a significant success and was shortlisted for Best Global Employer Brand in 2018. Following the launch, the firm’s reputation as a graduate employer improved significantly over several years, rising 27 places from their 2016 position to 19th place in 2021. Glassdoor scores for Linklaters have risen by 8% in the last two years and, importantly, applications from female lawyers—which was a key objective—have increased since the EVP launch.