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As HR leaders look to maximise the performance of their people, the potential of administrative and assistant team members is often overlooked, with a recent global survey by the World Administrators Alliance finding that 60 per cent of administrators say there is little or no potential for career progression in their organisation.
Highly skilled administrators and assistants not only bring valuable skills and experience but also hold a huge amount of human capital – with networks, “in-the-room” knowledge, connections, and as “culture carriers” within organisations.
But as the world of work has evolved, the view of administrators and assistants hasn’t necessarily kept up.
Many leaders still pigeonhole the role of their assistants. Instead of encouraging strategic input and autonomy, they drip feed tasks and focus on tactics such as calendar management, emails and organisation, when most executive assistants today bring much higher-level skills to the role.
As someone who works alongside assistants every day, I see many of them keen to progress and to be part of the bigger business picture. They want to be included in what’s happening in the business and be empowered to contribute strategically.
A partnership approach.
Rather than thinking of assistants as an add-on to the leadership role, thinking of them as a partner can help with making the most of them as a resource.
The executives in your business have complex roles to play, so an assistant is there to take on the parts of their role that can be delegated. Think of the executive and assistant roles as one job function, split into two.
To make this happen, it’s important that executives give as much access and share as much information as possible with their assistants. So, encourage executives to invite their assistants to meetings where decisions are made, and they can start to understand not only the what but also the how and the why. How are we going to get there, what are the milestones along the way, and why does it matter?
Including an assistant in this process means they will have a thorough understanding of where the business is headed and feel connected to a greater sense of purpose. They move from someone who needs to be constantly instructed on tasks to someone who is able to walk in step with their executive, taking care of the tactical and organisational elements so that the leader can focus on the big visionary moves that need to be made.
When assistants don’t have this kind of access, they work twice as hard to understand their leader’s decision making and can’t predict needle-moving tasks or contribute cohesively.
A progression pathway.
Ultimately, we all want to feel important and valued in the work we do, so if leaders miss the opportunity to make their assistants feel important, they’re missing out on engaging one of the most culturally connected employees in the business.
When assistants are valued and empowered to do their best work, they’ll reward an organisation with their loyalty and support, which also helps the leader to do their best work. But most leaders don’t foster that relationship or invest time in showing they value their assistant.
For an assistant or administrator to feel valued, they need to know their organisation will support them with opportunities for growth and development.
For HR leaders, the worst possible outcome is losing a talented administrative or assistant employee due to a lack of career progression opportunities. So it’s essential to communicate with administrators and assistants about the potential next steps as they develop in their careers.
Often, leaders with amazing assistants are so fearful of losing them that they block progression opportunities, which means the assistant looks elsewhere for their next move. When, in fact, they could be progressing within the business and involved in the succession planning for their support role.
These are people with intimate knowledge of the business, its customers, its operations and its employees, a priceless resource most organisations wouldn’t want to lose.
Opportunities at any level.
Ideally, you want to build professional development options for administrative and assistant employees at any level of the organisation. Depending on the level of experience they have, you might invite them to take part in management training programs or include them in leadership development opportunities so that they’re exposed to new concepts and learn at every available opportunity.
HR leaders can offer suggestions for development to leaders so that they can help executives and their assistants understand the varied options available to increase the assistant’s overall business acumen and support talent retention.
The rise in intelligent tech and automation tools means assistants are evolving to become more strategic in their roles and to bring their very human skills to work, underpinned by a suite of smart tech to improve their efficiency.
Most assistants are hungry for opportunities to actively contribute, so you could invite them to take part in programs, include them on teams testing workplace tech, and encourage them to bring a strategic mindset to every aspect of their role.
Focus on retention
I fear many organisations are at risk of losing their valuable administrative talent for lack of seeing the full benefit they can bring.
For example, I recently worked with an assistant who was in a small organisation and had been there for many years. She asked for a modest title change and a small pay rise. When these requests were initially approved and then revoked, she understandably decided to look elsewhere and easily found a higher-level role and almost doubled her salary. While this was a win for her, it was a major loss for her former employer.
I’ve also recently worked with an assistant who had a very different experience. She joined an organisation in an assistant role and started actively asking if she could join key meetings and strategy sessions with the senior leadership team as part of her learning. Before long, she was actively contributing, asking questions and making valuable suggestions, and the team quickly realised how valuable she was and supported her transition to a DEI consultant role. The organisation recognised her potential and decided to invest in developing her skills rather than keeping her pigeonholed in a traditional assistant role.
Every assistant and administrator is different – with different ambitions, different skills and different motivations. What they have in common, though, is a wealth of company-specific knowledge and unrivalled access to every level of the organisation.
The organisations that recognise their potential and make it easy for their assistants to contribute, drive business strategy and support leaders to the best of their ability are the businesses that will ultimately benefit most from this precious human resource.
Is your business helping your administrators and assistants to truly do their best work? If not, the time is now.
Ruth Kilah is an executive coach and mentor and the founder of Hoxton Hyde.
Jack Campbell
Jack is the editor at HR Leader.
