The Untapped Potential of Administrative Professionals

Administrative professionals are often a manager’s right hand, and new research shows these office superstars would love to help even more at work.
Half (50%) of support staff surveyed said they have skills that are not being tapped.
The findings are part of Office of the Future, a research project from staffing firm OfficeTeam and the International Association of Administrative Professionals.
Administrative professionals were asked, “To what extent does your current manager utilize your full abilities?”
Their responses:

• To a great extent; I use my full range of skills—43%
• To some extent, but I have some skills that are not being tapped—50%
• Not at all; I am completely underutilized—7%

Administrative professionals often have skills that make them well-suited to help with tasks outside of their conventional roles,” said Robert Hosking, executive director of OfficeTeam.
“When support staff take on new projects, companies gain a valuable resource, and workers receive the opportunity to boost their talents and try their hand at new things.”
Four other key findings from the research:

1. Support staff are organizing soirees and spreadsheets.

• Administrative workers identified event planning (78%) and controlling costs (66%) as the top areas they’ve been asked to help with.

2. Many are “getting social.”

• About three in five (58%) senior managers interviewed said administrative staff have assisted in updating company profile information or images on social media.
• Forty-five percent noted that support personnel have monitored user comments or feedback on these sites.
• More than half (54%) of executives said administrative professionals have helped manage or support the company’s LinkedIn account. Forty-nine percent have received their assistance with Facebook.

3. They have connections in all the right places.

• When asked which departments they collaborate with at least once a week, most administrative workers said information technology (79%).
• Many also interact with colleagues in finance and accounting (76%) and human resources (66%).

4. Administrative professionals have more influence than you might think.  

• Most managers (88%) stated they value their assistant’s opinion about the job candidates they interview.
• Nearly half (49%) of administrative professionals said they’ve been asked to provide feedback on job applicants based on their interactions in the lobby or on the phone.

Forty-four percent have interviewed candidates themselves.