They are the cogs that keep the team ticking, but all too often support staff are undervalued by the firm that employs them. Gordon Laing talks to the people that hear both sides of the story – the recruitment consultants – to find out just what it takes to attract and also retain the support staff you already have.

It’s amazing what good support can do. It can lighten the load, while projecting a good image outward to others. It can be very noticeable – with out good support many law firms might become a little saggy and certainly a lot less smooth.
Support staff – paralegals, legal secretaries, WP operators, receptionists, and others – are all important to the day-to-day running of a successful legal firm. So why is it that the employment market for such staff is so fluid, often making it difficult to keep a hold of those that are good at their job?
Eddie Docherty, senior consultant at Hammond Resources, believes that without support staff firms just couldn\'t function: “They are vital to the smooth running of any legal organisation and they help to lighten the load for fee earners, as well as helping to project the image of the firm.
“But, to retain good support staff it is vital that firms create a professional and supportive environment. Contrary to what many people believe, money is not always the reason for people looking to change jobs. Better career prospects, the chance to work for a more prestigious firm, or one which simply values its support staff more; these are all factors. If a firm has a reputation for providing training for its staff, or for promoting from within, then they are the firms that will have higher staff retention rates.
“If you want to lose your support staff on a regular basis it is quite simple. Do not employ enough of them, so they always feel under pressure. Make sure they are the last to find out what is going on within the organisation. Make them work extra hours for no additional pay – and refuse to acknowledge their contribution. If you can adopt a ‘them and us’ attitude then you\'ll have done extremely well – and will quickly find that your firm seems to spend all its time interviewing for new recruits. To retain good people at all levels it is vital that you acknowledge their contribution to your success.”
Douglas Robertson, of TDL Recruitment Solutions, agrees: “Legal support staff, like any group of support staff, form the ‘engine room’ of law firms, providing essential administration, clerical, secretarial and legal backup to the fee earning lawyers. Without their help much of the legal process would break down – their services ensure correspondence is slick, communication prompt and the background research, form filling and legal administration is complete, to allow lawyers to concentrate on what they do best.
“For those that do it best, career progression options, pleasant working conditions, benefits packages, clear communication channels, job satisfaction and regular and set pay reviews, are all good incentives to stay.”
The marketplace often suits support staff, leaving them with a variety of open doors to choose from, thus making it at times harder still for law firms to retain the support they need.
Cleodie Gladstone, director at First People Solutions, said: “Support staff have more career options and tend to move position more frequently than in the past. Recruiting good support staff can be difficult, costly and time-consuming; it is therefore imperative that firms retain their support staff by recognising and developing their careers in-house.
“To attract the best staff, firms need to ensure that they are the employer of choice. This is often not just the package that they are offering, but also the message that is presented to the market.
“The best organisations recognise the importance of all their staff and treat them all as members of the team.
“Good quality support staff, are always in short supply.”
In the current climate legal support staff play a pivotal role, whether they are based in small, medium or large organisations. Perhaps, then, it’s fair to say that in a lot of cases, fee earners would be totally lost without their paralegals and secretaries – the term ‘support’ says it all.
In recent times, however, official qualifications have been introduced to recognise the training and dedication of support staff entering and working in the industry. But has such formal recognition made any difference?
Pauline Lambert, of Anderson Knight’s legal division, said: “The introduction of the MSSP qualification has definitely allowed more recognition to the extent of what paralegals are capable of doing. As well as this, it makes sure that they are covering all essential areas in their studies which they are likely to come across in their day-to-day work. I don’t think it’s fair to say ‘raised the standards’ as this suggests that those without, or working previously to, the qualification did not do as good a job. What I would say is that the paralegal qualification is good for both firm, backed up by the fact that many employers will now front the cost of the course, and employee, giving them a goal to work towards.”
Docherty agrees: “The fact that paralegals have formal qualifications they can complete has undoubtedly improved their status within the profession. Firms can put their staff through an industry-conceived and approved course which will broaden their knowledge and help to raise standards across the sector. It also gives paralegals added confidence, knowing that they have the theoretical knowledge as well as practical hands-on experience.
“Paradoxically, as the quality of support staff has increased over the last few years the ability of firms to recruit them has become more difficult. Firms employ more support staff than they used to, and they value them more, which means they work a lot harder to retain their good people. This means that there is less support staff available to firms at the moment. In order to rectify this, firms are trying many different approaches to recruiting paralegals, legal secretaries and so on: they use recruitment agencies much more, they sometimes pay staff bounties for recommending friends who join the organisation, and they try to maximise their exposure in the media so that they can make themselves appear more appealing to potential recruits. Successful firms use a variety of approaches to try and attract good people. But standards are undoubtedly higher with the level of qualifications of support staff increasing all the time, and this has resulted in increased recognition from firms that there is a wealth of talent they can tap into within their support departments.”
The legal sector has become a much more competitive market over the past few years and, as with most industries, customer service and satisfaction is what counts.
Meena Bahanda, legal consultant at Select Appointments, said: “Firms have had to become much more accountable and service-focussed to grow their business – an excellent support team is what is required to aid this, which has led to higher standards.
“Giving paralegals the opportunity to complete formal qualifications has led to staff feeling valued, as it gives them the option of pursing a legal career path without having to become a fully-qualified solicitor.
“Good legal support staff are like gold dust, and in recruitment terms it is very much a candidate-driven market. Good legal candidates are definitely guaranteed work within the Glasgow market place, for example. The current labour pool available in this skill sector does not meet the local demands so, therefore, salaries have increased to attract and retain staff.”
On talking to the recruitment consultants, one thing seems to be certain: the legal industry will always remain a candidate-driven market ensuring that the smart employers will hang onto their staff, making it more difficult for others to come across them.
Pauline Lambert concludes: “Being so small, the legal industry operates very much on a word of mouth basis. As a recruitment consultant, one of my favourite questions when interviewing a candidate is, ‘who would you most like to work for?’ There are certain firms that are mentioned time and time again, and this is due to the positive way in which their staff is treated. The firms that offer genuine career progression and pay top-end market-rate salaries will always gain a high calibre of employee who will stay loyal to their employers for a longer period of time, and will furthermore speak highly of their place of work.”