'Support staff' is such a patronising term: firms are lost without them

I chatted this week to a firm in Plymouth which had undertaken a fundraising climb of Ben Nevis in memory of a late colleague.

It was a touching and worthwhile gesture, and the type we regularly hear about on the Gazette (alas, we do not always have the space to feature every one).

But what struck me from listening to the reasons behind the hike was the enormous respect, admiration and sheer love for the late Sharon Roberts, who had been Wolferstans' legal secretary for many years.

She was not just a part of the firm but in many ways its beating heart – a listening ear for colleagues seeking support, an arm round the shoulder for trainees, and an occasional sharp quip to keep senior colleagues on their toes. Her loss had highlighted how much she had brought not just to the business but to the people who make it, and she glued together the various parts of the firm.

The conversation reminded me of another meeting with a solicitor just a few weeks ago, who had recently quit a firm that had gone through a takeover (euphemistically and disingenuously referred to as a merger).

This solicitor had seen the acquiring firm turn up unannounced and impose a new culture and way of working. But more importantly for him, the new arrival immediately set about clearing out as many support staff as possible in search of those ‘synergies’ that press releases always refer to (translation: we already have our own secretaries/receptionists/PAs so we can get rid of yours).

But what looked on paper like superfluous pawns that could be easily sacrificed were in fact the foundations of the firm itself. They were the ones who knew where the stationery was stashed, they organised the Christmas do, they made sure everyone signed Geoff’s leaving card, they could remind exasperated solicitors what their passwords were.

This particular firm scrapped such staff, and lo and behold, found that the fee-earners gradually made their own exit soon after. You can make all the promises you like about reaching for the sky, but if you take away a rung of the ladder you won’t get far.

There is a movement in some firms to scrap the term ‘fee-earner’ altogether. Progressive businesses see that dividing the workforce between those who bring in the readies and those who prop them up is counter-productive (and crucially, many clients would not want welcome such a distinction). Terms such as ‘business operations team’ and ‘team member’ are increasingly common and are signs of a more collaborative and harmonious approach.

Those firms who line up back-office staff for the chop the moment they want to make savings are short-sighted. Fee earners know they would be lost without them.