UPDATE
PM
#40065782
P R O F E S S IO N A L D E V E L O P M E N T F O R C A N A DA' S O F F IC E S U P P O R T S TA F F
Administrative
Assistant's
AUGUST 2015
UPDATE
INSIDE
Share your experiences . . . . . 2
Some topics we plan to develop –
with your help
Serving multiple bosses . . . . . 4
What it's like for Joan Binetti
of Blakes
Working out kinks . . . . . . . . . 6
An online program to help you
prevent stiffness and pain
Crisis management . . . . . . . . 7
A test of leadership skills and
management potential
Continued on page 3
Demand is rising for
top-tier assistants
'Fierce fight for talent'
By George Pearson
For those with top office skills, it's
a good time to be an administrative
assistant or an executive assistant.
"A fierce fight for talent" is
the assessment of Gena Griffin, a
regional manager with Robert Half,
a worldwide company specializing
in professional staffing, placement
and consulting. Griffin is responsible
for the strategic direction of
the company's accounting and
administrative services offerings in
the Greater Toronto market.
After several years of retrenchment
that saw the elimination or merger
of AA and EA positions, companies
once again are hiring support staff,
especially at the executive assistant
level. As companies look to activate
stalled projects and hire mid-to-
senior level managers, demand is
rising for top-tier assistants with "a
heightened skill set," Griffin told
Administrative Assistant's Update.
Technology mastery must include
Microsoft Office, as it has for some
time, and now in many cases social
media skills are sought as well.
"The role has definitely moved
beyond handling travel and
managing someone's calendar,"
she says. "Senior-level managers
now have a very public presence
whether that's the role they have for
themselves, the company they work
for or the reality of how technology
has become public facing."
Indispensable EA
"Simply put, the best executive as-
sistants are indispensable. Micro-
soft will never develop software
that can calm a hysterical sales
manager, avert a crisis by redraft-
ing a poorly worded e-mail, smooth
a customer's ruffled feathers, and
solve a looming HR issue — all
within a single hour, and all without
interrupting the manager to whom
such problems might otherwise
have proven a distraction. Execu-
tive assistants give companies and
managers a human face. They're
troubleshooters, translators, help
desk attendants, diplomats, hu-
man databases, travel consultants,
amateur psychologists, and ambas-
sadors to the inside and outside
world."
Melba J. Duncan
Harvard Business Review
Credit: Tyler Olson/Shutterstock
