TWM genuinely cares about:
- our people, and we will continue to find ways to improve their wellbeing and happiness
- our clients, ensuring they achieve the best outcome while receiving exceptional customer service.
To do this we need to be a Community, Accountable, Responsive, Empowered and Solutions-focused.
Community: We pride ourselves on community in many senses of the word. For example, we believe TWM is unique as a law firm for the ethos, atmosphere and character that is fostered by our people. We recognise this is the key to our success as a business, the service we provide to our clients and the happiness of our colleagues. We also take pride in the way we interact with the communities in which we live and operate, and must strive to continue that positive impact. We recognise that TWM endeavours to operate as a dedicated community itself; a place where there is friendliness, camaraderie, trust, effective communication, equality, respect for differences, and high levels of cooperation and collaboration. As members of that community, we want our people (at all levels) to participate and be willing to contribute to forward movement and progress. The pandemic taught us that isolation creates separation from our community and sometimes a sense of isolation and hopelessness. We know we work better together and belonging to a community can motivate us to elevate our performance and dedication to what we care about most; those communities to which we belong including our people and our clients.
Accountable: TWM wants everyone who works at the firm to be willing to accept responsibility for their actions, whatever their role within the firm. We believe that accountability increases our skills and confidence and teaches us to value our work. Taking pride in our work allows us to provide the highest quality of service for our clients (and colleagues) and strive for continual progress. TWM must maintain the highest
professional standards possible and ensure that we are all meeting, and exceeding, those standards at all times. Proper training and support is available for all and our firm’s culture shall always encourage us to discuss, openly and without fear or blame, any issues or concerns that may arise when working for clients, colleagues or third parties. We must always uphold the SRA Principles and ensure that we all act:
In a way that upholds the constitutional principle of the rule of law, and the proper administration of justice
In a way that upholds public trust and confidence in the solicitors’ profession and in legal services provided by authorised persons
- With independence
- With honesty
- With integrity
- In a way that encourages equality, diversity and inclusion
- In the best interests of each client.
Responsive: We must manage our clients’ expectations and provide clear and realistic timeframes for the delivery of our services. Client responsiveness is a critical aspect of our business survival and success. TWM must, with the utilization of technology and training of our people, respond to communications from clients, prospective clients and colleagues (telephone calls, emails, letters etc.) on the same working day of receipt of such communications (even if the response is a holding response giving a realistic timeframe for a fuller response) or if not within 24 hours of such communication. Being responsive reduces complaints and increases customer satisfaction. It also directly reduces the workloads of colleagues.
Empowered: Top-down decision-making alone no longer works in creating sustainable change. Involvement at all levels of the TWM community is critical for innovation and sustainability. By participating in TWM decision-making and planning, we believe our people will regain energy for creating positive change. TWM wants our Heads of Department (HODs), our Executive Committee (EC) and other managers to empower team members to take responsibility for certain tasks and establish trust and understanding in their teams to ensure these actions are in line with the firm’s goals. The expectation is:
- Members of our TWM community won’t wait for someone else to do things; we all take responsibility for co-creation of ideas, strategies and improvements in our workplace and the services we deliver to our clients
- Team members are accountable
- Our people feel rewarded that they are contributing to the growth of a long-established and sustainable business.
Solutions-focused: TWM must ascertain our clients’ goals and focus on the solution and not the problem. We must strive to look at the strengths rather than weaknesses or deficits, and on the skills and resources we can provide that can help our clients reach their goals. We must not be afraid to advise.
