Another day and another holiday. Wednesday April 23rd, 2008 is the official day for Secretaries’ Day. It may surprise you that this holiday is the largest observed holiday in the workplace besides the normal Holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. Although the holiday is celebrated on the last Wednesday of every April, the whole last week of April is officially “National Secretaries Week.”
This holiday was first officially set in stone by the U.S. Secretary of commerce Charles Sawyer and was held on the days of June 1st - 7th in 1952. Just as we currently celebrate the day, Wednesday was used as the specific day to celebrate in 1952. The first Secretaries’ Day was held in that year by the International Association of Administrative Professionals, with the support of an association of corporate groups.
National Professional Secretaries Week and National Secretaries’ Day was created in 1952 through the work of Harry F. Klemfuss of Young and Rubicam. Klemfuss recognized the importance and value of the position to a company or business. His goal was to encourage more women to become administrative assistants (called secretaries at the time). Using his skill and experience in public relations, Klemfuss promoted the values and importance of the job of administrative assistants.
The efforts of the individuals of the International Association of Administrative Professionals helped set the holiday as a national celebration but changes were made as a sign of the times in the year 2000. The name of the holiday was officially changed in the year 2000 from “Professional Secretaries Day” to “Administrative Professionals Week.” The change makes it obvious that the stereotypical secretary everyone has in their minds from old office settings and late night reruns has changed drastically in job titles, duties and appearances.
The office worker that may have taken care of most everything in the office was always looked at as the secretary. The new name of the holiday tries to shed some of the day’s celebration on the new titles you might find for a secretary. The titles can be anything from office supervisor, director, typist, manager, team leader, operator, receptionist, administrative assistant, confidential clerk and many more.
While the titles, sex and race covers all the bases when referring to the typical secretary of today, the gifts used to appreciate them still seem to lag behind with stereotypes. An article in the Cayman Compass suggests the standard gift for Secretary Day is lunch with the boss and flowers. A whole list of gifts such as professional, personal and locale sensitive are listed in the article.
So whether you’re observing Administrative Professionals Week or not, just remember that it’s something you should probably consider taking part in. The event is celebrated worldwide, bringing together millions of people for community events, educational seminars, and individual corporate activities recognizing support staff with gifts of appreciation. Although the purpose of the celebration is sometimes altered, and even maligned, by other groups and individuals, a tremendous amount of publicity is obtained for the profession during this time. IAAP suggests that employers observe Administrative Professionals Week by providing training for their administrative sta
ff through seminars, continuing education or self-study materials. Another suggestion is to make a commitment toward delegating responsibilities that better utilize the skills of administrative professionals.
No matter the type of celebration you partake in, remember to thank that person that sometimes does the heavy lifting or busy work to make your job more efficient. If it’s not a plant, you can always thank them by getting a Administrative Professionals Day card. What could be more caring than another piece of paper for your secretary to have to organize on their desk?
