You are one of the People Managers at a new mid-sized law firm in Toronto as of September 2019. The law firm differentiates itself from the competition by emphasizing its commitment to pro-bono work. They also try to appeal to a newer generation of lawyers by rejecting the standard 80-hour workweek. One of the ways they do this is through great benefits and rewards, virtual/work from home days, and a great coaching program for employees.

You have been hired to oversee the following for 2020:

• Talent and recruitment
• Key talent development (including associates to partner level)
• Learning and development
• Diversity and Inclusion

Additional information on projects under each of the above:

• Talent and recruitment
  • The law firm plans to recruit key talent from 3 Canadian law schools. The Recruitment team (of 5) will be spending 2 days each in hotels near the 3 university campuses to help plan recruiting events for new grads.
• • Recruiting will take place in April, just in time for associates to begin in the fall (September)
  • Assume $70/night for hotel cost
• Key Talent Development
  • Key Talent needs to be identified early on. For 2020, 5 individuals will need to be identified (2 partners, 2 associate lawyers, and 1 articling law student). The group of 5 will spend a day at a golf course and will have a chance to participate in golf activities as well as networking.
  • In addition to the 1 day of golf, the group of 5 will have a chance to participate in a full day workshop (7.5 hours) for SDI training which will be covered by the firm. This includes hiring of an external SDI facilitator ($230/hour) as well as paying for SDI assessments ($40 per person).
• Learning and development key projects here include the following:
  • New associate training
  • Experienced associate training
  • Partner training
• Diversity and Inclusion
  • The firm will be new to this and is looking to implement a D&I heavy focus. They would like to allocate some money in the budget to this focus area. A few starters would be to hire a director, and 2 associates to help manage the projects.
  • The CEO would like to have a kick-off event for staff to promote their strategic focus on D&I. The kick-off event will be a 1 day event and will require promotional materials (handouts, stickers, swag) as well as catered breakfast, coffee, and a key note speaker to address the firm for a one hour speaking session. Based on previous discussions, the CEO is looking for something motivational; it needs to be inspiring while addressing D&I. A good agency website that promotes speakers and provides costing information is speaker spotlight.

• REQUIRED:

  Task 1:

  Prepare an annual budget for 2020 and what you think the firm will need for the projects outlined above. Please make the budget as detailed as possible based on the information I have provided you with. I also want you to ensure the budget is broken down by quarter (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4), keeping in mind key activities that take place in certain times of the year.

  Task 2:

  The CEO says the following: Im thinking we keep the budget very tight. I never understood why other organizations have flexible budgets. We need to save every single dollar. It will be in the best interest of everyone. What do you think? Write a memo (no more than 500 words) to the CEO explaining whether you agree or disagree. Use a minimum of one peer-reviewed resource to support your argument.