Hold on tight to your administration porfessionals!
- 29/11/2005
So you’re dreaming of effortless succession planning, and employee retention?
It’s really quite simple to achieve, says professional development consultant Eth Lloyd.
“If you invest in your administrative professionals and give them the opportunities to grow you will have staff who become ‘part of’ your company rather than ‘working for’ your company.”
And the benefits will be delivered through loyalty and retention of the employees that many employers dread even taking a lunch break. You know, the employees who keep up with technology, put their best foot forward for the company, make you look good.
“It seems so obvious. Yet, while there are many companies who say that their support staff is vital, ‘we couldn’t function without you,’ that is almost like lip service.
“Often those staff members are not well paid, they are not included in celebrations – because someone has to look after the office – and they are not included in strategic planning.
“Receptionists are very seldom asked to attend planning meetings, yet they’re considered the face of the company.”
There’s a societal perception, Lloyd finds, that staff in these roles have less value than the so-called revenue earners. But who else is capable of holding the fort when everyone else is at the company’s annual retreat?
Lloyd, a driving force behind the Association of Administrative Professionals New Zealand Certification, maintains that when an employee is shown that they are valued, they take ownership of their role and give as much as they are capable of.
She agrees that valuing isn’t just about pay levels. Almost all surveys show that being valued – through professional development and support - is the biggest motivator when it comes to seeking employment.
So it follows that staff whose ongoing training and education is backed – or even initiated – by their employer, will be unlikely to look elsewhere.
“The result from that kind of valuing is loyalty, commitment, knowledge that you have helped a person to do a better job – part of the greater good – with the retention factor the strongest benefit.
But how to get this fairly simple message through?
“It’s a multi-pronged attack, because the message has to go not only to the employer and the HR and the recruitment agencies, but to the administrative professional – because they need to be more believing in their own contribution.”
Development of self to improve performance and planning for the next stage of a career are vital to a healthy administrative professional, and to the company they work for.
Training for staff in the level below management will not only boost retention, but is an important tool in good succession planning, says Lloyd.
