A leading solicitor has warned the industry that 'last in, first out' redundancy procedures can often result in the loss of a company's best staff.

At London's HortFocus conference, Alison Wallace reaffirmed the old adage that personnel – and what is inside their heads – are a firm's biggest asset.

But she explained that a 'scorecard' system was more appropriate than length of service when deciding upon redundancies in these 'difficult times'.

It is a feature of the labour market today that stronger employees tend to be more mobile and offer shorter lengths of service for each individual employer.

She said: 'Last in, first out often doesn't work and results in the loss of the best staff.

'Flexible, skilled, likeable and genial staff should be kept on because they can take the business forward. It is what the business needs that is important – even if a 54-year-old thinks the young boy who has been there only eight months is better placed to get another job.' She explained that objectives should be fixed so the best employees are not lost.

She said that in today's market skill level and aptitude are often deemed of higher value on an employee's scorecard than attendance.