1. 2013 Janine Violini Administrative Consultant Trainer Speaker THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CRISIS The devastating effects of undervaluing administrative support roles and the subsequent negative impact on business.

2. January 1, 2013 THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CRISIS Table of Contents Executive Summary __________________________________________________________ 1 What Crisis? _________________________________________________________________ 2 A Brief Look Back ____________________________________________________________ 2 What Changed? ______________________________________________________________ 2 Current Problems ____________________________________________________________ 3 Supply Versus Demand ___________________________________________________________ 3 Varying Qualifications ____________________________________________________________ 4 Qualified ________________________________________________________________________ 4 Underqualified ____________________________________________________________________ 5 Overqualified _____________________________________________________________________ 5 Elimination of Positions __________________________________________________________ 6 What Needs to Change _______________________________________________________ 8 Why Change is Necessary _____________________________________________________ 9 Short-term Solutions _________________________________________________________ 9 Long-term Solution __________________________________________________________ 10 The Author_________________________________________________________________ 12 Janine Violini ___________________________________________________________________ 12 References _________________________________________________________________ 12 Janine Violini

3. January 1, 2013 THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CRISIS Executive Summary Many companies are gradually finding their way through the difficult transition toward collaborative operations. After years of command structures where employees simply did what they were told, there has been a realization that global competition demands the best ideas based on the input of many rather than the ideas of a few. For many companies, the shift is incomplete. Those struggling will find that one group has been overlooked. Not surprisingly, this group of individuals has been discounted in many regards over the last 30 years, making the shift to engage them even more challenging. This group comprises the employees that provide administrative support to the core business activities. Is it the employees in these roles that are unwilling to engage or management that is unwilling to engage them? Either way, the negative effects are more significant than most people realize. There are managers in businesses of every size unwilling (knowingly or not) to demand, utilize, and value these skilled workers. There are employees in support roles that do not take pride in their work, strive for excellence, or understand the significance of their contribution. There are professional associations who have been unsuccessful in determining the criteria required to negotiate recognized professional status from industry. Government has been challenged to reclassify the ever-changing occupation(s) and provide clarity to promote these careers. Post-secondary institutions battle to meet vastly different industry needs, standardize skillsets, and keep pace with rapidly-changing technology. Attraction to programs and the profession is low due to long-lasting stereotypes, uninformed high-school advisors, and parents with their own negative personal experiences or a desire to have their children achieve more. Every contributing factor must change. When companies search for solutions to productivity issues, the topic of administrative support rarely gets the attention it requires. Some reasons for this are: Multi-tasking and multiple reporting streams in support roles make productivity hard to measure. Vastly diverse responsibilities are difficult to standardize and measure. Poor performance by unqualified individuals in support roles is unidentified because others compensate to ensure minimum requirements are met, which is even more difficult to measure. Salaries are typically at the low end of the scale making these concerns a low priority. Avoiding the effect these roles have on the bottom line is causing significant damage to businesses and white-collar productivity in Canada as a whole. This disregard is one of the main reasons these roles are becoming more and more ineffective in business. The easy fix is often to terminate the person and/or the positionthe latter compounding the overall problem. Better, immediate solutions are available, but they are still short-term. A long-term solution must inspire the next generation of qualified individuals to seek a well-defined career path in business support that may also evolve into other business career paths. Everyone in the office environment must expect, and respect, that individuals in support roles have expertise (the best in the company) in software competency and customer service. This expertise must be engaged to design and implement the best solutions to meet the business needs of those they support. Support roles must attract both genders of any age group. Continuous learning will be essential to maintain expertise and to earn the respect and compensation they deserve. This redefinition of administrative support will help to establish a new mindset that, when entrenched in industry, will authenticate the professional status of this career. These changes will mitigate the damage being done to the bottom line. Be part of this solution. 1 Janine Violini

4. January 1, 2013 THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CRISIS What Crisis? This paper presents the opinion that the roles of administrative support personnel need to be redefined to prevent the significant productivity losses currently affecting every size of company in all business sectors. Short and long-term solutions are proposed to combat the issues caused by a general misunderstanding of the career. This paper suggests how redefining and clarifying the career will address the following specific problems: A misunderstanding of the capabilities of a qualified individual and how to fully utilize them. The labour supply is not meeting the demands of industry. In many cases, unqualified staff are hired in an attempt to meet the demands. In other cases, the elimination of support roles has caused the assumption of administrative tasks to higher levels of management. A Brief Look Back Before computers were introduced into the workplace in the early 1980s, support roles were simpler to define. Midsize to large corporations typically hired support staff as switchboard operators, receptionists, junior to senior secretaries, and clerks. Few men were in any of these roles with the exception of some clerk positions such as mail clerks. Most of the people in these positions were trained on the job with no post-secondary education. Secretaries were the exception, requiring a college diploma in Secretarial Arts. Such programs were common in most colleges in Canada. The fact that the roles were consistent in virtually every organization meant that expectations were consistently met. Management knew what skillset to expect from employees with diplomas and what skillset would need to be taught to those without. Tasks and responsibilities were also consistent, for example, common expectations of secretaries included taking dictation and typing. Employees knew what was expected of them and exactly how to apply their skills to each task. Salary levels were established and a hierarchy of job progress (career path) was defined. A young woman in high school seeking a career as a secretary knew exactly what education she needed, where to get it, and what she would expect to do in her future career. Consistency was even more pronounced with mostly one gender employed in the field. What Changed? Along came computer technology and everything changed...or did it? Over the next 30 years, computers and technology changed tasks, responsibilities, processes, procedures, means of communication, skillsets, staffing structures, salaries and all else involved in office operations. What did not change is the support role boxes that organizations kept trying to fill. For a while, there was necessary restructuring to accommodate word processing equipment until the early 1990s when computers were found on every desktop. Outside of that, there were gradual name changes for certain positions, familiar examples being secretary to administrative assistant and senior secretary to executive assistant. The biggest transformation has taken place over the last fifteen years. It has been slow and inconsistent, but change has happened. 2 Janine Violini

5. January 1, 2013 THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CRISIS Those in support roles today require a combination of: Expert ability to apply computer skills that meet global, industry-standards with certifications such as Microsoft Office Specialist. Customer service training to understand how to communicate effectively with every type of internal or external customer. Basic knowledge in operations and management to enable effective collaboration on solutions for todays business challenges. These three components are critical for productivity; weakness in any one compromises business. Individuals educated, certified, and experienced at this level are in fact business technologists and should be recognized professionally as suchsimilar to the professional recognition of engineering technologists in the field of science and engineering. The transformation must continue until this is a reality. Some companies, aware of the changes that have taken place, have attempted to better utilize those in support roles, modify their titles, and improve compensation, but the restructuring has been incomplete further contributing to the current problems. Current Problems The administrative job has never been recognized as a profession. In addition, negative stereotypes of the secretary have miraculously outlived three decades of popular culture. A television series like Madmen reminds us how far we have come. Unfortunately, students today enter college business programs with the fear of being labeled a secretary or, the updated term, assistant. Some parents are determined they do not want their adult children to have such jobs. There is belittlement amongst peers for studying anything suggestive of administrative or business support. More damaging are people in business constantly making derogatory comments about support staff, such as That is admin work; Im not an admin. Much of this negativity stems from the fact that few people, including hiring managers, currently understand what people in administrative support roles do throughout the day. Many do not appreciate the degree of challenge and the skillset required to support management in todays business world. Juggling multiple tasks with conflicting priorities, communicating and collaborating effectively, and applying high-level skills to todays technology including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, and reprographics equipment is hard to envision for anyone who has not been in such a position. To complicate the situation, support role positions have radically different responsibilities, titles, salaries, and requirements for education and experience. These inconsistencies add to the misunderstanding, yet flexibility to accommodate diversity is necessary. As stated earlier, administrative support applies to every size of company in every business sector. This alone creates the need for diverse skillsets and flexibility in position titles, responsibilities, and salaries. It is, therefore, a challenge to clearly define something that must remain broad. However, the redefinition of administrative support is essential to resolve the current problems. Supply Versus Demand In 2010, there were more than 100,000 people in Alberta employed in administrative support positions using even the most conservative and traditional classifications. That number is expected to see average, to above-average, growth through 2015 (Alberta Human Services, 2012). Some companies have 3 Janine Violini

6. January 1, 2013 THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CRISIS completed their own statistical analyses indicating that many of the qualified individuals in their existing workforce will be retiring within the next ten years, suggesting increasing demand until 2020 or beyond. On the supply side, there are fewer concrete statistics, but many interesting observations may be suggested. The negativity, misunderstandings, and inconsistencies described above have surely contributed to reduced interest in support roles. It is more common to find individuals in support roles who ended up there rather than who had chosen to be there. Lack of interest is one contributing factor to the supply shortage. Another possible contributing factor to the supply shortfall is the reduced and fragmented postsecondary education options for individuals interested in pursuing administrative careers. Where previously every college had a Secretarial Arts program, there are now only a handful of colleges still offering two-year programseven though the required skillsets have significantly increased. One-year certificate programs, on the other hand, are abundant. Some interpretations include: Entry-level positions now require a minimum skillsetbasic communication and computer knowledgethat is not provided through on-the-job training. For individuals who acquired these skills in high school or other work experience, an entry-level position may be obtained without the certificate. Candidates are unwilling to spend more than one year in training due to a lack of long-term interest in the positions. High-level support positions now require more technical diplomas such as those found in Information, Communications and Technology studies, which sacrifices the business components and acumen. High-level support positions now require more critical thinking and problem solving skills as found in candidates with university degrees, which sacrifices the critical expertise in computer software application. Any combination of these and other possible interpretations may be accurate. Nonetheless, the most obvious observation is the absence of a technical diploma that delivers precisely what is required to train candidates for the role of todays business technologists. Program enrolment depends on attraction to a specific career; therefore, until the career is clearly defined, institutions will be reluctant to design and offer such a program. Without consistent programs that connect to industry, the supply of qualified individuals will continue to be inadequate. One final factor affecting supply comes from the gender stereotype. More and more men are seeking support roles in business, but in Canada we still see a much higher percentage of women in these positions. This suggests lower income levels overall, based on the male/female wage gap, compounding the lack of respectincluding self-respectthe positions garnish. Examples from recent statistical data from the 2006 Canadian census (for the 2005 reporting year) indicate women held 90% of the jobs classified as Clerical Occupations General Office Skills and 98% of the jobs classified as Executive Assistants. Women earned 3% and 53% less than men in these same classifications respectively (Statistics Canada, 2011). More effort must be made to attract both genders, and increase and/or equalize income. Varying Qualifications Standardizing qualifications for a career with so many varied positions will be another major challenge. For now, there is an urgent need to raise awareness around this problem. Qualified A possible profile for a qualified candidate has been introduced throughout this document beginning with the skillset that includes an understanding of technology, customer service, and basic business 4 Janine Violini

7. January 1, 2013 THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CRISIS acumen. Without standard programs available, a variety of degrees, diplomas, certificates, and or experience must provide individuals with the appropriate education necessary to succeed. The qualified profile includes continued education and training to maintain current industry-standard certifications proving their competency with the technology they use. The candidate must possess enthusiastic interest in the career and be customer-focused. They must have a clear understanding of how their position impacts their managers goals, their companys goals, and their industry or community. Fortunately, there are many such individuals in todays workforce who set this example. They bring expertise, creative solutions, and collaboration equal to, if not surpassing, the contribution made by those they support. These individuals are unquestionably professionals. Identifying these individuals can be a challenge in itself when there are so many unqualified individuals negatively affecting the reputation and workload of everyone. During the hiring process, it is almost impossible to differentiate skillsets unless industry-standard certifications are presented. Otherwise everyone will say, and generally believe, they have an expert level of computer skills. Staffing agencies have a reputation of filling seats rather than filling qualifications, since they face the same challenges as everyone else searching for qualified individuals. When unqualified individuals are hired, they fall in one of two categories: underqualified and overqualified. Underqualified The underqualified candidate may possess any or all of these characteristics: Insufficient post-secondary education in computer training, customer service, or business Inability to collaborate Inability to interpret client needs and therefore fulfill requests Little or no pride in performance No desire to excel in the position Little or no understanding of the connection between their position and the company goals and values, and productivity Candidate applied because there was no requirement for post-secondary education Common complaints from underqualified individuals include feeling incompetent, disrespected (and equally disrespectful), and overworked. Overqualified These people applied for the wrong jobs for the wrong reasons: Hiring manager requested a university degree (any degree) to ensure high-level critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills Applicant is unable to find work in their degree Typically the person is looking to satisfy income requirements while waiting for the right job in their field. They act entitled to quickly move into other roles indicating that the initial position was only a stepping stone to other roles in the company, or elsewhere. This contributes significantly to high turnover and lost productivity in support roles. While overqualified individuals meet the above requirements in critical thinking, collaboration, and communication, they often lack the essential, expert computer skills. Often, management underestimates this critical skillset by believing these skills can be taught. While the skills can be taught, the overqualified individual rarely has the desire for added training, and they do not see the need. Too often, overqualified individuals overestimate their own skillset and underestimate the effect on productivity. They spend unnecessary time learning on the job to a level that meets the minimum requirements of the task assigned, but without thought to quality and audience. 5 Janine Violini

8. January 1, 2013 THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CRISIS These individuals may also be underutilized because of the negative support-role stereotypes. Those requiring the support may doubt the individuals skills and be unwilling to give them challenging tasks based on poor performance of predecessors in that position. Sometimes colleagues are unwilling to collaborate based on the history of turnover in the position. They may have wasted effort in the past by training or trying to build long-term working relationships with people that were in the support role for only a short time. The commitment of anyone waiting for something better to come along is always in doubt. Common complaints from overqualified individuals include boredom, and feeling unappreciated, disrespected, and undercompensated. When under or overqualified individuals end up in challenging support roles, they are frequently looking for a way out. While in the position, these individuals are unable to perform tasks, perpetuating stereotypes, affecting customer relationships, and causing losses in productivity. These devastating effects have gradually become the norm. Shockingly, they are so common that they go unchallenged and often unnoticed. The analogy of the frog remaining in boiling water until its ultimate demise is not an overstatement. This is a massive problem considering the number of small businesses that fail due to the absence of qualified administrative support and the number of medium to large businesses unable to measure or manage the effect it has on their business. Elimination of Positions When unqualified (under or over) individuals are placed in challenging support roles, tasks may be completed poorly and must be redone or they are not completed at all. More training is then required or, as shown in Figure 1, one of the following solutions is implemented: The task is reassigned to a more qualified individual in another support role. The task is completed by the person requesting the support. Either way, the unqualified individual ends up underworked or terminated. If there is significant turnover in the position, sometimes the position is completely eliminated. The consequences of this downsizing are often visibly beneficial in cost analyses leading management to believe it was a step towards rightsizing. Unfortunately, the significant associated costs are invisible. Of the two solutions above, the first implies that the task is being completed by a qualified individual at the appropriate pay-grade, but often leads to excessive workload, conflicting priorities from various managers, and ultimately job dissatisfaction resulting in turnover. The second solution has even more destructive results. First, managers are not and should not be experts with the office tools (typically software) required to perform the task. They may choose to take extra time to learn what they need to know, since the outcome directly affects their work. Otherwise, they will do enough to produce only a satisfactory result. Ironically, it often takes longer for managers (at higher salaries) to produce substandard work than it takes for experts (at lower salaries) to produce the best result. Common complaints from dissatisfied managers include spending an unreasonable amount of time and energy on administrative tasks, feeling unsupported by the company, unable to fulfill their own responsibilities, and expressing the need to do it myself if I want it done right. 6 Janine Violini

9. January 1, 2013 THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CRISIS Unqualified individual unable to perform task. Person needing support teaches what they know, which may or may not be the best solution since they are not the expert at the task. Person needing support completes the task due to lack of confidence in the unqualified individual and the fear of having to redo the work afterwards. Someone in another support role provides training based on their own situation, which may or may not be applicable. Future repetitive training may be required due to demonstration of steps rather than understanding of application. Someone in another support role completes the task taking them away from their own responsibilities. Task is performed by the unqualified individual with no buy-in or collaboration, creating concern for quality. Productivity loss. Terminations and turnover. Dissatisfied internal and external customers. FIGURE 1: OPERATIONAL E FFECT OF I NDIVIDUALS U NABLE TO PERFORM TASKS 7 Janine Violini

10. January 1, 2013 THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CRISIS What Needs to Change Exploring the three important, current problems helps identify what could and should be changed in the future. Table 1 summarizes the current versus future desired states. TABLE 1: SHIFT TO F UTURE S TATE Current State Job Market: A strong and growing demand Insufficient, qualified resources with proven computer, customer service and business skills to meet the demand Career Scope: Inconsistent titles, responsibilities, and requirements make it difficult to standardize positions A tremendous variety of tasks demand a broad skillset Positions in every size of business and every business sector require some specialized training for each Dissatisfied employees in support roles feel one or more of the following: Undervalued Disrespected Incompetent Underutilized Untrusted Overworked Undercompensated Many people in support roles are not there by choice, rather satisfying income needs while waiting for a better opportunity. Missed opportunities for many candidates who are an ideal fit for the career, but are discouraged or uninformed about it through high school and postsecondary training. No standards for education or proof of skillset. Small business owners and entrepreneurs have little or no administrative support. In an attempt to complete administrative work themselves, the products or services they provide are neglected often causing the business to fail. 8 Janine Violini Future Desired State A healthy job market where supply meets demand. A clearly defined career that allows for flexibility in positions and accommodates continuous change. Satisfied employees in support roles feel valued, respected, capable, well-utilized and adequately compensated. Individuals aware of and interested in support roles pursue appropriate business and technology education to excel in this career. Mentoring and leadership foster continuous improvement advancing the profession. More post-secondary students, in the correct program from the start, work towards a career that they see as valuable. Path is identified for continuous learning opportunities towards advanced positions. Common, similar high-level programs at colleges producing quality candidates with global, industrystandard certifications as proof of skills. Part-time experts more available through staffing agencies to fill the gap. As experts, they can analyze the needs and provide solutions in an affordable amount of time with valuable results for the owners.

11. January 1, 2013 THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CRISIS Current State Medium and large businesses make visible improvements to the bottom line by reducing overhead of administrative staff. The negative impact is possibly more severe, but less identifiable, caused by higher level employees performing without administrative support. All business suffers from: Incomplete or ineffective completion of administrative tasks, e.g. poor records management results in lost or duplication of information Poor internal and/or external customer service Multiple and scattered associations (professional and intra-company) are unable to provide effective networking for sharing best practices and promoting the career. Future Desired State The right people doing the right jobs in the right compensation structure. Solutions for business challenges achieved through collaboration and expertise. Companies operating at a higher level of productivity with quality, customer-focussed administrative services delivered through internal or outsourced specialist teams with advanced skillsets. Unified professional association that effectively promotes and advances the profession to members and industry. Why Change is Necessary Undoubtedly, businesses can continue to operate in the Current State outlined in Table 1 above with the impact of one or some of the concerns noticed regularly. It is the cumulative effect of all concerns that goes unnoticed and has a much larger negative impact on a business, and Canadian businesses as a whole. As mentioned, these effects are difficult to measure and measuring them is difficult to justify. Even without measure, many consequences of continuing in the Current State are obvious. The worst case result of perpetuating these conditions is the continued need for both entry-level and high-level support positionsinadequately filled by a combination of underqualified and overqualified staff. The only choices for business owners will be to employ two unhappy, ineffective individuals in unproductive positions for every actual technologist-level position, or for management to assume the administrative responsibilities. Either of these options will have a severe, negative impact on operating budgets, productivity, and employee satisfaction in every size of business. Short-term Solutions The following steps can be implemented with the help of internal or outsourced expertise. Step 1 Shift to a New Mindset: The first step is to find existing, qualified employees in current support roles who want to learn and lead as they cultivate higher standards for computer skills, customer service, and business knowledge. Simultaneously, management and internal customers must agree to value support staff by engaging them to provide solutions for administrative procedures. This change will occur through collaboration rather than command. Step 2 Structure Change: Existing structures for administrative support may need to be reworked to maximize performance through the implementation of support teams and technology specialists. Step 3 Strategies for Improvement: administrative processes, more accurately described as procedures or work instructions, need to be re-evaluated, refined, and reduced to minimize wasted effort. This step 9 Janine Violini

12. January 1, 2013 THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CRISIS requires collaboration and creative solutions. Training gaps will be identified and standards for performance will be determined. If the expertise to execute these steps does not exist internally, companies must seek external expertise. Many excellent consultants are available to provide staffing solutions for sourcing and restructuring, process and change management, and administrative solutions. Experts must meet specific business needs, and as important, must have an understanding of the overall administrative support challenges identified in this paper. Specifically, they must be able to impart the value of administrative support throughout the organization for results to occur. Long-term Solution To make a genuine shift to redefining this important and essential business profession, input is required from many sources. Figure 2 suggests some possible input sources to initiate discussion, but it is, by no means, conclusive or definitive. At the risk of overdramatizing the situation, individuals, businesses, the country, and the global economy are suffering because of the current administrative crisis. If anything documented in this report rings true for you or your business, please participate in any of the following ways: Implement short-term solutions for your business. Become or encourage leaders striving for excellence in current support roles toward the future state. Identify and mentor individuals suitable for the next generation of administrative support. Comments, perspective, or suggestions on the long-term solution are welcomed. 10 Janine Violini

13. January 1, 2013 THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CRISIS Certifying Bodies: Software Providers: Ensure global standards prove skillsets that meet industry needs Work with administrative experts to ensure new features and developments are applied productively Professional Associations: Advisors of Secondary Students: Work with industry to implement standards to achieve recognized professional status Stay ahead of trends through forward-thinking analyses Identify students with interest and apptitude in software skills Promote the career to appropriate candidates Staffing Agencies: Post-Secondary Institutions: Raise standards and ensure proper placement Government Agencies: Raise awareness and promote the career to secondary students and advisors Work with business to facilitate use of qualified individuals Determine the need for new classification(s) Create challenging programs that attract and adequately train individuals to meet the needs of industry Engaged Individuals with Strong Desire and Skillset to Serve Business FIGURE 2: I NPUT REQUIRED TO REDEFINE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT 11 Janine Violini Business: Recognize, utilize, and appropriately compensate professionals

14. January 1, 2013 THE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT CRISIS The Author Janine Violini With 20 years of experience in administrative support, seven years in engineering and technology, and seven plus years teaching in the administrative field in post-secondary and corporate environments, Janine brings a unique and passionate perspective to supporting business. Her desire to raise the standards for excellence in the field of administrative support has been met with open arms and resistance at every level, further fueling her passion into action. As an administrative consultant with a focus on productivity, she serves small, medium, and large businesses as well as individuals. Janine has first-hand experience collaborating with individuals and teams at every level from college students to technical professionals to executives. She has worked in the following business sectors: oil and gas, environment, engineering (energy and civil), financial planning, industrial chemicals, communications, arts and entertainment, corporate training and post-secondary education. Her administrative experience includes 14 years of supporting presidents and CEOs of companies with employees numbering from 3 to 35,000. Her success in teaching comprises curriculum development, textbook review, face-to-face and blended instruction with learners at every level from beginner to world champion. She is a respected subject matter expert in office procedures, event management from an administrative perspective, as well as Microsoft Word and other Office applications. This diverse and well-rounded background enables Janine to appreciate individual needs in her approach to initiating change that serves a broader perspective. References Alberta Human Services. (2012). Alberta Career and Industry Outlook. Edmonton: Government of Alberta, Human Services. Statistics Canada. (2011, 04 07). Employment Income Statistics (4) in Constant (2005) Dollars, Work Activity in the Reference Year (3), Occupation - National Occupational Classification for Statistics 2006 (720A) and Sex (3) for the Population 15 Years and Over With Employment Income of C. Retrieved from www.statcan.gc.ca: http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census recensement/2006/dp pd/tbt/rp eng.cfm?tabid=1&lang=e&apath=3&detail=0&dim=0&fl=a&free=0&gc=0&gk=0&grp=1&pid=9459 6&prid=0&ptype=88971,97154&s=0&showall=0&sub=0&temporal=2006&theme=81&vid=0&vna mee=&vnamef= 12 Janine Violini