A partner agrees to develop a manager who can take over several client relationships in 2027. The firm also asks that partner to maintain the same personal production target. Unless something else changes, those commitments may compete for the same hours.
November is a useful time to resolve that conflict, while next year’s expectations are still being set. Start by examining how much client work partners carry and what the firm expects them to accomplish beyond it.
The 2026 Rosenberg Survey, based on 2025 financial results, provides context. Participating firms with $2 million to $5 million in revenue reported average equity partner charge hours of 1,107 and an all-staff-to-equity-partner ratio of 7.1. In the $5 million to $10 million group, those figures were 1,095 hours and 9.6 staff per equity partner.
Those are group averages, not recommended workloads. Even within a revenue range, partners may have different responsibilities. Use the comparison to examine your firm’s expectations before carrying this year’s targets into the next.
Specify what the partner is expected to transfer
A goal to “delegate more” leaves both the work and the standard for success undefined. The partner can meet it by moving a few tasks while retaining every decision that keeps an engagement dependent on them.
Choose the responsibility that should change hands. A manager might become the primary contact for a defined group of clients, handle routine engagement decisions or complete a stage of review previously reserved for a partner. Identify the decisions that still require escalation.
Then describe the partner’s part in that transition. It may include introducing the manager to clients, reviewing early decisions and resisting the temptation to take back work that takes longer during training. These are assignments that need time in the partner’s plan.
Decide how the transition will affect production goals
Consider a hypothetical partner asked to transfer 150 hours of recurring work. Some of the released time will initially go toward training and oversight. The remainder might support business development or another agreed responsibility.
If the firm leaves the partner’s personal charge-hour target unchanged, it is also asking that person to replace the transferred hours with other billable work. That may be a deliberate choice, but the partner group should make it explicitly.
The same question applies to compensation credit. If the partner loses credit when a manager assumes responsibility, the firm should settle how a successful transition will be recognized before work begins. Otherwise, a goal the partnership endorses can carry a financial cost for the person responsible for achieving it.
Review progress before the annual compensation discussion
A transition goal needs evidence beyond a decline in partner hours. Lower hours could reflect successful delegation, a lost client or work that has simply been delayed.
For the selected engagements, track whether the manager is handling the agreed decisions, whether deadlines are being met and how much partner intervention remains necessary. Check the manager’s workload, too. Moving responsibility into an already full schedule may only move the delay.
Before approving 2027 goals, give each planned transfer an owner, an expected completion date and an agreed treatment in the partner’s performance review. That makes it possible to assess whether the partner did what the firm asked, even when their personal production looks different at year-end.
