Rainwater Holt & Sexton Thriving Through Individualized Approach

Little Rock-based law practice Rainwater, Holt & Sexton doesn’t argue every legal case the same way and it doesn’t handle employee matters with a broad brush, either. This individual attention is one reason the 120-employee firm continues to grow.

“To retain the best staff, realize that each of your team members is motivated differently, learns differently and subsequently must be managed differently,” said Richard Atkinson, marketing director. “A sweeping approach to management does not produce results in today’s world. You must also be humble and listen to staff suggestions and also listen when they are discontented.”

Rainwater, Holt & Sexton operates offices in Little Rock, Conway, Fayetteville and Hot Springs, handling personal injury, negligence and wrongful death arising from auto accidents, defective products, drug injuries and nursing home abuse; Social Security disability and bankruptcy.

“Rainwater, Holt & Sexton has leadership that provides that positive culture and strives for a meaningful purpose for each employee to grow professionally,” Atkinson said.

This philosophy expresses itself in several ways, most notably with the training that starts on Day One of an employee’s tenure and includes optional classes one might not expect.

“We know it takes just as much experience to succeed in your personal life as it does in your professional life,” Atkinson said. “Not only do we offer extensive training for staff to learn how to properly perform in their job roles, but we also provide other classroom opportunities to help them grapple with everyday life skills such as personal finance, parenting and even self defense and CPR classes.”

Rainwater, Holt & Sexton reinforce their commitment to employees’ improvement outside of work by maintaining reasonable expectations on the job.

“Offering genuine engagement in a personal life challenge is where true employee satisfaction emerges and long-term relationships flourish,” Atkinson said. “We do not expect over 40 hours per week out of our staff; we expect hard work, but we also want our people to be good parents, spouses and spend plenty of time with their families. This mentality has proven to be very fruitful in the life of our business by reducing turnover and retaining the best people.”

The list of employee perks and benefits is extensive, including casual Fridays, a 4 percent 401(k) match, 85 percent of health and dental insurance paid by the company, competitive compensation and benefits, flex schedules, generous vacation and sick leave.

“A ‘best workplace’ is defined as an organization with intentional culture that helps build career paths for its team members while creating an environment of high expectations and accompanying reward. Being intentional has allowed our firm to evolve from wanting great culture to achieving great culture.” — Richard Atkinson, marketing director 

The company’s FUNction Crew is equally busy with activities and functions outside of the workday, including a prize wheel for birthdays and work anniversaries, hosting a night at an Arkansas Travelers baseball game, providing annual flu shots to all staff, providing baby and wedding gifts and birthday breakfast celebrations.