A Lifestyle Firm
The NYT has an interesting story about perks that various firms offer to keep their employees happy. The money quote:
This is, of course, amusing because of the Boalties I know at Fried Frank and because it reminds me of Michael Lewis's Moneyball. There, in response to the author's question of why Billy Beane eliminated the position of team shrink, Scott Hatteberg replies, "Some teams need psychiatrists more than others. In Boston we had an entire staff."
If you need a team of shrinks or a Happiness Committee to keep morale up, then there are some serious problems. On a related note, if you don't want me to visit a battalion of psychologist, please vote for N&B.
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, a 600-lawyer firm based in New York, offers employees a service akin to a personal issues coach and psychotherapist through a deal with Corporate Counseling Associates of Manhattan. The consulting firm has a battery of staff psychologists and social workers to provide advice on issues including stress, anxiety, depression and divorce.
This is, of course, amusing because of the Boalties I know at Fried Frank and because it reminds me of Michael Lewis's Moneyball. There, in response to the author's question of why Billy Beane eliminated the position of team shrink, Scott Hatteberg replies, "Some teams need psychiatrists more than others. In Boston we had an entire staff."
If you need a team of shrinks or a Happiness Committee to keep morale up, then there are some serious problems. On a related note, if you don't want me to visit a battalion of psychologist, please vote for N&B.
Labels: Legal Culture, OCIP/Employment
posted by Armen Adzhemyan at 12:11 PM
6 Comments:
Don't all firms have this. My current one does. My old business consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton had it, too. Giving working professionals a phone number they can call to discuss their problems is hardly new and certainly shouldn't be heralded as a huge perk. What would be better is a firm that doesn't force their employees to seek psychological help.
I've always found the stress reduction tips in the stress management pamphlet they gave me on the first day to be so effective I've never had to use the hotline.
Off to do my daily seated shoulder rolls.
zoloft in the coffee room, now That's a perk
My friend's engineering company has an on-staff masseuse who goes around to make sure that people have proper posture and are not straining anything by the long hours they sit at their desks. Foot rubs, back & neck rubs, etc all included. Doesn't sound to be anything really limited to law firms...
Speaking of lifestyle firms, Arent Fox isn't one anymore: http://www.law.com/jsp/PubArticle.jsp?id=1196361709884
A lifestyle firm? That is new. Is it a good news or a bad new? However, I think that firm is the best firm I ever heard.
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