The Secret Weapon Within: Major Benchmarking Study Suggests Administrative Professionals Hold The Key to Businesses’ Post-Pandemic Recovery

Press release content from Accesswire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.

https://apnews.com/press-release/accesswire/health-coronavirus-business-d3f0fcc1f05dd0556105b6ed513cabf0

Click to copy

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 28, 2021 / Most report directly to senior leadership. Two out of three have post-secondary degrees. They are career-focused, handle a wide range of responsibilities, and are eager to upskill. And smart companies …

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 28, 2021 / Most report directly to senior leadership. Two out of three have post-secondary degrees. They are career-focused, handle a wide range of responsibilities, and are eager to upskill. And smart companies …

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 28, 2021 / Most report directly to senior leadership. Two out of three have post-secondary degrees. They are career-focused, handle a wide range of responsibilities, and are eager to upskill. And smart companies will activate the potential of this key talent pool as they chart their COVID-19 recovery strategy. These are among the insights in the largest-ever benchmarking survey of administrative professionals and executive assistants in North America. Conducted by the American Society of Administrative Professionals (ASAP) in April 2020, the inaugural annual study drew 6,050 participants.

“Leaders and companies who want to stay invested in their workforce should pay close attention to their administrative and executive support talent,” said ASAP’s executive director, Heidi Souerwine. “Strategic thinking, project management and follow-through are among the strong points of good administrative support. They help the executives who rely on them succeed, and the breadth of knowledge they have from working closely with management and leadership is incredibly valuable.”

Adapting to business transformed by COVID-19.

When the ASAP study was conducted, three out of four respondents were already working from home due to COVID-19 restrictions. Tellingly, the top new skills they reported a need for in the 30 days preceding the survey were videoconferencing and remote meeting tools and collaboration tools. These skills have proved critical in a year that has seen remote work become the norm-a prime example of how administrative professionals are called to quickly adapt as business needs change.

An experienced, ambitious talent pool with untapped potential.

Close to half of respondents are career administrative professionals with 20 or more years of experience. Their length of tenure in an organization-typically longer than other employees-makes them a smart investment for training and development.

Administrative professionals’ responsibilities are broad and vary widely from company to company. They routinely handle everything from organizational communications and management support to, increasingly, meeting planning and other project management tasks. And, they are upskilling to better serve their organizations in those roles. Leaders should look at how other businesses are utilizing their administrative talent to determine if there is untapped potential in their own organization.

More insights from the study reveal a profession that, while not without its challenges, can offer significant rewards for those who pursue a career in its ranks.

Key opportunities:

Key challenges:

Conducted between April 24 and May 14, 2020, ASAP’s study generated a 6% return response rate. The margin of error is +/- 1.2% for a confidence level of 95%. Access the full report here.

About ASAP

At 75,000+ members and growing, American Society of Administrative Professionals (ASAP) is the largest international association for executive assistants and administrative professionals. The Portland, Maine-based organization was founded in 2005 as a resource and community for members seeking to navigate the ever-evolving business climate and develop the skills they need to advance their careers. ASAP provides the latest role-specific training and its own online certification program, Professional Administrative Certification of Excellence (PACE). It produces three annual events: the industry-leading Administrative Professionals Conference (APC), Executive Assistants’ Summit and EA Ignite. For more information, visit www.asaporg.com.

Media Contacts:

Jamie Scalici / Patricia Nugent

Mower

212-980-9194 / 212-284-9935

jscalici@mower.com / pnugent@mower.com

SOURCE: American Society of Administrative Professionals

View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/642767/The-Secret-Weapon-Within-Major-Benchmarking-Study-Suggests-Administrative-Professionals-Hold-The-Key-to-Businesses-Post-Pandemic-Recovery