DMH Stallard has built a supportive workplace culture underpinned by its benefits provision, according to HR director Amanda Smith, giving reward and HR leaders in professional services a case study in how feedback-driven benefits design can support retention in a demanding, high-pressure sector.

DMH Stallard is a mid-market law firm employing around 408 people across roles spanning partners, senior associates, associates, solicitors, paralegals and secretaries, alongside business services functions including HR, IT, accounts, marketing and business development, risk and compliance, and office services. The average staff age is 43, and the average length of service is 10 years and one month.

The strategic logic ties benefits spend directly to staff feedback rather than top-down selection. Smith said DMH Stallard listens closely to staff survey feedback, which has directly shaped the new benefits the firm plans to introduce this year, prioritising cost-effectiveness alongside utilisation and perceived value, so that spend converts into benefits staff actually use rather than ones chosen on assumption.

Smith cited achieving 100% of staff saying DMH Stallard is a great place to work, and obtaining Investors In People Gold accreditation, among her proudest achievements since joining as HR director in January 2019, having previously held HR leadership roles at an international and a national law firm. She also pointed to progress on gender diversity through increased female representation, alongside gains in employee satisfaction and family support, as areas where the benefits strategy has had a measurable cultural effect.

The structural driver is acute sector-wide retention pressure. LawCare's Life in the Law 2025 report found that 56% of legal professionals are considering leaving their role within five years, with more than 30% considering leaving the sector entirely, underlining why firms are increasingly tying benefits directly to measurable culture and satisfaction outcomes rather than treating them as a fixed cost line.

For the sector, the case illustrates how survey-driven, iterative benefits design is becoming a more common retention lever in high-pressure professional services environments, particularly as firms compete for talent against a backdrop of sustained burnout and attrition risk across the legal profession, and as measurable outcomes such as accreditation and staff sentiment scores become reference points for benefits investment.

Source: Employee Benefits