A Day in the Life of.... Barbara Baker

Barbara Baker - PA to the Managing Director of Filofax U.K

As a most senior P.A. working for the icon brand 'Filofax', Barbara Baker has climbed to the top of her profession. She says "despite a technological revolution, the paperless office will never exist - you can't beat a pad and pencil, or for that matter?..a Filofax!"

Barbara Baker, P.A to Ron Laing, the MD of Filofax UK, is the epitome of everything a senior P.A. should be - calm, collected, confident, professional and quite charming. "I knew from very early on that I wanted to pursue a career in commerce and had the foresight to see that a secretarial training would open the door to pretty much any industry that took my fancy". As an extra string to her bow to broaden her horizons, she studied commercial French and sure enough, that brought about the opportunity at a young age, to travel in a previous position. Barbara joined Filofax in 1995 when they acquired the company where both she and Mr. Laing worked and became his PA in 1997 when he was appointed Managing Director.

Barbara explained that an awful lot more than most appreciate, goes into the compilation of a diary - it is an abundant source of global information that has to be accurate (like public holidays for instance) and this has to be translated into every conceivable language.

Amongst duties usually associated with a P.A., Barbara uses Power Point for her presentational assignments, which is an important part of her work. Being involved in the setting up and moving to new offices, Barbara has learned a great deal about facility management (anyone who has done that job will appreciate just what a mammoth task it is!) and still finds shorthand useful for jotting down a speedy note.

When asked what she found her most useful skill she said "being an extremely fast and accurate typist - this has to be an enormous advantage to any secretary". She is affectionately nicknamed 'Miss Moneypenny' by her colleagues.

Working for Filofax carries a lot of prestige - after all it is not just a functional tool but also one of the top fashion accessories, as such, they closely follow fashion trends within the leather industry so that new ranges compliment luggage, shoes, handbags etc. New styles and samples are often passed around the office for comment.

"An enormous number of celebrities wouldn't be without their Filofax"- of course, as tact and diplomacy are a 'must' for any P.A., Barbara wasn't tempted to name-drop!

"What about Filofax as an employer and your boss Ron Laing - how do you find them to work for and what do you enjoy most about your job?", I asked.

"As I spend two-thirds of my life in the office, I wouldn't entertain working for a company or someone I wasn't entirely happy with. Filofax are excellent employers. I have the highest regard for Ron who is approachable, fair and reasonable. His open door policy means we all feel free to speak to him about most anything. I have to confess, it took me a while to get used to his Dundee accent and when I first started I definitely dropped a few clangors through simple misunderstanding! It is true to say we all enjoy coming to work here and we are a slick, close-knit team, one happy family - this is reflected in the negligible turnover in staff, the fantastic team spirit is probably what I like best about the job".

On a personal note, Barbara is a keen gardener and enjoys cooking. As office work goes hand in hand with a sedentary lifestyle, she keeps her health and diet in check by taking regular visits to the gym and eating mainly organic produce. Apart from giving her the 'feel good factor', she knows that having a balanced diet and taking regular exercise keeps her energy levels high, which in turn enables her to give her best performance at work.

When asked to give a tip to someone starting out in the secretarial world Barbara offered this sound advice; "If you study an additional subject as I did by learning commercial French, this could open more doors for you or at least give you a better chance of getting through the paper-sift when applying for jobs".

Claire Portman has a background in direct sales, marketing and senior account management, she is also a working Mum! She joined the DeskDemon team earlier this year as the Sales & Marketing Manager.