Remarking the occasion of Singapore Administrative Professionals Day, a survey conducted by Zyllem has revealed that 93% of office workers believe that admin professionals are the unsung heroes of local businesses, and 64% of them, admit to be taking them for granted, expecting them to go the extra mile and perform tasks beyond their official job scope.
The tasks include – delivering umbrellas to colleagues stranded in the rain; sending forgotten passports to colleagues at airport check-in; performing first aid; and even providing an early morning wakeup call to ensure everyone makes it on time to an important client meeting.
The survey was conducted by Zyllem to coincide with Singapore National Administrative Professionals Week (24-30 April 2016), which is dedicated to Administrative Professionals in recognition of their contributions to the workplace in Singapore.
The survey highlights that while 73% do pause to consider the Admin Professional’s job scope before assigning a task, more than two thirds regularly rely on them to unquestioningly go the extra mile and undertake extra tasks to ensure office harmony and that workplace operations run smoothly.
The most common out of job scope role that Admin Professionals are asked to perform is that of “A Shoulder to Cry On.”
45% of those surveyed admit to turning to their office admin professional for help during times of stress. And 42% of those surveyed rely on their office Admin Professionals to wear a Tech Support hat and resolve problems with computers, the internet and printers.
If there’s a company event on the horizon, 30% of those surveyed would expect their Admin Manager to block time in their calendar to perform duties as official photographer.
Asked why, in their view, Admin Professionals regularly and many times unquestioningly go beyond the call of duty, 70% of respondents think they are just trying to be helpful while 63% assume admin professionals feel responsible for the overall welfare of the office.
This could explain some of the more unusual expectations their colleagues have of them – 28% of respondents turn to their admin professionals when they need first aid, 17% admit to requesting an umbrella when stranded in the rain over lunchtime; and one in five admit to asking their Admin Professional colleague to give them a wakeup call to ensure they arrive at an early morning meeting on time.
Eric Ong, Country Managing Director, Zyllem Singapore, said, “At Zyllem, we speak to Singapore’s Administrative Professionals every day and so we understand that they’re on the front line when it comes to ensuring businesses across the island run smoothly. They often go way beyond the call of duty and are so good at ensuring office harmony that many of us are guilty of losing sight of their actual job scope. It’s important for everyone to take some time to show some appreciation and to give unsung Admin Professional heroes everywhere the recognition and thanks they deserve.”
To mark Administrative Professionals Week 2016, Zyllem is rallying a show of appreciation for Admin Professionals. Co-workers have been asked to nominate the unsung Admin heroes in their own teams, and tell Zyllem why their nominees deserve to receive one of the five special appreciation gifts.
Diana Ngo, from Blackpeak Group, nominated their Admin Professional Liana Olivera to receive one of the special appreciation gifts. Diana said, “Liana runs our local office and handles so many things for us. She helps when she doesn’t have to, often going above and beyond her job scope. She definitely deserves the biggest thank you.”
Valentina Lee, an Admin Professional at National University of Singapore was nominated by her colleagues Angeline Sim and Venetia Ng to receive another of Zyllem’s special gifts of appreciation because, said Venetia, “Valentina is someone who does not shy away from opportunities or difficult situations, willingly taking up challenges. I would really like to acknowledge her for all the big and small things that she has done for the office.”
