New heights for admin assistant role makes recruitment harder, says Manpower
22 April 2014
The traditionally lowly job of administrative assistant has evolved into a complex and important role making a good administrative assistant hard to replace, according to international staffing company Manpower.
Tue, 22 Apr 2014The traditionally lowly job of administrative assistant has evolved into a complex and important role making a good administrative assistant hard to replace, according to international staffing company Manpower.
A survey of 500 employers found that the role has evolved significantly in the last 10 years, with 63% saying the contemporary administrative assistant’s duties now includes presentation skills, vendor management (49%), metrics reporting (40%) and client communication (59%).
As a result of the higher skill requirements, which include tech-saviness and even strategic thinking, 85% of employers said it would not be easy to find a good administrative assistant, Manpower found.
“Our clients are running their businesses with leaner teams, and they are asking more from their administrative talent," said Jorge Perez, Manpower senior vice president, North America.
"The evolution of the role is positive and an opportunity for people to grow in their careers, but many employers neglect to evolve their talent strategies along with the job descriptions. Employers need to be more focused than ever on talent strategy because administrative assistants with higher-level skills are more difficult to attract and retain."
A survey of 500 employers found that the role has evolved significantly in the last 10 years, with 63% saying the contemporary administrative assistant’s duties now includes presentation skills, vendor management (49%), metrics reporting (40%) and client communication (59%).
As a result of the higher skill requirements, which include tech-saviness and even strategic thinking, 85% of employers said it would not be easy to find a good administrative assistant, Manpower found.
“Our clients are running their businesses with leaner teams, and they are asking more from their administrative talent," said Jorge Perez, Manpower senior vice president, North America.
"The evolution of the role is positive and an opportunity for people to grow in their careers, but many employers neglect to evolve their talent strategies along with the job descriptions. Employers need to be more focused than ever on talent strategy because administrative assistants with higher-level skills are more difficult to attract and retain."
