Secretaries say they are undervalued

Press, 21 July 1989, Page 11

Secretaries say they are undervalued

By

ROGER WILLIAMS,

NZPA in London

The words “take a letter Miss Jones” can be fraught with frustration for the modem secretary, according to a survey. Ms Jones is likely to be

highly irritated at the number of interruptions to her routine, at her boss being “too demanding,” and — another sign of changing times — that the boss or other staff smoke. But sexual harassment failed to get into the top 10 office irritations in the survey, by Kall—Kwik Printing (UK) Ltd.

It came bottom of the list of complaints — a long way behind the source of aggravation for secretaries everywhere, being treated as the office

dogsbody. Constant interruptions at a busy time came number one, with 89 per cent of secretaries questioned at this year’s London Secretary Show finding this a prime complaint Too-demanding bosses came second in the list with many secretaries finding lying on behalf of a moody, irritable manager particularly irksome. Environmental aggravations like noise, heat draughts, stuffiness and

tobacco smoke are widespread sources of irritation, alongside photocopiers which keep breaking down. Lack of communication with both boss and colleagues gets many secretaries down, particularly when they find themselves sharing an overcrowded office. The tail end of the top 10 irritations was that “dogsbody” feeling and not being given enough respect. More than half the secretaries thought they were so undervalued that they were treated as part of the furniture. But then, even more were irritated by the furniture.