Why some people love work

WHAT MOTIVATES PEOPLE to work?

Seriously, it’s a bit of an effort, isn’t it?

The quick answer – and probably the most obvious answer – is money. Without question, money motivates most people. In fact, research confirms that salary is the number one workplace perk for UK office staff, with 70% of workers flagging this as key.

But money alone is not enough. Otherwise, we’d put up
with just about anything, as long as we
could see a steady flow of cash tumbling into our
bank accounts.

Re-evaluating life

Probably more than anything else in recent memory,
the coronavirus pandemic has prompted more
people to re-evaluate what they want from life.
Enter Emma Jones. Emma is a conveyancing
solicitor who, until July 2020, was working hard for
a conventional law firm.

As lockdown tightened its grip across the UK last
year, Emma’s challenges grew. In tandem
with most employees, she had to get used to new ways
of working while maintaining targets
set by her employers and adhering to a rigid
schedule.

Every day is not a school day

But lockdown was not just an inconvenience for
workers: it also affected school children.
Including Emma’s nine-year-old son, George, who has
learning difficulties.

While many may have become overwhelmed by the
challenges she faced in the first few months of
the UK’s first lockdown, Emma saw it as an
opportunity. All she really needed was an
employer that would allow her to manage work around
the love and support she needed to
dedicate to her son, George.

Emma and
her son, George.

All of which brought Emma to Setfords.

One year since joining the firm, Emma smiles at the
opportunity to talk about her experience
to date.

Emma responds with an ace

“I love
it!” she
beams when asked to compare being a
consultant solicitor with her former role.
“It is still hard work,” she
admits. “But I can have a tennis
lesson in the middle of the day and work in the
evening if I decide to.

“Now, I
never need to worry about missing my
son’s sports day,” she continues.
“I can even work from my family’s seaside caravan,
which also allows me to spend time with
George. It all puts work into a completely different
perspective compared to what I was used
to. And I earn as much as I want because I choose
how much I work.”

Crazy month

Emma
is right to say that being a consultant
at Setfords is still hard work. During the lead
up to the end of the government’s tax
breaks for homebuyers she had what she describes
as “the craziest month of my
career!”

The housing market – as we reported recently is “on
fire”, according to Andy Haldane, the Bank
of England’s chief economist. And, as the
pressure to close deals increased, many conveyancers
got a little hot under the collar.

Record breakers

Indeed, the 2500 property transactions Setfords’
conveyancers dealt with in the five days to
30 June translated to a record £1 billion for the
firm. Many conveyancers working at
conventional firms during this red-hot property boom
were burnt to a crisp. As stress levels
increased in line with property prices, sleep was
gazumped by anxiety.

But,
whenever Emma felt she was getting too
busy during this period at Setfords, she simply
stopped taking new instructions. As she
puts it: “The support at Setfords means
that there is always someone there
willing to help when needed”.

Inspirational teamwork

“The
guidance from our compliance team has been
exemplary,” she continues. The work
ethic of the whole head office team is really
commendable. The accounts and management teams
were totally inspirational during the end of the
stamp duty deadline in June. They worked
relentlessly to ensure all the sales and purchases
went through,” Emma
adds.

If Carlsberg did law firms…

“And
when the stamp duty holiday was over, I
came home to a bottle of champagne and a bunch of
flowers from the firm’s directors! That
was so lovely of them. I can honestly say I’ve loved
my first year here.

“I sum it up like this,” Emma
concludes. “If Carlsberg did law firms,
they would probably look like Setfords.”

Soon after deadline day, Emma packed her bags and
took George off to their favourite holiday
destination in Devon for a well-earned break. A
well-earned break consisting of caravans,
coastal walks and crabbing.

Emma’s
son, George, enjoying the beach in
Devon.

What motivates people to work? This does.

Is consultancy for me?

Get in touch to find out more about becoming a
consultant solicitor with Setfords. Don’t
worry about traipsing into our office to find out
more. We’ll chat to you on Teams if it
suits you better. If we agree we’re a good fit for
each other, you’ll be joining a firm that
was created for lawyers to do their best work.

Call us on 0330 058 4011
or email [email protected].

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