Happy Administrative Professional’s Day

4.27.22   

By Jennifer Jacobus, PHRca, SDEA Director of HR Services

While yesterday, April 27, was officially Administrative Professional’s Day, it has been considered a week-long event for years; so if you haven’t recognized your hard-working administrative professionals yet, you still have time.

You don’t need me to tell you this, but we are in different times (e.g. remote work, hybrid work, the “great resignation”, and continued problems filling vacant positions).  It is more important than ever to show appreciation to all your employees and to engage them. 

This may look like increased communication with staff; reaching out to employees for their feedback (making employees feel that their opinion matters can go a long way); Employee of the Month; or monthly staff meetings giving kudos to employees who have gone above and beyond.

If you are looking for something a little more tangible, flowers are always an option (although not very creative). There are many box services now, and even a simple search of “administrative professional day” on Amazon will provide results of customized water bottles, candles, funny t-shirts and mugs.  And there is always the fail-safe go-to, my personal favorite, a bottle of your employee’s favorite wine.

Outside of this specific week or day, whether you have a remote workforce, hybrid workforce, or a workforce where everyone is back in the office, you can engage your employees with office lunches, potlucks, bulletin boards that showcase employee’s pets or vacations, a virtual happy hour or virtual lunch, virtual books clubs, or scavenger hunts—be creative. 

Another great way to show appreciation is to invest in your employees.  Send them to training; train them internally to do a different job in the company; set up tuition reimbursement. This is investing in your employee’s future as well as the future of the organization.

Remember that not all employees want recognition in the same way.  We are in a unique situation where we have baby-boomers working alongside Gen Z and their attitudes around work and what is perceived as appreciation are not the same.  Boomers may stay in a job where they are not recognized because they see the retirement light at the end of the tunnel. In contrast,  it was reported that almost half of Gen Z and millennials would rather be unemployed than unhappy in a job! It is important to be thoughtful in your approach and for the recognition to be authentic.

Have questions?  Give us a call.  858-505-0024.

 

Contact us: 858.505.0024