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Executive Summary
Performance Standards for Office Professionals
The history of the project, the research process, and a list of abbreviated results are contained in this executive summary. To request a hardcopy version of this summary, please contact Barbara Lea
Defining the Administrative Assistant Position
 Need for the Study
According to the United States Department of Labor, office professionals held about 10 million jobs in 1998, ranking them among the largest occupations in the US Economy 1. Economists in the Labor Bureau’s Office of Employment Projections predict that 1-2 million new positions will need to be filled between 1998-2008. There is a serious shortage of qualified workers to fill these positions. Industry’s performance and career management practices for administrative professionals are outdated or, in many cases, do not exist.
Education and industry must collaborate more effectively to develop and implement innovative processes to successfully train, hire, and retain qualified staff for these new positions. This collaboration will result in performance standards and measures that accurately align details of administrative professional occupations, jobs, and workers— including abilities, interests, experience, training, education, and equitable compensation formulas.
At present, there seems to be little consensus about what these standards should be, and there exists a real need to begin such collaboration.
1 US Department of Labor Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2000-2001 Edition
- 3.2 million administrative assistants/secretaries
- 3.0 million office clerks
- 1.6 million office and administrative support manager
- 1.3 million receptionists
- 894,000 word processors, typists, data entry clerks
- 364,000 administrative services managers
Audience
Background
Because community college career programs need guidance from professionals in the field, the West Valley College Office Administration Advisory Board was founded in the spring of 1993. At one of the first meetings, The Changing Role of the Secretary was discussed. This report noted that "business no longer needs people who just sit at their typewriters waiting for an assignment. Instead, they need people who are facilitators, can help make decisions, and do whatever is necessary to make the office function smoothly." Acting on that premise, the Advisory Board has been very instrumental in advising on curriculum and serving as mentors for students by being guest speakers and providing the opportunities for shadow visits and internships.
The College offers a one-semester Professional Office Skills Training Certificate and a two-semester Administrative Careers Certificate, both of which are popular with older re-entry students. Those who also complete general education requirements are eligible for an Associate of Science Degree in Business Administration. In addition, Career Enhancement Skills Seminars have been provided for administrative assistants already in the workforce, and the College grants 24 units of credit for those holding the Certified Professional Secretary rating granted by the International Association of Administrative Professionals.
Recently, the Board left its traditional role as a resource and became proactive when it decided there was a strong need to benchmark non-exempt jobs. With company downsizing and the loss of many mid-management positions, the responsibilities of administrative assistants had expanded tremendously without any additional pay or recognition. In an effort to evaluate and improve the situation, the Board applied for and received a VTEA Research Grant to be used for the study of office professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Melanie Gadener, a performance improvement consultant, and Barbara Lea, an instructor at West Valley College, were selected by the Board to manage the project. Melanie has been developing and implementing performance improvement processes for office professionals since 1980, and Barbara has been teaching business and computer application courses at West Valley College since 1964.
Focus on the Administrative Assistant
The office professional field has come to represent a wide area of occupations:
General Office Jobs: Data Entry Operator, Word Processor, Office Assistant, Receptionist, and Secretary
Specialized Office Jobs: Accounting Assistant, Customer Service Representative, Desktop Publisher, Human Resources Specialist, Marketing Assistant, and Meetings and Event Planner
Administrative Management Jobs: Administrative Assistant, Executive Assistant, Office Manager, and Administrative Services
It was decided to focus on only one of these many jobs— the administrative assistant. Then the question became "What is an administrative assistant?" This title obviously has different meanings in different companies. Ultimately, it was decided to use the following job description for administrative assistant developed in the 1999 North Valley Job Training Consortium www.novapic.org Labor Market Information Study:
Administrative Assistants aid executives by coordinating, analyzing, and improving office services, such as personnel, budget, and operative practices. They analyze personnel requirements, study methods of improving performance standards, and analyze jobs for wage-and-salary adjustments and promotions. They analyze budgetary requirements and expenditures and study methods to implement cost reduction. They analyze operating practices and create new systems or revise established procedures to simplify and improve reporting procedures, workflow, record keeping systems, forms control, office layout, or suggestion systems. They interpret operating policies, prepare reports with recommendations for solutions of administrative problems, and answer correspondence. They may direct services, such as maintenance, repair, supplies, and mail.
At last, a job description that actually described what many higher-level office professionals do on their jobs had been discovered.
Objectives
The intent of the project was to create a blueprint that could be used by the schools in curriculum development and student counseling as well as studied and customized by administrative assistants to analyze their own jobs. The blueprint would include ways to begin:
- Changing how administrative assistants are perceived
- Defining how administrative assistants contribute toward organizational objectives
- Redefining skill requirements for administrative assistants
- Developing performance management practices and strategies for administrative assistants
- Creating guidelines for how administrative assistants can be rewarded, recognized, and compensated
- Developing career paths and continuing education requirements that will facilitate personal and professional growth for administrative assistants
- Providing new direction for hiring managers, labor, government, the community, and special populations
To define the Administrative Assistant role, the focus was on an analysis of the following areas:
- Work activities
- Skill requirements
- General knowledge and experience requirements
- Personal interests and work styles
- Education and training
- Labor market information
Questions
Samples
As a pilot study, three executive-level office professionals and their managers were chosen as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). The office professionals
- Held titles of Executive Assistant, Office Manager, and Administrative Support Assistant (Two had also earned the CPS title.)
- Had similar levels of expertise
- Made comparable organizational contributions
- Supervised their own support staff
- Were employed by a Fortune 50 computing and imaging company, NASA’s Center of Excellence for Information Technology, and a start-up company of systems integrators that architects and implements CRM solutions
- Reported to managers with titles ranging from CEO, Vice-President, Controller, Division Chief, and Assistant Division Chief
- Had a range of 10-28 years experience
- Held jobs that frequently changed structure throughout the course of the nine-month study (Two were promoted during the study, and one left her position to expand her own business.)
- Had compensation packages that included one or all of the following: stock options, spot bonuses, annual bonuses, and/or supplemental vacation days.
Limitations
The reader is urged to interpret the results of this project with discretion. Every attempt has been made to provide accurate and valid data; however, Phase I was small in scope since only three SMEs were used. When additional funding is obtained, the study will be expanded. Any questions regarding data interpretation should be directed to Melanie Gadener, melanie@prodplus.com
Tools & Processes
It was agreed that there were no occupational titles accurately describing the occupation of the SMEs. In the study 129 Occupation Titles taken from eight occupational classification guides (O*NET, DOT, CEN, CIP, GOE, MOC, OPM, and SOC) were examined.
To study this occupation, two independent analyses were administered. The Workplace Learning Resource Center of Mission College in Santa Clara, California, conducted a Work Keys™ occupational profile; and Productivity Plus Processes™ of Fremont, California, conducted one occupational and three job profiles. In addition, a Federal Department of Labor database, O*NET, was used. Detailed results of these analyses can be accessed through the project web site at: www.officeprofessionals.org
The tools and processes used to complete the study were:
In collecting data a variety of techniques were used, including questionnaires, one-on-one and group interviews, skill assessments and focus group meetings with the Office Administration Advisory Board.
One of the tools found to be very useful in helping achieve the desired results was O*NET, the Occupational Information Network. O*NET is a comprehensive database system that offers a dynamic framework for exploring the world of work. It uses advanced technology to define the key elements of an occupation: descriptions of the worker and the requirements of the work.
Developed and tested by scientific experts, under the leadership of the US Department of Labor, O*NET is a collaborative effort to move beyond the 60-year-old structure of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). As the nation’s new primary source of occupational information, O*NET supplies the up-dated information critical to the effective training, education, counseling, and employment of workers.
Results
As mentioned earlier, it was decided to use the title of "Administrative Assistant" to describe the composite role of these top-level office professionals since there were no occupational titles that accurately described the occupation of the SMEs.
In the final analysis, 10 Occupational Titles were used. These titles included Administrative Services Managers, Budget Analysts, Customer Service Managers, Employee Relations Specialists, Employee Training Specialists, Executive Secretaries, and Purchasing Agents and Contract Specialists. Each of these different job descriptions contained functions performed by the SME’s.
Answers To Key Questions
Complete information on the standards developed for services, tasks, and skills can be seen on the project web site at www.officeprofessionals.org.
Q – What primary services did the SMEs provide to their employers?
A – The SMEs provided 10 primary services with 30 inter-related activities including customer service, administrative management, human resources, and executive support.
Q – What were the major tasks performed when providing these services?
A – There were 35 corresponding tasks or individual actions performed on a regular basis including analyzing price proposals, conducting classes, consulting with customers, monitoring contract performance, formulating budgetary reports, interpreting policies, and recruiting and coaching employees.
Q – What customers were benefiting from these services?
A – In each organization, the SMEs and their managers quickly identified important groups of internal and external customers, partners and suppliers affected by the work the SMEs were doing.
Q – How did these services contribute toward department or company goals?
A – The SMEs and their manages easily established how each SME’s work influenced organizational goals such as customer satisfaction, learning and growth, process improvement, and financial results.
Q – What skills were necessary to perform these tasks successfully?
A – There were 23 cross-functional skills that combined learning processes, social interactions, complex problem solving, technology, and resource management— all of which were used regularly. A high level of proficiency was required in many areas, particularly social interactions and technology.
Q – How did all these elements tie into annual performance development plans, including continuing education requirements and compensation?
A – The SMEs or their managers had never defined most of these elements. In fact, detailed performance development plans did not exist. The SMEs had annual performance reviews that included standard company ratings in relation to compensation plans. They did not have comprehensive, measurable development plans attached to specific areas of their jobs showing new objectives and how they link to customers, supplementary recognition, skill development, and necessary resources. As part of the study, new performance management plans were implemented. The managers were very supportive and readily committed to added compensation for achieving objectives on the new plan.
Conclusions & Recommendations
Although the subject matter experts studied were senior-level professionals, highly experienced, and self-assured, they had difficulty articulating their job activities, levels of expertise and the specific benefits of their individual contributions. This situation resulted because over the past 15 years they had quietly assumed the roles of middle managers, without recognition, formal training, adequate compensation, or a clear understanding of the unique nature of their jobs.
The managers were not aware of the extent of some of the work being done by the Subject Matter Experts they supervised, but were quick to give the SMEs credit for work in several areas the SMEs had not identified on their own. In fact, the managers concluded that the SMEs only spent between 5-20 percent of their time doing Executive Secretary/Administrative Assistant tasks. The balance of their time was spent doing middle management activities or working as individual contributors.
Both the managers and SMEs identified several instructional programs from the Continuing Education Chart in the project web site that would help the SMEs attain stronger management skills and expand their knowledge base. These instructional programs became part of their Performance Development Plans.
Without awareness and understanding on both sides, there can be no recognition and appreciation. And without recognition of value, there can be no adequate compensation for the work performed. Although the research sample was small, there is much anecdotal evidence supporting the conclusions of the study.
It is therefore recommended that— regardless of job title— those performing administrative management functions evaluate their own positions using the Performance Analysis Workbook developed during this research project. The concrete evidence gathered could be used to discuss the situation with managers and human resource professionals, which should result in increased recognition and compensation in the current position or perhaps in a new situation in a different company.
It is imperative that those in administrative positions learn to value and express their own achievements so that others can also begin to understand what they are doing. In turn, it is imperative that managers and human resource professionals make it a priority to redefine these positions and reward and recognize these employees for their contributions to the organization.
Further Information
For further information contained in the complete study including the Performance Analysis Workbook, please refer to the project web site at www.officeprofessionals.org.
The authors may be contacted at the following addresses:
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