Why Administrative Assistants Deserve a Week of Appreciation

Chances are, your administrative assistant has saved your bacon more times than you can count. He or she has made the unpleasant phone calls, turned the mess of a schedule into a perfectly timed masterpiece, and dealt with any and all clients who come into your office, even the annoying ones. There are many reasons why administrative assistants deserve this week of appreciation.

They keep your office running year-round. It’s as simple as that—administrative assistants keep all of your records, answer the phones, take messages, schedule meetings, call in tech support to fix the copy machine, make coffee, and much, much more. If it needs doing, chances are your administrative assistant can do it (or already does it).

They are the gatekeepers of information. If you need to know something, your administrative assistant can provide it. If they don’t know it right off, they know where to find it or who to call to get it.

He or she is also your personal gatekeeper. Your schedule is often very full and as such, you may not be able to meet with every customer personally. Your administrative assistant often handles basic client needs or decides which clients are important enough to get a small slice of your personal time. Without this, you would spend hours meeting with clients.

They do thankless tasks. No one likes to do some of the tasks that need to be done in an office. Filing, checking documents for errors, and doing mass mailings can be boring, tedious tasks, and these are often tasks that fall to the administrative assistant. Next time you pass off one of these jobs to your assistant, remember to show your appreciation.

They keep your office running. When it comes right down to it, your administrative assistant makes certain your office is running smoothly. Without them, you would find yourself overwhelmed with the many day to day tasks necessary to keep an office going. So remember to thank your administrative assistant during this week of appreciation, but be sure to thank him or her year-round, too. They work hard, and they deserve it!