“Don’t Fire the Clerical Staff!”, Peter G. Sassone1992-12 (tech economics, writing psychology)⁠:

[popularization of Sassone1992] Most managers spend almost 30% of their workweek on clerical and non-productive tasks, such as filing, photocopying, typing, and searching for information. Only 25% of their time is spent supervising staff and making decisions.

This is a misallocation of resources that may be costing companies as much as 15% of their annual payroll. Yet, many companies are firing or laying off secretaries and clerical staff to cut back on expenses.

The loss of productivity can be attributed to 2 myths:

1. A reduction in support staff will pay for office information systems.

2. Support work is not as vital as management’s work, so the company can make do with less support staff.

A 4-step approach can give companies a fresh look at office productivity and get managers managing again:

1. Understand, measure, and track the intellectual content of office work, and staff the office accordingly.

2. Focus on intellectual specialization, not task specialization.

3. Do not use a back-office strategy in a professional office.

4. Develop an integrated office productivity strategy.