The Administrative Professional, Tying-Up the Loose Ends

Whether you call your administrative professional a secretary, an assistant, a receptionist or a specialist, you depend on that person to complete the behind-the-scenes work, crossing the “t’s” and dotting the “i’s”.

Assistants through out the valley are responsible for making travel arrangements, setting up meetings and conferences, preparing your PowerPoint presentations and giving your company a professional appearance.

Administrative Professionals Week 2007 is April 22 – 28. It is a block of time set aside to help busy managers and supervisors remember to acknowledge the work the administrative staff provides to the organization.

While flowers, candy or lunch is nice, one of the best investments and employer can make is to give training!

Technology changes fast and most companies rely on the administrative support staff to be able to navigate and use a variety of word processing, scheduling, e-mail, database, presentation and web design software programs. Regular training updates are a great investment in the employee, as well as the company.

With quality training, administrative support staff may experience less frustration as they work with updated and newly introduced software. The company gains the appreciation of the employee as he sees the commitment to his position as a professional.

Another great way to show your appreciation is to sponsor your staff’s membership in a professional organization. The International Association of Administrative Professionals® has a local chapter for administrative support staff in the Greater Kanawha Valley. For less than the price of a one day seminar, members receive a full year of access to a variety of training resources and opportunities, by way of independent study, support for skills certification exams, and leadership opportunities. They will also have access to a trending resources and professionals across the world employed by companies such as Avery-Dennison, Office Team, Microsoft, UPS, AEP, and many others.

As you consider ways to show your administrative staff that their hard work is appreciated, keep all options on the table. Ask them what they would most benefit from and what can help them tie-up those loose ends with greater ease.

You’ll be glad you did.

Robin A. Holstein CPS/CAP is the president of the Charleston Chapter IAAP and owner of Robin’s Desktop, Virtual Administrative Services. Her e-mail address is robin@robinsdesktop.com. For more information on the Charleston Chapter IAAP visit http://www.wvha.com/iaap-chaswv/.