Dear [Senior Partner],
I feel compelled to write this letter because, quite frankly, I am appalled by the working standards in the [department] at [name of company], Birmingham. I have never known such acute disregard for support staff at any other company I have ever worked for. I doubt this letter will be of much concern to you, but it will certainly help me feel better.
I am an incredibly fast and efficient secretary, but I found my job totally demoralising because of the sheer volume of work and the incessant demands to get it done. There was no support, no office junior or float secretary to help out, and no back up from management when I raised concerns. I felt under increasing pressure to work faster, do more, get through the workload because “it has to go out today, it needs to be done today!”. Deadlines for reports were often downright unrealistic. Nobody monitored my workload or gave it any consideration whatsoever. I was constantly asking for help from other secretaries within the company, but rarely got it.
I gained no job satisfaction because it was akin to working on a production line, and I rarely received thanks or even recognition for my sometimes strenuous efforts to meet deadlines. I’m not afraid of hard work, but I’ve never encountered anything like the extraordinary demands made in this department. I literally slogged my guts out all day, every day, working at full pace with no respite and no assistance. For the last three months I felt totally unable to cope with the enormity of demands that were forced upon me. I’ve gone home too tired to eat, was treated by my doctor for a ‘rash’ brought on by stress, and there were times when I was on the verge of tears because of the relentless pressure. Single-handedly raising my three sons was less stressful than my nine months at [company]!
There are two important points I would like you be aware of, should you wish to take note:
1. The department was split into two teams, each with their own secretary. There was rarely any ‘sharing’ of work between the two teams, and I received ‘help’ from the other secretary only a few times. So whilst [the other secretary] spent the day filing, I struggled to get two or sometimes even three reports out in one day. I believe this is seriously bad management.
2. Employers are responsible and have a duty to ensure the welfare of their staff. The management showed no concern about my workload or the constant pressure I was under to get reports out. A secretary expects to have ‘rush jobs’, and I’ve never personally encountered any problems with meeting deadlines before, but the rush to get work out was on a daily basis, relentless each and every single day.
I also have other issues which highlight the lack of consideration for support staff:
1. In December we had our floor Christmas dinner: I came in at 8am because I knew [the Associate] had a report to get out and we were leaving for the restaurant at 1pm. The report wasn’t finished until 3pm, which meant I worked for seven hours solid with no break and no food (and, incidentally, no thanks). Apathy from bosses does not encourage loyalty from staff.
2. 23 December: I’d had the previous day off because of the flu bug that was going around, but came into work despite feeling ill because [the other secretary] was on leave, [the surveyor] needed tenders sending out, [the Associate] had a report to finish, and because I’m conscientious! (not something that is encouraged at [company]). I informed [Associate] I was going to finish the tenders and report and leave about 12. I was there until 4pm doing tapes that [the Associate] kept dictating, and that was only after I refused to do any more. I spent the following 3 days in bed, including Christmas day.
3. Up until February, I always came into work around 8.15-8.30am (once at 7.30am). At least once a week I worked through my lunch hour trying to get work done. In February, I needed half an hour off to collect my divorce papers from court. [The Associate] told me to make the time up during my lunch hour. When I pointed out all the extra hours I’d done, [the Associate] dismissed it and said I needed “monitoring” to make sure I made up the five minutes because I left at 5.25 each day.
I am not an 18 year old office junior who needs “monitoring”! And you cannot be stringent about timekeeping with one secretary in a department when another secretary arrives 10-15 minutes late for work every day.
4. 17 February 2003: The workload was becoming unbearable, so I spoke to [the department Partner], who said he would deal with the ‘lack of support’. Six weeks later, my workload was worse than ever and I felt I had no alternative but to hand in my notice because nothing was being done to alleviate the problem.
5. March 2003: The department was given a connection to the colour printer downstairs, which would have helped my report output tremendously. We were then told it was going to be removed again. I emailed [the department Partner] asking to speak to somebody about this. Later the same day, [other secretary] told me the connection had been removed. Nobody consulted me about this despite the fact that I was the one who would have utilised the connection. My concerns were, again, dismissed out of hand, which only added to my growing feeling of despondency with the company and my management.
6. March 2003: After I’d handed in my notice, I was expected (not asked) to work over on Friday night. As [the surveyor] was waiting to QA the document I was typing up, I felt obliged to do it, and we were there until 6.30pm before [the surveyor] called a halt. This again shows the management’s total disregard for their staff.
7. Only after I handed in my notice was I asked for my ‘comments’ about how things could be improved for the new secretary, which I found insulting.
I am aware that this letter is merely from a ‘disgruntled’ secretary who no longer works for your company, but I believe you will hear such comments from other secretaries who work for the department because the department is badly managed and the company is doing nothing about this. The turnover of staff alone should tell you that something is seriously wrong with the way it is run.
Yours sincerely,
