Training and consultancy that focuses on the results you need
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Training and consultancy that focuses on the results you need
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The
modern administrator: meeting the Challenges of the 21st century work
place. Organisations
and institutions of the 21st century have to meet ever – increasing
demands from the people they supply and service. They have to be proactive and
highly responsive; trying to anticipate and quickly address the many new
challenges presented to them. To do
this they have to find their best fighting weight, that not only enables them to
be lean and fit, but also supple, flexible and quick on their feet.
Increasingly, organisations need to realise that they do not only have to
enhance their organisational structures, management and leadership styles, but
also look to their supporting muscles: the people that from day to day maintain
and deliver the routine administrative processes and services; that provide the
majority of direct contact with customers and other stakeholders. This
article outlines the new skills needed by the modern administrator. It explains
why the development of administrative support staff has not always been given
the priority it deserves. It then goes on to describe what organisations need to
do in order to develop the new skills needed and give administrative staff
development the priority it requires and deserves. What are the new
skills needed by the modern administrator?
A
recent organisational training needs analysis of a well – known government
agency gave a good insight into the skills needed by the modern administrator.
As you would expect, the traditional skills of administration were still seen as
centrally important and in need of enhancement (time management, prioritising
and organising etc.), but there were also another group of skills that came to
the fore, which were more to do with proactivity, assertiveness and being able
to anticipate problems. Indeed,
the needs analysis went further, suggesting that in order to be effective in a
modern organisation administrative support staff needed development in what have
traditionally been thought of as management level skills. The most eye –
catching of these were negotiating and influencing, dealing with and
implementing change and being able to present yourself and your ideas
effectively. Another significant new skill identified was the ability to take
ownership and control of personal development
and learning. All head and no bodyThere
are still, however, a significant number of organisations that believe that the
only place to invest any significant development is in the middle and senior
management ranks of the organisation. The traditional thinking has been that if
these people can be encouraged to lead and manage in the most appropriate,
effective and efficient way, then the rest of the organisation will be enhanced
accordingly. There
is some merit to this idea, but with closer examination it becomes clear that
this approach can be likened to somebody paying great attention to the
development of their intellect while ignoring the health, fitness and
development of their body. Yes, the person may be able to stun people with their
ideas and ability to solve complex problems, but only for a limited time as
their body, starved of attention, begins to falter and fail. The person may
still be having a few great ideas but they will eventually lack the physical
ability to communicate them clearly or implement them. In a
similar way, the organisation that concentrates the whole of its attention
towards the development of its managers and leaders runs the risk of being all
head and no body. There will be
many great ideas and initiatives created, but their implementation will be
flawed and many of the ideas will lack the practicality that comes from having
to physically work with and implement them. The hierarchy hangoverPart
of this bias towards managers and leaders comes from the history of
organisations and hangovers that persist from it. Organisations have until
relatively recently been very hierarchical. Indeed, despite the rhetoric many
effectively still are, with those having most power and perceived as most
important at the top, and those with little or no power and perceived as of less
consequence towards the bottom. This
view could be sustained when times where slower and organisations could make and
implement decisions at a nice comfortable pace, with senior managers treating
those below them as automatons through which they could, eventually, implement
their plans. But now things are different. Things are fast, expectations are
high and organisations have to adapt. They are adopting more participatory
styles of leadership and management, putting more emphasis on team working and
expecting more proactivity and initiative from all their staff. Organisations
still suffering from the historical hierarchy hangover, however, continue to
have a blind spot when it comes to the development of their administrative
support staff. They create cultures, systems and processes that require all
their staff to upskill, but only significantly develop those in middle and
senior management grades. They are then surprised when their initiatives start
to flounder or take an inordinate amount of time to implement.
Barriers to administrative staff development: the negative power dynamic and the self fulfilling prophecyIf
those at the top of an organisation are perceived as intrinsically more
important, then a negative power dynamic will be formed within the organisation
that favours those at the top and leaves those at the bottom feeling powerless
and insignificant. If
those towards the top of the organisation are given greater opportunities for
development than those towards the bottom, administrative staff will feel
unconsidered and undervalued. Over time, administrative staff self esteem and self – perception will be greatly diminished, along with their ability and indeed inclination to contribute confidently and proactively to the organisation. If not
treated, the hierarchy hangover can initiate a negative self – fulfilling
prophecy and become a full - blown migraine. The organisation does not invest in
administrative staff so they do not feel valued or motivated to perform. They leave their jobs and
create a high turnover of administrative staff. Management look at the figures and decide not to invest in
administrative staff development because they do not stay with the organisation
(and so on). In
effect the organisation, through the application of a false logic, allows its
supporting administrative muscles to waste away before its eyes, all the time
thinking that it does not matter because its highly developed management levels
will be able to sort the problem out (only realising that this is not the case
when it is too late and the damage to the body of the organisation has been
done). How can the hierarchy hangover be overcome?Firstly organisations need to become aware of the hierarchy hangover and its effects. Then they need to implement measures that will:
Given the nature
of the skills that need to be addressed, the training and development referred
to above should be experiential, practical and clearly connect learning to
people’s day to day work. It must also encourage administrative staff to take
control of their learning, review how they are doing in their jobs and identify
where they need to make improvements Importantly,
any development for administrative staff needs to explicitly address the areas
of self - esteem and self – perception, how they can be affected by the
hierarchy hangover, and how the effects can be minimised and counteracted. This
type of training and development will build confidence and serve to underpin and
strengthen the use made of traditional administrative skills, helping people use
the old skills in the new proactive ways needed by organisations.
In summaryToday’s
organisations have to meet ever – increasing demands and expectations. In
order to do this they not only have to enhance their management and leadership
capability, but also ensure that their administrative support is professional,
flexible, proactive and confident in its role. In
order to fulfil the new expectations of organisations administrative staff need
training and development in areas traditionally associated with those at
management levels, for example negotiating, influencing, implementing change and
presenting ideas effectively. Organisational
history and the hierarchy hangover act as barriers to the effective development
of administrative staff. To counteract these barriers organisations need to
become aware of the hierarchy hangover and its effects. They need to encourage
greater meaningful involvement from administrative staff by: increasing
opportunities for consultation and day to day decision making; providing high
profile development programmes; implementing participatory appraisal and
development systems. Given
the nature of the skills that need to be addressed, the training and development
administrative staff receive needs to be practical and experiential. It needs to
encourage both ownership of learning and its application to day - to - day work.
Above
all, Training and development of administrative staff should focus on enhancing
administrative staff confidence, explicitly address the effects of the hierarchy
hangover on self – esteem and self perception and identify ways in which these
effects can be minimised and overcome.
To find out more about the author click Here. To see the Tallis Training 'Enhancing Your Administrative Skills' programme click Here. |
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