An open letter to all Office Professionals

An open letter to all Office Professionals,

 

I am yet to meet a musical performance that I did not enjoy. From Chorus Line to Billy Elliot, I love a show tune. The very recent passing of Olivia Newton John had me reminiscing about my teenage years of wanting nothing more than to be Kira in Xanadu. I was in a place where nobody dared to go (see what I did there?) the day I got my white roller skates. Given my emotional attachment to a great musical, Schadd has it easy when it comes to gift purchases – two tickets to the latest QPAC show (providing he is not expected to be my plus one) and I have downloaded the soundtrack, text my plus one and laid out my outfit.

 

So it was that a couple of months ago, a friend and I were seated at QPAC waiting for the curtain to rise on 9 to 5 the musical.

 

Growing up in the 80’s I was more attuned to Working Girl than 9 to 5 and it is Melanie Griffiths who I have to thank for the fact that I learnt to type ‘a quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog’ in Secretarial Studies in 1987.

 

Stick with me millennials, I’m getting to my point.

 

If you are not familiar with the story behind 9 to 5, the heroines are three Boston secretaries, working in the early 70’s for a sexist, misogynist, tyrant of a man. Together they empower to get better pay, improved pay conditions and greater career opportunities. The performance was joyful, frivolous and thankfully not yet the victim of cancel culture, because despite being satirical and entertaining, it was indeed inspired by the real life feminist movement of the 70’s.

 

We’ve come a long way since Dolly Parton tumbled out of bed, stumbled to the kitchen and poured herself a cup of ambition.

 

My first job when I finished high school was as a secretary working for a Psychiatrist. I had the usual tasks to complete throughout my day, but looking back, many tasks I had would, by today’s standards be wildly inappropriate. On one particular afternoon the Doctor advised me that I would be required to work back as she was having a dinner party and needed my assistance. Not a big deal until the reason I am required is revealed and that is, I will be required to cook said dinner. So there I am, seventeen years of age, only really at the capacity of making pasta, on the phone to my mother, having already worked a full day, I am in an unfamiliar kitchen, I am a little bit teary, or maybe a lot teary, and my mum is giving me step by step instructions on how to make Mongolian lamb.

 

I have not once and will not ever, eat Mongolian lamb.

 

Thirty five years later, my work has afforded me the opportunity to meet hundreds of Office Professionals. Candidates, clients, stakeholders, and my own colleagues.

 

Office Professionals are often the quiet achievers of the office, communicators and coordinators, business savvy, astonishingly organised and efficient and often unassuming in what they do. Resourceful mind readers who keep operations running seamlessly and effortlessly and gosh what would we do without them?

 

As it happens, I am about to find out.

 

This week we bid farewell to one of our own. Kristy has been with us for five years and having made it half way through her university studies in Psychology, she has a tremendous opportunity to pursue a role that closely aligns with her desire to work in the counselling field. We could not be prouder of what she has achieved and what she has ahead of her. Our loss is her new employers gain and I wonder if they realise how fortunate they are about to become, though I suspect it will not take long for this to become apparent.

 

It is a known fact that I have special privileges at work and not because I am a co-owner but because when it comes to administration I am not my best self. There are certain tasks that consultants (including me) are required to do as part of the recruitment process that are of an administrative nature, but my skills shine elsewhere and therefore Kristy is my cornerstone. Rarely a day will go by that I don’t buzz her at Reception and utter the words “Hey, do you have a quick minute?” In the seconds it takes for Kristy to walk to my desk she will have had no doubt asked herself if this will be PDF related (because it is almost always PDF related) or god forbid, an excel issue. She is the business version of Mary Poppins the way she magically appears at my desk, wiggles my mouse, clicks a something and has me on my way.I am not trying to play cute and incompetent, just telling it how it is and so it is that Kristy, like many Office Professionals, is the unseen, yet central character to my success and to the success of our business.

 

Office Professionals are not often in the spotlight and yet so deserving to have it shone on them. Having interviewed so very many, I am well versed in understanding the complexity of their roles and responsibilities and the competencies required to be good at what they do. Though they may not be revenue generators they can have enormous impact on productivity and the bottom line. Often the keeper of the secrets, they require diplomacy and an innate ability to manage up, down and sideways. Not dissimilar to wrangling small children, they are coordinating team events, staff lunches, meetings and complex diary schedules. Peacemakers and peacekeepers, the role of the Office Professionals has evolved into far more than the standard clerical tasks required within an office and they have become trusted advisors who have the ability to influence and drive change.

 

The value of an Office Professionals is not always obvious because their capability is often in what is unseen. A problem solved before it became evident there was a problem, their work flies under the radar.

 

In recent weeks the term quiet quitting, has been gathering steam and look there is a lot to unpack on this subject, deserving of another blog, another day but, to be clear, quiet quitting has nothing to do with quitting your job but more to do about not subscribing to the ‘hustle at all costs’ mentality which is absolutely a good thing. The problem I have with this label is that it diminishes the value of going the extra mile, thereby devaluing those who choose to. It is a term coined by someone on TikTok. It does not have any real definition, and for me it is far more nuanced. Without question, it is imperative that we protect the wellbeing of our employees, but many Office Professionals go above and beyond every day, and this should not go unnoticed because we’ve suddenly started to advocate for the quiet quitters.

 

The role of an Office Professional can be a gateway to many other opportunities. In 1999, I placed a candidate in a business administration role in an events and entertainment company, now, 23 years later she owns the company. Though this is a remarkable achievement it should also be noted that a career as an “Career Office Professional” should equally be celebrated and also rightfully rewarded.

 

My thoughts return to my short yet unconventional career as a Medical Secretary and so I decide to do a quick google search. I discover that my former employer, is still alive and well and still practising psychiatry.

 

I am hoping she is too busy having dinner parties to be reading recruitment blogs.