The Importance of the Executive Assistant: Why they are Indispensable

Executive assistants are often the unsung heroes behind successful executives, and yet they seldom get the credit outside the office. However, the office they work in, and the people who hire them, know all too well how vital the role of the executive assistant is for their success. Of course, an executive assistant needs to possess certain specific skills, a wide range of relevant knowledge, and the necessary education to handle the job properly and truly become indispensable to the immediate boss and even the whole office. Taking a look at what makes them indispensable helps us understand why they are so important. If you are an executive make sure to give your executive assistant goals so that you are constantly challenging them to become the best they can be. That way they can become the best they can be within the company.

Active Representation

A busy man/woman can never have enough hours in a day, and they are frequently needed to be present in more than one place at a time. At times like these, an experienced and properly informed executive assistant often represents them at one of the two places which he/she needs to be present. A combination of experience, superb communication skills, and understanding of the company’s business enables the assistant to temporarily represent the executive, as and when required.

This is an invaluable function which serves to not only profit the organization, but it provides busy executives with the opportunity to break free from work every once in a while and spend some personal time; something which is essential for both mental and physical wellbeing of the person, especially since news about burnt out CEOs is not uncommon.

Taking Care of What Doesn’t Need Immediate Executive Attention

Not every piece of work that an official must do in a day actually requires his/her direct attention and yet, they still need to be completed, which eats away into the executive’s time, even though it is one commodity that is already in short supply. The job of the executive assistant includes taking care of the tasks which are important but do not need the immediate attention of the boss. This includes making calls, answering them, sending and replying to emails, texts, and so much more.

The Importance of the Executive Assistant: Why they are Indispensable

Scheduling Everything

One of the primary duties of an assistant is to keep his/her boss on schedule and updated with everything from business meetings and trips to personal events of importance. This is no easy task though and combined with every other duty that falls on the shoulders of the executive assistant, it might make life very difficult for him/her, especially if they are relatively new to the job.

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We’ve actually found a list on Bevi.co that has useful executive assistant tips that can help them manage their own time, as well as their boss’s time, in a more organized and efficient manner. For example, as one of the very first executive assistant tips, Bevi suggests utilizing an AI-assisted app that automates the scheduling process to organize everything from meetings times to matching that time with the conference room available at that hour. The article isn’t just a list of practical executive assistant tips, but it also provides an indirect insight into how difficult the job can be without proper management techniques in place.

An Executive Assistant is More than Just Another Employee

Every employee is important to the success of a company, irrespective of how small his/her role may seem from the outside, but the executive assistant is much more than just an employee. He/she is more personal because of the very nature of the job itself. After years of working under the same person, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to state that an assistant probably knows the CEO more than almost anyone else. This makes efficient, intelligent, and skilled executive assistants indispensable employees, for not only the multiple benefits these professionals provide to the organization by assisting the most important people of those organizations, but because they are indispensable to the CEO, manager or whoever else they are serving.

The experienced executive assistant knows the boss’s professional and personal needs, even before they are stated, which is why it isn’t uncommon for higher-ups to try and hold on to their assistants with hefty salaries, bonuses, and other special privileges.

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Although it may not seem like that from the outside, a skilled assistant and an important executive are a team working towards the same goals, albeit with differences in rank. To sum it all up, executive assistants are irreplaceable because they provide the constant support which a busy and important person in a corporation needs to stay on top of everything while maintaining balance in life.

As long as the assistant has the necessary skills, knowledge, experience, and expertise to handle the work required of him/her, having an assistant is similar to having an extra set of skilled hands and a very capable brain to handle some of the excess workload. It naturally boosts the productivity of the senior managers and CEOs, which in turn makes the company they are leading more productive.

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Guest Author
Rosana Beechum


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