The Future of the PA

What does the future hold for PAs? Well, you’ve shown before that you can adapt and change with the times. And that’s a skill that will stand you in great stead, because ultimately your future as a PA is up to you!

That’s the clear message coming from a number of recruitment companies, and it points the way to very exciting times for PAs everywhere. Never has the role of the PA been filled with such variety and excitement, because if you think carefully about the role you want, you’ll increase your chances of finding a position in a company that will suit your personality, values, skills and interests, that much is clear.

"From being confident to being expert?"
“The 2003 OfficeTeam Salary and Workplace Survey shows that the role of the PA is no longer restricted to traditional duties such as typing and diary management, but in fact incorporates a growing range of skills such as HR, marketing and finance,” Claire Howell, Regional Manager of OfficeTeam explains.

“Office Angels has seen the role of the PA evolve enormously over the years,” Paul Jacobs, Managing Director of Office Angels, says. “Many PAs are now often given business critical responsibilities and are far from simply being admin support, in fact they are highly skilled, multi-tasking specialists. Senior PAs and team secretaries handle a huge range of responsibilities such as event organisation, marketing, public relations and human resources, above and beyond the traditional secretarial skills.”

This change has shown itself in the way that training companies are offering courses such as An Introduction to Organising Meetings, Conferences and Events (www.hemsleyfraser.co.uk) and HR for the Personal Assistant and Administration Personnel (www.reed.co.uk/training). It’s also why DeskDemon has introduced new categories to the site and sponsor Free Seminars such as ‘The PA’s Guide to Exhibiting’ (Click Here)

The Council for Administration, which recently produced an Administration and Business Skills Development Plan, (Click Here to read Skills Ahead!) identified two core administration markets which cover the 4.7 million administrators currently working in the UK. One third of these require additional specialist skills and knowledge to work in a specialist administrative role, such as medical secretaries, legal secretaries and college administrators.

Alison Leach, Manager of Joslin Rowe’s Temporary Secretary Desk, says: “If PAs were confident in a skill before, they’ll need to be expert in it now. Going forward, PAs will need to have excellent system skills, and they’ll need to have outstanding leadership and organisation skills to progress, and the ability to manage teams. The people with the ability to do that will progress. And it will be important to be flexible, and have no pre-conceived ideas about what you’ll have in the role.”

This makes interesting reading, especially when you consider the findings of the SCQuARE report, written by SCQuARE International. A survey was undertaken in part to find out which skills 1,500 UK based managers perceive to be the most important to their own development and business. Survey participants were asked to rank the importance of a number of business skills. The top five were:

So how does that affect you and your future? How high do you want to go?

Soft skills will be vital to the successful PA
“In addition to needing a wider range of business knowledge, secretaries are also having to expand and develop their softer skills,” Claire Howell explains. “The 2003 OfficeTeam Salary an Workplace Survey also demonstrated that secretaries are now reporting into many more people, as opposed to just one boss, which is ultimately having an impact on their organisational and time management skills.”

Karen Trevithick, a Recruitment Consultant with PA Search, agrees. “PAs need to be able to negotiate with a range of people from receptionists and caterers, to suppliers and the Chairman’s PA, so that you can persuade people to be flexible and meet your changing needs,” she says. The recent report produced by the Council for Administration bears this out. Both employees and employees agreed that while IT is the most needed skill for the future, employees will need increased skills in areas such as people management, office management and problem-solving.

“It’s crucial to be able to build relationships across the board – that’s the key to being a good PA,” Karen Trevithick continues. “PAs don’t necessarily have to do all the tasks you need to get done yourself, but you need to be able to ask people to do it for you and have the confidence that those tasks will get done.”

Being flexible will be key to a successful career

“Flexibility will be one of the key issues affecting PAs in the future as it is vital that they are willing to adapt their skills base to fit with changing business needs,” Claire Howell of Office Team says. “This doesn’t necessarily mean retraining, but it does mean having an open attitude to how your role will evolve.”

Alison Leach of Joslin Rowe agrees: “The traditional PA who doesn’t want to change will find it hard to progress, but the one who is prepared to be flexible will find it easier,” she notes. “The 1:1 role is becoming rarer, and bosses are relying on PAs to do more and more.” If you work for a team, or help out someone one day even though you don’t work for them, that can lead to future opportunities as people remember your team-playing spirit.”

A global approach and the ability to work across borders will play a key role, too. As PAs are lynchpins, holding people together, the personal touch and ability to communicate and relate to people all over the world will help boost your effectiveness in the office. Sensitivity to the cultures and behaviours of other cultures will help build relationships and stand you in good stead. And the ability to function effectively in different time zones and tongues, and to understand business cultures in other countries will enhance the relationships you and your boss build with clients and customers world-over.

Moving on up, moving on up
A great deal will depend on your own will and motivation to progress. This is true for many careers, but especially that of the PA, because the role is so much what you make of it. But exactly how far will you be able to go?

Claire Howell stresses: “There is every opportunity for a PA to progress up to management levels – but the emphasis is absolutely on the individual. They have to demonstrate the drive and determination to want to progress beyond their current role. The good news for the PA of today is that as technology evolves and their basic role changes, they are being given lots of opportunities to gain exposure to various business functions, from HR, to business planning, making it that much more viable to progress to management level and beyond.

The message is clear: the more you push back the boundaries and take responsibility for your own development, the more your career will progress.

“Some PAs today undertake high level tasks that are more akin to junior management, so in some cases it is preferable for a company to select a graduate for the role,” Paul Jacobs of Office Angels says. “It may well benefit a PA if they have a degree or higher education, especially if they are looking to work in a specific industry sector and have relevant qualifications in that field. Joining the company as a PA can be a very challenging and rewarding role and can often lead to opportunities of promotion if you want to climb the career ladder."

“There’s every opportunity for a PA to progress up to management level, but the emphasis is absolutely on the individual,” Claire Howell emphasises. “You have to demonstrate the drive and determination to want to progress beyond your current level. The PAs who engross themselves in business and embrace new challenges will find that they can reach management level. The rewards for demonstrating initiative and personal ambition will be great, and they will find that their role could lead anywhere.”

Commitment to a career as a PA will, like anything else, be evident through membership of professional bodies such as IQPS EUMA or AMSPAR for medical secretaries and ILS for legal secretaries (Click Here for Associations) and studying for qualifications such as the LCCI Executive Secretaries Diploma, or MOS. It shows that you’re serious about your career as a PA. But much also depends on demonstrating your ambition and a serious approach to your career when you’re at work.

“If you’re working in the right place at the right time and you show you’re willing to learn, there are opportunities to learn and take exams,” Alison Leach points out. “For example, in the legal field, PAs are becoming paralegals.”

Nor should you neglect your IT skills. “As a PA, you’ll need to keep up to date with the new technology and be familiar with it,” Karen Trevithick says, “because you need to know how the technology can make life easier for you, your boss or team.”

And what of shorthand? Alison Leach of Joslin Rowe comments that need for shorthand is reviving, especially in large corporates where the top bosses still like to dictate. It enables you to move at a faster rate, taking notes during telephone conversations and meetings.

Welcome Change:

• The world isn’t standing still, so why should your organisation, and why should you?

“As business continues to evolve through emerging technology and new management styles, the demands placed on office professionals will continue to change,” Claire Howell says. “The successful office professionals of today are those who recognise and accept that their basic role is changing, but the successful office professionals of the future will be those who are now taking up the challenge of becoming more versatile and learning new skills in order to provide vital support not only to their immediate bosses, but also to the company as a whole.”

Know what you want
If you’re about to go job hunting, remember to do your homework. “Look carefully at the companies you’re interested in, and research them thoroughly, so that you know about the environment and culture you would be working in,” advises Karen Trevithick. “It’s easy to find out on the Internet, but candidates don’t do enough research. If a recruitment consultant or employer asks you what sort of company you’d want to work for, you nee to be able to tell them, because the personal fit is very important.”

The good news is that a survey by the Council for Administration shows that administrative roles are increasing in number, and will probably number five million by 2009. This should give you greater choice in the range of positions available.

• It’s your future. How determined are you to drive it?

Ultimately, the clear message is that your future is down to you and your own efforts. PAs have proved their flexibility and ability to cope with change before, as new technology swept in and changed the lives and the opportunities before them. “Now has never been a better time for PAs to take the lead in their career,” Claire Howell of Office Team comments. “They have proved themselves to be indispensable to business during an economic downturn, using the opportunity to develop new skills, and as the market recovers, they can continue to demonstrate the value they can add to a number of business functions.”