With Administrative Professionals Day coming up soon, Wednesday April 23, I became curious how the day was started and when. I wasn’t surprised to learn that it was started in 1952 to recognize secretaries, perhaps I have been watching too any episodes of “Mad Men” but I assumed that the fifties were the golden age of the secretary. However I was surprised that the name changed from Secretaries Day to Administrative Professionals day only in 2000. I would have thought it would have occurred much earlier than that. The role of the secretary has always been much more than just a mere secretary and as technology has grown so has the role of the their role.
I was amazed to learn that currently there are over 4.1 million administrative professionals at work in the USA in wide reaching types of jobs. With a quick look at Robert Half’s Website I found over 20 types of job descriptions, listed below are just the top five:
- Administrative Assistant
- Marketing Assistant
- Sales Assistant
- Mortgage Assistant
- Legal Assistant
The role of the administrative professional will continue to grow and require more and more technological skills. These professionals are typically the first ones in the office to embrace, apply and instruct others about new technologies. With this in mind it isn’t surprising when asked what they would like in observance of their day many the top requests are around professional development such as;
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Reimbursement for Online Training
- Membership in Professional Organizations
- Professional Certification
- Attending Conferences and Workshops
More details can be found at the Administrative Professionals Website http://www.iaap-hq.org/events/apw or by joining their Facebook page.
Of course a well thought out gift is always a great way to show your appreciation as well. We’ve started to see orders come in already celebrating this day and most are business-related, such as:
- Engraved Nameplates
- Personalized Paperweights
- Business Card Holders
- Desktop Clocks
- But engraved vases are also popular gifts as well.
Most important is to choose a gift that the recipient will enjoy and display with pride.
