Administrative Professionals Week

Since 1952, the last full week of April has been designated Administrative Professionals Week (formerly called Secretaries Week) by the International Association of Administrative Professionals, with the 25th being the official Administrative Professionals Day.

Traditionally, bosses use this time to show their appreciation to their assistants for all of their hard work throughout the year. To help bosses along (apart from giving the usual flowers and candy) we contacted several administrative assistants who were more than willing to give us some suggestion for bosses to show their appreciation during Administrative Professionals Week. Each business relationship is different so you may want to talk to your assistant first, but here are some of the ideas that these administrative professionals came up with:

•  Take her/him out for a nice, long lunch at a local fine restaurant;

•  Provide a morning at a local spa;

•  Give a gift certificate for a dinner for two or an evening at a hotel or resort

•  Arrange for a housekeeper for the day;

•  Present a plaque for her/his years of valued work;

•  Provide a family pass to the movies and plenty of popcorn money;

•  Arrange for groceries to be paid for and delivered;

•  Find out who is her/his favorite author and buy their latest book;

Don’t forget that Administrative Professionals Day or Week isn’t the only time of year you should show your appreciation to the administrative professionals in your life. Ensure that you make them feel valued throughout the year. You'd be amazed at how far a "thank you" or kind word can go.

Now, if you are a Physician without an assistant, don't let this day go by without patting yourself on the back for handling all of the administrative tasks.