Happy National Administrative Professionals Day

On April 24, We Get to Celebrate National Administrative Professionals Day

Administrative professionals are so much more than the secretary’s portrayed in Don Draper’s world of “Mad Men” fame.  They don’t fetch the boss’ coffee, pick up his drycleaning, or pour him a drink.

They are so such much more. They are the backbone of a company, the first line of communication with a company. In many cases, talking to an administrative professional is like talking to the CEO.

If you need an answer, seek them out. They are the ones most likely ready and knowledgeable enough to help.

Before there was an Administrative Professionals Day, there was a National Secretaries Day, created in 1952. We’ve come a long way since then, and so has the job and job description.

The National Secretaries Association, founded in 1942, was formed to recognize the contributions of administrative personnel to the economy, support their personal development, and to help attract workers to the administrative field. Key figures who created the holiday were the president of the National Secretaries Association, Mary Barrett; president of Dictaphone Corporation, C. King Woodbridge; and public relations account executives at Young & Rubicam, Harry F. Klemfuss and Daren Ball.

The National Secretaries Association’s name was changed to Professional Secretaries International in 1981 and to the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP) in 1998. Administrative Professionals Day is a registered trademark.

This national day of recognition has gone through several makeovers to reflect changing administrative titles and responsibilities in the modern workforce. While its moniker has changed, the purpose of Administrative Professionals Day remains the same: to celebrate and shed light on the many contributions of devoted and valued administrative professionals, according to Robert Half, who pioneered specialized staffing services in 1948 and today is the world’s largest specialized talent solutions and business consulting firm.

Administrative roles are incredibly diverse — and they continue to evolve, with these professionals often going above and beyond their regular duties.

Administrative professionals provide real benefit to the people they support and the organization at large, and their work should not go unnoticed, according to Half. And given the important role many administrative staff play in assisting their teams in today’s rapidly changing business environment, they deserve their time in the spotlight more than ever.

We at Uken Report gladly and proudly give them that spotlight here and now.