In most organisations the administration/support team, although they can be acknowledged as being important to the business, they are treated as if they're not.
Day after day, week after week they are in the office, slogging away making sure the work gets done. Many of them are so conscientious they won't take time out and stay at their desks until the work is done. Not only are they integral to the running of any business, their income and the way they are treated may not always reflect the importance of their role.
Jenny's Story
Jenny has worked for her current employer, for the past three years and thoroughly enjoys her role as Personal Assistant to the General Manager. They have a great working relationship. Whenever she needs time off to attend her children's sports days and special events, it's never an issue. If she requires the occasional afternoon or morning off to deal with personal matters, all she has to do is ask. Because of this attitude with her employer, she does her utmost best in her work and never thinks twice about working overtime on the odd occasion. In fact she works twice as hard.
This is a totally different situation to Jenny's previous employer. Jenny had been working for another organisation where her boss was 'married to the job'. Although he had a wife and family, his behaviour didn't reflect this. He worked all hours of the day and night and couldn't understand why everyone else went home at 5.00 p.m. Although she did her utmost best to organise him and get the work done on time, he would always ask for tasks to be done just when she was getting ready to leave for the day.
On the many occasions when she worked back or took work home so that her boss would have what he wanted for the next morning,he never thanked her. He just assumed that's what she should do. He never considered her needs. She was a single parent and therefore had major responsibilities. She had a life too. Her boss on the other hand was fortunate to have a a wife who didn't work and took care of their personal life.
Prior to Jenny being in this role, there had been three other people who had worked in her position, and all three had lasted less than three months.
Jenny had enough, she left after 6 months and found her current position. It wasn't the money that was her main issue. It was the flexibility and appreciation. Although her boss was pleasant enough, he just didn't understand that there is more to working with someone than just paying their wages.
The Final Word
When employing staff make sure they are the right fit. If you're looking for someone who can be extremely flexible in their hours and can come in early and stay late, then make sure that person is in the right personal situation to do that.
Employing people is a skill in itself. Keeping them happy so that they will be an important part of your business is another story. As mentioned in prior newsletters, when you look after your people, they will look after you and your business.
About The Author
Lorraine specialises in working with businesspeople showing them how to dramatically boost their productivity, reduce the stress and the mess in their lives and have more time for enjoying their life. www.office-organiser.com.au, www.office-organiser.com.au
apartment cleaning near Highland Park ..There is a WHOLE lot of talk these days about... Read More
Eight Principles for Purposeful AlignmentEffective teamwork requires individual members of... Read More
The Sales Director had organised a great conference; the venue... Read More
Ever lost for ideas while working in a group? One... Read More
Team Building Question:I'm a manager of a team of 20... Read More
Turbulent TwistersYou've read about it in the headlines and experienced... Read More
Let's look at the detail of giving feedback. Whether you... Read More
12 Tips and Reminders for Team Members To Enjoy Their... Read More
"Conflict becomes politics, commitment becomes 'Only if it's in my... Read More
Teams run most businesses and teams work best if each... Read More
You are new to Internet Marketing, you join one Affiliate... Read More
The grand purpose of coaching is to help your managers,... Read More
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common... Read More
A college football team has it. A corporation has it.... Read More
More and more I hear people misunderstanding what someone else... Read More
7 Key Dimensions of High Performance Teams We can always... Read More
When leaders, consultants and managers require ideas, they automatically tend... Read More
The very effective tool of keeping a journal can be... Read More
"Asking questions can be a means of establishing authority, fulfilling... Read More
Feedback is such an important communication tool. Openness, honesty, candor,... Read More
For companies to be competitive, decisions have to be made... Read More
"Tak kenak! Tak kenak!" "Adak Orang sanak!????"The quiet jungle has... Read More
The world of work has changed. It used to be... Read More
Do you remember how you felt after your last interaction... Read More
A tight knit team is a group of competent individuals... Read More
cleaning lady near Arlington Heights ..Introduction:Working with teams, whether as leader of a single team... Read More
Remember playing in your childhood sandbox? If you enjoyed being... Read More
The key to life is to be around the people... Read More
Let's look at the detail of giving feedback. Whether you... Read More
"Tak kenak! Tak kenak!" "Adak Orang sanak!????"The quiet jungle has... Read More
From the moment he putted with Bob Hope on the... Read More
The second in a series of 2 articles giving a... Read More
Any x by y matrix plan has one big risk...... Read More
Reed Employment made a survey of their clients and compiled... Read More
Winning teams aren't created by accident. Rather, the team or... Read More
Effective and sustainable teambuilding is necessary in today's marketplace where... Read More
7 Key Dimensions of High Performance Teams We can always... Read More
A college football team has it. A corporation has it.... Read More
"Asking questions can be a means of establishing authority, fulfilling... Read More
Once you've set a goal for yourself as a leader... Read More
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Current English, to speak... Read More
It's the summer of 1973, and a young film director... Read More
Franchisors should also be heavy on the award side of... Read More
As the world of manufacturing has become increasingly competitive, managers... Read More
A Successful Team is built around mateship, around respect for... Read More
CREATE A MOTIVATIONAL CLIMATE: Create a climate where others find... Read More
Perhaps you're a small business owner wondering how you and... Read More
I declared a Communications Major two years into school, after... Read More
Over the years there has been much ado about team... Read More
Turbulent TwistersYou've read about it in the headlines and experienced... Read More
Team Building |