Secretaries and PAs across Britain recently took part in a UK first - a training seminar held completely online. The web conference saw members of the networking group European Management Assistants (EUMA) meeting 'virtually' to investigate the benefits of new online technology.

'We organised the web conference as part of our lifelong learning programme, which is designed to keep our members at the forefront of new developments within their profession,' explains Adrie van der Luijt, National Press Officer for EUMA in the UK, and a full-time PA. 'Senior secretaries, PAs and management assistants are often called upon by their organisations to implement new technology and explain it to managers and other colleagues. So we set up a demonstration with Microsoft Office Live Meeting (formerly Placeware UK) to give members an introduction to web conferencing, and a chance to evaluate it for themselves.'

Around 50 members joined in the live conference, either gathered together in regional group meetings, or as individual EUMA members, who logged on from home or the office. Participants were scattered across Britain, from Jersey to Edinburgh, and from Bath to London. Those who couldn't attend in 'real time' can view a recording of the web conference online.

'Web conferencing has great potential for EUMA, not least because we are the only pan-European professional network for Board level secretaries, PAs, management assistants and office managers, but also because it enables us to communicate with members wherever they are, and lets them participate in top quality events that take place elsewhere in the UK or in Europe,' adds van der Luijt.

For more information on EUMA go to www.euma.org

Two leading charities campaigning for work-life balance - 'Parents At Work' and 'New Ways to Work' - have merged to form 'Working Families'. Already providing support and advice to thousands of families and hundreds of employers a year, the two charities have merged to form a stronger, united voice for working families in the UK.

Check the new organisation out at www.workingfamilies.org.uk

A leading secretarial recruitment consultancy has launched an initiative aimed at re-defining the role of support staff in the workplace. The 'Change Programme' devised by London-based Angela Mortimer, will help organisations to clarify career paths for their secretaries, administrative officers, and PAs in a bid to allow them to develop their full potential, and create more dynamic businesses.

According to Managing Director, John Mortimer, the perceptions of the role in too many organisations are lagging behind the times, having changed little since the late 1980s. 'The working world has changed,' he says. 'But too many firms seem unable to drop their prejudiced, fixed idea of support staff. The definitions of even ten years ago are no longer viable.' Around 60% of the candidates walking through the consultancy's doors are graduates, yet few graduate training schemes exist in the workplace for administrative staff.

The Change programme sees teams of human resources specialists working with organisations to assess, review and update their support staff structures. And, crucially, the support staff themselves are central to the process.

More than 100 secretaries at one London investment bank took part in weekend seminars to consider a broad range of issues relating to their roles, including career opportunities, job definitions, competencies, training requirements, and communication structures. Feedback was positive, with secretaries of all levels experiencing better communication, and a sense of being more involved in the organisation. Career paths and comparative job definitions were clearer, too, and new Secretarial Co-ordinator positions were created to continue the development of the role.

At a law firm where support staff across all disciplines were involved, the Change programme opened the eyes of the Marketing Director. She realised that the competencies needed for marketing assistants were remarkably similar to those now required for today's proactive secretaries. She is now targeting secretaries for that role, something she had never previously considered.

Mortimer is keen to see outdated perceptions change - and fast. 'The people firms refer to as secretaries or administrative assistants are already executives,' he says. 'Organisations must recognise this fact and stop treating them like support staff.'

News reports have recently seen scare stories about firms which - many believe - could see the end of the secretary. One such is UKTyping, a London-based firm which offers a fast turn-around transcription service by sending digital files electronically to India. The files are typed up overnight, and arrive back on executives' desks the next morning. UKTyping claims to have hundreds of British legal, accountancy and medical clients on its books already, and says the transcription work is done by graduates trained to understand technical language.

However, many in the sector fear that such outsourcing firms - which highlight openly the huge savings in employee costs - could lead to redundancies, particularly among legal secretaries. The City of London has already shed hundreds of legal staff in the last 12 months.

HAVE YOUR SAY! Could your job be threatened by such outsourced secretarial services? What do you think of the current trend of admin and call centre work moving to lower-cost regions, such as India and Malaysia? Email us at newsletter@deskdemon.com and tell us what you think

Despite bosses' concerns when the new UK legislation was launched earlier this year, the flexible working regulations have not resulted in virtual anarchy in the workplace. The latest report shows the laws have been embraced by staff and organisations alike.

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the international law firm Lovells, the 'Right to Request' regulations, introduced in April, have caused much less disruption than predicted. Around 90% of employers quizzed for the new report said they had experienced no significant problems complying with the new requirements.

The laws give parents the right to ask for flexibility in their conditions, such as switching to term-time working, job shares, or part-time work. Although employers are not obliged to agree, the law forces them to give fair consideration to the request.

Of the 500 firms polled for the report, 68% believed the opportunity to work flexibly had boosted staff morale, and the majority of organisations say they have agreed to at least half of the requests put forward. With the legislation only six months old, this is seen as a positive move towards offering better work-life balance for staff.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, women have lead the charge - more than half the employers who have been approached have received no requests from men. Part-time working and coming in late / leaving early have been the most common requests. The majority of requests have come from clerical workers (44%), but managers (21%) and technical staff (20%) are also queuing up to ask for flexible working.

The CIPD hopes the right will be extended to all workers, and not just parents in future. Just under one half of the organisations surveyed reported that there is resentment among many childless employees who cannot get access to this flexible benefit.

For full details on the Right to Request legislation visit www.tiger.gov.uk