25 25% felt they were trusted most of the time and only 6% felt they influenced business decisions all the time.
%
87
out their Assistant
70
trust their Assistant’s judgement in making business decisions on their behalf
62
of employers surveyed believed they
-
of employers surveyed believed they could of the bosses saw their Assistant’s contribution as equivalent to their management team
a group of predominantly women (98%) that were undervalued and underpaid. Since the recession the role has changed completely. Assistants picked up so much of what the middle management were doing but for a lot less money and usually with no training. This realisation set me on a path of campaigning that has taken me to over 40 countries in the last five years to get Assistants to understand how the role has changed and to value their contribution to their businesses. Last year we did two pieces of really important research. It has been ten years since there was an in-depth piece of research on the Assistant role. Of course part of the reason for this was the recession – who wants to invest to get doom and gloom results? But the drought is over and we were lucky enough to work with both Avery and Hays Secretarial and PA Recruitment on two really useful pieces of research in the last few months.
Not only that but a massive 70% of Assistants do not have any form of Career Development Plan – a fact that I found horrifying. It would seem to me that as long as employers overlooked the importance of career planning for their Assistants, they risked increasing levels of underperformance and ultimately lost some of their most talented, valued and capable employees. And if you look at Avery’s results, you can see very clearly how valuable Assistants are. In contrast to Hays’ focus on hard skills, the Avery research looked at numerous factors of working life including Assistants’ personality traits, stress levels, responsibilities as well as their IQ, qualifications and emotional intelligence levels, comparing each aspect to the rest of the working population. The results were striking. All of the study’s findings pointed towards a very special set of skills that are evident in Assistants, that help them succeed in the role. The survey showed that Assistants have a far stronger ability to handle stress and remain positive about work than their colleagues. With as high an IQ as their fellow office workers, an off-the-charts EQ and an achievement-striving nature, theirs is a powerful combination for the corporate world. In many ways it is the ideal skillset for business.
The results have just been released and the questions that they raised have far-reaching implications right across the profession.
This survey proves that Assistants are dedicated, loyal, diligent and savvy – in many cases, much more so than other members of staff who receive significantly more recognition, training and remuneration. It raises questions that must be addressed by the businesses that are happy to utilise the Assistants’ unique traits evident in the results of this survey, but don’t choose to invest in personal development or provide appropriate career progression with the associated pay increases for their administrative staff.
The full reports are both available, and I am fascinated by what the results taken in tandem show.
Both surveys stand alone with fascinating results that used properly will have a genuine impact on the profession.
Hays’ research looked at career development and key skills, management and leadership. As well as asking Assistants their opinions, they also surveyed their Executives and the results were startling. 87% of employers surveyed believed they could not do their job as effectively without their Assistant and 62% of the bosses saw their Assistant’s contribution as equivalent to their management team or higher (in fact 1 in 10 bosses rated them as equivalent to a Director in the business). And whilst over 70% trust their Assistant’s judgement in making business decisions on their behalf – 45% most of the time, and 18% all of the time, there was a huge perception gap as these figures were much lower from the Assistant’s point of view – just
3. Please share how Executive Secretary Live South Africa went and what you experienced having it here. We already run LIVE in London and Dubai, but this inaugural event in Johannesburg was incredibly special. Even before we arrived in South Africa, the excitement was palpable. Most of our speakers had never been to Africa before and were hugely excited to do so. Likewise, the delegates had never experienced this level of speakers - they are quite simply the rock stars of the PA profession and the creme de la creme of the world’s trainers for Assistants.
careersuccess magazine issue 1 2016