Bargain Bin Parachute

We began to practice law, the four of us, in the middle of the 1981 recession, and we were all broke. So, having acquired some office space and some ratty office furniture from the surplus store, we set about hiring our first staff member, a receptionist.

What the four of us knew about running a law office, let alone an ice cream stand, could be written on a half page, and what we knew about staffing on less than a line. We didn’t have a clue, frankly.

So we hired Mandy (name changed to protect the innocent), a sweet young country girl just out of high school and looking for a job in the big city. She seemed bright and cheery, exactly what we wanted to portray at the front desk. That she couldn’t spell or count or get names right didn’t reveal until later, and her complete inattention to detail might have been charming in another setting.

As I’ve said before, professional training is mostly about head knowledge and generally of little practical use in making a living in the trade. So in reality the only check box on our list was “budget”, and Mandy was willing to be our front-line representative for minimum wage. That should have been our first clue, no disrespect to Mandy and full shame on us.

We broke Mandy of the bubble gum habit, at least at the desk. We agonized over what to do about missed client messages and the litter of tabloid magazines on her desk. So three or four weeks later when she told us that city life was not for her, we all breathed a sigh of relief. We hired again, and again learned a whole bunch of new lessons. But that’s for another Briefing.

It took me a while to learn the principles of good staffing. My last lesson was about fair pay.

After a few years into practice I was eking out a living, and my young family was growing. There was never enough money, and I stretched every penny. Including with staff, until I learned better. The hard way.

Over the years I have been blessed with some amazing legal assistants, and one of the first such was Marg (again, name changed). She was smart and efficient and knew the forms and paperwork better than I did. She managed my time, loved our clients and was loved by them, and all around was the key to my growing practice.

Then one day, at leaving time, she quietly told me she had accepted another job offer, at roughly one half more than I was paying. It was with a very prestigious firm, and she had been recruited by a friend of a friend.

I did what anyone would do: I offered to match that salary, and a bit more.

“No”, said Marg, “it’s too late. I gave my word.” She was too kind to tell me I was cheap.

I was devastated, but left with an indelible lesson: Generous compensation is essential if you want to acquire and keep really good people.

I remain pretty thrifty on a personal level, but what I’ve learned about business and relationships is that parsimony is poison and generosity pays rich rewards.

Oh, the title? It was to make my point before I made my point. There are many things in life that are too important to sweat the pennies.