Sharon Owen Office Administrator Certifications Encouraged Microsoft Office Specialist Word, Excel, and PowerPoint   Employer International law firm Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher LLP Location Orange County, California

In her own words: "When they pass, they just beam. And after the first few people were certified, the excitement grew!"

Certification Raises Confidence, Skills, and Salaries at International Law Firm
Encouragement, training, and financial incentives lead to certified legal secretarial staff

BACKGROUND
International law firm Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher LLP offers its Orange County, California, legal secretaries and word-processing staff the confidence and salary-building opportunity to earn Microsoft® Office Specialist certifications. A Certiport Center, Gibson Dunn now retains highly skilled, productive employees who are enthusiastic and competent users of Microsoft programs.

Gibson Dunn is ranked among the world's top law firms. Its clients include large multinational corporations and other businesses, government entities, banks, and individuals. With approximately 800 attorneys and 950 supporting staff in 13 locations worldwide, Gibson Dunn processes millions of pages of documentation in support of its clients' legal needs.

A trainer in the firm's Dallas, Texas, office first discovered the Microsoft Office Specialist program when exploring computer skills training options two years ago. The certification opportunity was proposed to the company's training manager, who spread the word to the office administrators of the firm's locations around the world. Each location then had the opportunity to implement the program locally.

Sharon Owen, the Orange County office administrator, liked the idea from the start. “From a business perspective, we make a huge investment in technology,” she said. Owen realized the importance of having trained legal secretaries and Information Processing staff. She also recognized the value of a Microsoft certification in the programs these employees use so frequently.

PROCESS
Owen and computer skills trainer, Barbara Bater, worked together to train and encourage the office's legal secretaries and word processing staff to earn Microsoft Word Expert and Microsoft Excel Specialist certifications. As an incentive, the certification in part influenced end-of-year salary increases and bonuses. Engaged in and challenged by the certification opportunity, many candidates also voluntarily pursued additional certifications, including Microsoft PowerPoint®. Of course, additional achievements were also considered when bonuses were issued. “People feel good they're being challenged,” Bater said.

To support employee certification pursuits, Bater established the Gibson Dunn Orange County office as a Certiport Center. In doing so, she was able to provide on-site certification exams to employees, which made the certification process convenient and accessible. Bater offered a seven-week training course, which met twice each week. After a one-week orientation, participants took a pre-assessment test of their skills, followed by six weeks of coursework, which was customized to focus on the areas in which they most needed training. DDC Training Services practice tests were available upon conclusion of the course, and many candidates took them repeatedly to ensure success on their certification exams. As a result, the firm had an extraordinary 100-percent exam pass rate.

Bater's training covered the traditional Office Specialist materials, in addition to the firm's customized new-hire training curriculum. “Training is key,” Owen said. “We are fortunate to have a full-time trainer here.” Gibson Dunn paid for the training, materials, and certification exams from its Information Services training budget.

To acknowledge and reward their certified employees beyond the promised salary and bonus increases, the firm also proudly framed the Office Specialist certificates, which most candidates hung in their workspaces. In addition, the company hosted an Office Specialist Celebration Luncheon at a local restaurant.

“We make it fun,” Owen said. “We try to keep it positive and encourage everyone. Our goal is to have every single person be successful. We work to get them where they need to be to achieve this goal.” Owen said the secretaries frequently arrived to work early, stayed late, and covered each other's desks and work obligations while their colleagues were training and testing to earn certifications.

CERTIFICATION
“When they pass, they just beam,” Owen said. “And after the first few people were certified, the excitement grew!“

The entire staff of approximately 35 legal secretaries and the 6-person Information Processing team earned Microsoft Word Expert certification. In addition, most of the Information Processing team earned Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint certifications.

“When the next version of the Outlook Specialist exam is ready, we have a goal to achieve that,” Bater said.

RESULT
“Our certified employees benefit from increased skills,” Owen said. “But they really benefit from an increase in their confidence.” She said the certified legal secretaries are better able to use the programs, perform tasks more efficiently, and solve software-related problems more effectively. “They are more confident and are happier doing their jobs. As a result, they provide a higher level of service.” Owen added that the firm's attorneys have also seen their secretaries' enthusiasm rise as a result of their certifications.

Certification has also enhanced the entire organization's ability to use its technology resources. “The legal secretaries are able to make technology apply to them,” Owen said. Because of their positive certification experience, secretaries are not afraid to try new software solutions such as legal programs and databases, and they have a better overall understanding of technology in general. “They also champion the new technology with the attorneys and paralegals.”

“When new employees come to Gibson Dunn from other firms, I am amazed by what they don't know,” Bater said. Certification ranks among the benefits of seeking work at Gibson Dunn. “Our employees are appreciative they have this available.”

Owen added that certification clearly benefits Gibson Dunn's legal secretaries as they strive to increase their knowledge, skills, and quality of work. “Attorneys are coming out of law school knowing more and more about technology,” she said. “Where they used to dictate correspondence to secretaries, now they do a lot of basic word processing themselves. For this reason, secretaries need to be a higher quality. They need to be able to format and manipulate copy to help the attorneys at a higher level. Certification reduces the secretaries' fear level. They are willing to try new things. We're here to support them.”