‘Personal Assistants are increasingly well respected in the workplace’, or so says a new survey produced by OfficeTeam part of international recruitment firm Robert Half and is hailed as an important opinion piece in the advancement of the professional status of PAs in Europe by the Association of Personal Assistants (APA) (www.paprofessional.com).

The OfficeTeam survey also provides some useful insights into the ever changing role of personal assistants. Encouragingly, the majority (80 percent) of respondents acknowledge that their boss shows them respect and appreciation for the job they do and according to the survey, the best ways for a boss to show respect is through demonstrating trust (66 percent), saying thank you (58 percent) and asking for an opinion (33 percent).

Around 50% of PAs say they are seen as being valuable employees within their organisation. This statistic reinforces recent APA findings which show that the role of the PA is still misunderstood by many and seen as ‘something secretarial’ whereas directors and senior managers recognised the invaluable support their PAs provide and the strategically important nature of their work.

Victoria Sprott, UK Regional Director for OfficeTeam, comments: “The role of the personal assistant is changing; PAs are far more valued and respected than they were ten years ago and it is important that managers respect the relationships they share with their employees. Gareth Osborne, the Director General of APA welcomed the report and said, “OfficeTeam have highlighted many issues affecting PAs today. The role is changing and it is now far more to do with planning, scheduling and management effectiveness than typing, filing and making coffee. The modern PA provides essential support to a busy executive and is there to catch the ball in a crisis.”

According to the survey, the traditional roles and responsibilities are changing. When asked about the aspects of their job that will become more important in the future the most popular answer was project management, as nominated by 43% of respondents. Other popular choices included facilities management (34 percent) and event planning (29 percent).

The report surveyed PAs across Europe and observes that with the widening role comes added responsibility and pressure. It suggests that In general 79 per cent of European personal assistants say they encounter stress in their job. In a recent APA report PAs reported their bosses working longer and longer hours and felt some compulsion to be their when needed; increasing the stress they felt and adding to a deteriorating work/life balance. Differences within Europe are quite large with twice as many personal assistants in the UK encountering no stress in comparison with those in Germany. The main reasons cited for stress are mostly time-related, such as getting short notice on jobs (20 percent) and expected availability (19 percent). Similarly, one third (33 percent) say they feel guilty if they leave work on time and don’t work long hours.

The Association of Personal Assistants (APA) (www.paprofessional.com) is the first UK-wide organisation to represent the needs of all grades and levels of employees engaged as PAs in support of bosses in all sectors within the economy; in business as well as the public, voluntary and academic sectors. The organisation has been formed under the guidance of a group of founding PAs and they, with Gareth, are keen to place APA at the vanguard of professional bodies. Gareth concluded, “APA is a resource designed to provide essential information to PAs in their daily work. The Robert Half report validates our knowledge base and helps us provide tailored and focused support.”

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