There was a very good article about PAs in the press this week with some interesting findings about how the role has evolved over the years. According to a poll conducted by Poolia Recruitment, 67% of PA roles include HR, over 90% include office management, 83% include events management, 73% require finance and accounting knowledge. Which blows the idea that personal assistants are little more than glorified secretaries out of the water!
Many PAs and EAs have seen their responsibilities and influence in the business increase dramatically during the past recession. Many PAs say they’re now working longer hours, or have faced a dramatic increase in workload plus being tied to their BlackBerries and answering business queries outside of office hours. However, they say that their pay and benefits are still down.
PAs are now centre stage in the business and in the lives of the person they assist, even if the rest of the company doesn't see it and tends to undervalue them. The role has changed over the years and there is less need for the more traditional skills such as audio and shorthand typing. Today, PAs are much more like office managers and have a great deal more responsibility. They also tend to work for more than one person and so they're under a lot of pressure.
The PA’s role is more about partnering than supporting, as well as helping the boss to reach his/her targets. As a result, the best PAs need business acumen, an understanding of the business goals and the ability and confidence to deputise in the absence of a manager. Traditional secretarial skills are not enough to compete with other, more business-experienced PAs. So, my advice is to get trained, get interested and get involved in business to increase your visibility. Hopefully a change will come soon, and in the future PAs will be paid what they're actually worth.