When David M. Gilden, managing partner of Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP, says that the firm respects its employees, he is not making idle talk. Partner Tracy C. Baran, who has been at the 20-year-old firm for nearly a decade, confirms his assessment.
“The partners are genuinely interested in who we are and what we think,” Baran said.
Gilden pointed to more than just the impressions of one employee. “The level of turnover is remarkably low … It is unusual for us to lose an employee,” Gilden said. “The word team is used a lot. People trust each other and support one another on all levels.”
Beyond the soft skills, the firm makes an effort to tend to the full needs of its employees. Gilden said the medium-size firm – 44 attorneys and 120 staff in offices in Providence, Boston, New Bedford and Warwick – offers health benefits comparable to much larger firms.
The firm also encourages a healthy work-life balance by being supportive of family issues, financial planning and retirement, as well as supporting employee health with wellness programs and an on-site fitness facility, said Baran, who practices real estate and corporate law.
The gym includes three stationery bikes, a treadmill, a fitness apparatus that has multiple exercise stations and other equipment, as well as locker rooms.
“They recognize you spend a large chunk of your day at work and they try to make it as pleasurable as possible,” Baran said.
The firm also hosts wellness events such as clinical screenings for early diagnosis and disease prevention; smoking cessation classes; immunizations; nutrition and weight counseling; stress management clinics; yoga classes, and so on. For each of the past three years, it has received the “Outstanding Worksite Health Award,” sponsored by the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island.
In 2000, the firm launched the PS&H Philanthropic Program, a firm-wide initiative to encourage employee volunteerism. The program focused on Children’s Friend & Service (CFS), an organization that helps disadvantaged children in Rhode Island. In 2003, the firm received the Community Involvement citation in the Providence Business News’ Business Excellence Awards program for its charitable efforts.
The female attorneys at PS&H also have created the WAVE initiative – Women AdVocates for Enterprise – to help women inside and outside of the firm advance professionally.
Baran, who is also a WAVE leader, started working for PS&H in September 1999 right out of law school. The New Jersey native looked at law firms on the East Coast, and the qualities that made her decide on PS&H still stand today.
“I was really impressed and still am in that the firm wants feedback from their employees and attorneys at all levels. … Strategy is a team effort,” she said.
In addition, top management at the firm does a lot of informal, personal recognition, she said.
“It is very common for the managing partner to send out a company-wide e-mail recognizing a job well done,” Baran said. •
