The traditional supporter support structure no thirster meets the inevitably of many firms. Multiple reasons have attributed to a sea change in support inevitably: Client and attorney expectations have changed, with body assistance, information direction and client liaison coming to the forefront and the need for traditional typing, filing and phone substance services reduced by technology; a global 24/7 work environment exceeds a secretary's traditional 9 to 5 work schedule; and the supporter position itself no thirster attracts and retains gift from the employment pool. The primary reason secretaries give for terminating employment is simply a lack of challenge.
Expense is also a problem. An office of cardinal New York attorneys has a support payroll of up to $8.1 million, or closer to $9 million if real estate, equipment and other types of support are included. At the current attorney-to-secretary ratio of 3 to 1, this is $30,000 per attorney, per year.
At a large New York City law firm, a senior manager noted that tinkering with the existing support structure did not solve these major issues. At best, it marginally improved productivity, and at worst, it small employee morale. A decision was made to conduct an interview study with the goal of determinative how supporter and other body services were used and what new scheme could be crafted. Secretaries, partners and associates unilaterally expressed these deep concerns:
Different support inevitably. Partners, counsel and senior associates necessary workers with body skills-able to manage information flow, communicate with clients, help with marketing presentations and complete charge and research. Junior attorneys necessary document production assistance and clerical help.
Inconsistent support for associates. With secretaries supporting attorneys of widely-varying seniority, junior associates particularly received poor service or no service.
Lack of skill development. A purposive career path was missing, one that would enable secretaries to take on a more challenging and valuable role.
"Single point of service" concept. Having a single point of contact when dealing with all support inevitably was an apparent gap in overall operational efficiency.
Client-centered support. The hours service was offered necessary to be closer to the global hours it was demanded.
In response to all this input, a new scheme was crafted; its implementation took place.
The scheme created four distinct supporter positions. Each has different roles, assignment structures and pay scales, thus providing a career track for future hires: Secretarial Coordinator, Administrative Secretary, Service Center Secretary and Floater.
The Administrative Secretary operates on a team that supports, inside a specific practice area, a specific group of partners, counsel and senior attorneys. Teams are compromised of two to three members, each supporting two to three attorneys-up to 12 attorneys in total for any team. Through constant involvement with a practice area, the secretaries become integral to its operation. As a team they are able to offer all core competencies necessary by attorneys and, hopefully, an "expert for everything." Secretaries incepted the training initiative enforced for this position-extensive, current training in body skills relating to client service, technical applications, and high-end support. The firm understood to gear the desired training toward sustaining its most valuable body resource.
Salary range for Administrative Secretaries is on the high end of the supporter range. Due to the raised skill set this group of workers develops, the traditional, market-based ceiling can even be moderately raised.
The Secretarial Coordinator and Service Center Secretary positions are kick in Secretarial Service Centers. These are full-service support areas for junior to mid-level associates and paralegals; each practice floor has a center which, including the Coordinator has up to four individualnel. A secretary is allotted five to eight attorneys/paralegals to assist so that a center will provide coverage for up to 32 fee earners. Besides handling all phone, document production, and support services for junior fee earners, document overflow for senior associates and partners can be handled there. Ultimately, secretaries benefit from close oversight in a pooled, high-leverage environment.
The Floor Coordinator is the single-point contact individual when an attorney inevitably service. Coordinators supervise a center's work flow, manage staffing, attending and vacation programming for the floor, and help prioritise messenger, fax and copy projects; also, they handle a portion of the workload.
Centers recruit at entry-level salaries. There is an established ceiling with further increases possible only as one advances beyond the centers. The Floaters, as an interim position, also have chance for advancement-Floaters provide on-demand support for the centers and the Administrative Secretarial teams.
These four positions are the integral part of a carefully-crafted scheme, made to remedy a real-world situation. The real-world implementation was a scrupulous process: Detailed job descriptions and performance guides were developed for all staff, supporter teams received extensive skills training, and a pilot program unquestionable what the expectations should be for Service Centers. Various stakeholders in the process were considered as a communication hypothesis plan developed, which was later conferred to senior direction, partners, practice groups and secretaries. The overall goal of all this effort and preparation was to materially improve service levels.
It was a success. Associates now receive high-quality and consistent service offered in the to the worst degree hours of the day. The most gifted and tough secretaries are concentrated and challenged in working for partners and other senior attorneys. As service improved, cost nest egg were achieved-the attorney-to-secretary ratio improved to 5 to 1, which, not including nest egg in real estate, equipment and other support services, has translated into a nest egg of over $3.2 million per annum.
