What a flop – Secretary’s Day, or more accurately Administrative Professionals Day, came and went virtually unnoticed. Media made a fuss but it seems rewards were not on many business agendas that day.
When Secretary’s Day first came to prominence, I rather liked the idea. It seemed the decent thing to acknowledge the strenuous workloads of secretaries or PAs and the fact they tend to go the extra distance for their bosses.
But when the day was renamed Administrative Professionals Day, I had to laugh. While the reasons weren’t lost on me, I felt that widening the scope was all a ploy to persuade managing directors, CEOs and key business leaders to spend more liberally on rewards.
But where does one stop? The receptionists in our company are certainly worthy of special acknowledgement, as is the credit control officer and even the advertising assistant who is at everyone’s beck and call and often first in the line of fire if a client has a gripe.
When I think about it, everyone in our company deserves an extra pat on the back from time to time. We consider ourselves a family and the small kindnesses everyone does for each other are always appreciated.
It could even be said we are all ‘administrative’ professionals – professionals who administer a wide variety of roles and administer them extremely well.
In which case perhaps an added bonus of flowers, chocolates, perfume, wine, dinner out or a massage should be the order of the day for journos one week, sales reps the next, production team the next and so on.
As I see it we are all paid a wage/salary for what we do. And, yes, additional thanks from time to time is both called for and appreciated. But aren’t we going a tab too far with this wider day of acknowledgement, once meant solely for secretaries (or PAs in modern speak) who shoulder a very personal workload, are privy to many confidences and are required to display the utmost diplomacy and discretion?
Come to think of it, I’d like a secretary to help shoulder the load and I’d like to think I didn’t need a special day to acknowledge his or her worth – I’m sure I could find plenty of ways to do so any odd day of the week, the month or the year.
When Secretary’s Day first came to prominence, I rather liked the idea. It seemed the decent thing to acknowledge the strenuous workloads of secretaries or PAs and the fact they tend to go the extra distance for their bosses.
But when the day was renamed Administrative Professionals Day, I had to laugh. While the reasons weren’t lost on me, I felt that widening the scope was all a ploy to persuade managing directors, CEOs and key business leaders to spend more liberally on rewards.
But where does one stop? The receptionists in our company are certainly worthy of special acknowledgement, as is the credit control officer and even the advertising assistant who is at everyone’s beck and call and often first in the line of fire if a client has a gripe.
When I think about it, everyone in our company deserves an extra pat on the back from time to time. We consider ourselves a family and the small kindnesses everyone does for each other are always appreciated.
It could even be said we are all ‘administrative’ professionals – professionals who administer a wide variety of roles and administer them extremely well.
In which case perhaps an added bonus of flowers, chocolates, perfume, wine, dinner out or a massage should be the order of the day for journos one week, sales reps the next, production team the next and so on.
As I see it we are all paid a wage/salary for what we do. And, yes, additional thanks from time to time is both called for and appreciated. But aren’t we going a tab too far with this wider day of acknowledgement, once meant solely for secretaries (or PAs in modern speak) who shoulder a very personal workload, are privy to many confidences and are required to display the utmost diplomacy and discretion?
Come to think of it, I’d like a secretary to help shoulder the load and I’d like to think I didn’t need a special day to acknowledge his or her worth – I’m sure I could find plenty of ways to do so any odd day of the week, the month or the year.
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