Gone are the days when Secretaries were hired to answer phones, greet clients, type, take shorthand and run errands.

It seems Secretaries are now a thing of the past; they have been superseded by Administrative Professionals!  They are, for the most part, well-oiled efficient machines, capable of bearing the brunt of a very heavy load.

In today's world an Admin Professional needs to be business savvy in many areas, including being computer literate (and then some); their communication and interpersonal skills need to be of a high standard, excellent time management is required, they need to be assertive, show initiative, have the ability to take on and manage projects, to attend meetings, make decisions, problem solve and deal with conflict.  They are also taking on more and more managerial skills, such as interviewing, hiring and training and I'm sure this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface.

How then should an Admin Professional be rewarded/acknowledged on their 'once a year day'?  The politically correct answer seems to be 'give them more work to do', in the way of further education!  Call me a cynic but I find it hard to believe that these modern day 'office super heroes' actually want more training to undertake as a show of appreciation for all their hard work during the past year.

Can it really hurt to show thanks in a more personal way to the very people we spend day in and day out with ?  Can it be done?  Though perhaps not an easy feat in this politically correct obsessed world we live in , I feel confident that we can succeed in doing so with a degree of professionalism, so as not to offend anyone's sense of right and wrong.

These days the internet is a blessing; pop 'Administrative Professional's Day Gifts' in the search engine and you'll find a wide range of corporate style gift ideas perfect for saying 'thank you', or better still, why not give us a call?  Oh, by the way, as far as I'm concerned, receiving a beautiful bunch of flowers always manages to delight and brighten my day, how about you?

 Angie Holland - Beautiful Baskets