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P R O F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T F O R C A N A D A ' S O F F I C E S U P P O R T S T A F F
Administrative
Assistant's
UPDATE
INSIDE
AA's impact far reaching 2
On-air tribute to retiree
Creeping the competition 3
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The "stay" interview 6
Retain and nurture talent
The should-know software 7
The list keeps on growing
By Jennifer Lewington
Vastly outnumbered in a female-
dominated sector, male administrative
assistants have to deal with gender
stereotypes from all sides: a boss leery
about hiring a qualified male; raised
eyebrows from female admins; and
potential employers skeptical about
a man's interest in an office support
position.
"Why would a man want to be
assistant?" says Jonathan Brickwood,
citing one question he's often asked in
his 16-year career as an administrative
professional in the private and public
sectors in Toronto.
For Brickwood, an assistant with
the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
since 2008, the answer is simple: "I
am good at what I do and I choose to
do it."
A similar philosophy holds for Vern
McLaren, an admin assistant with En
-
bridge Inc., in Edmonton, since 2014.
In job interviews, says McLaren,
some skeptical employers ask "'why do
you want this job?' My response
is that I am good at it and I am
passionate about it."
At one company, he
had to overcome manager
resistance to working
with a male assistant.
"Most of the managers
were not used to having a
male assistant to support
them," he recalls. "So they
would back off giving you
stuff; they felt weird asking me to file
something or type something up."
Despite growing efforts to promote
workplace inclusion and diversity,
stereotypes persist.
Brickwood is still one of the few
male administrative assistants in the
non-political realm at the legislature,
recently promoted to the position of
Administrative Assistant and Office
Co-ordinator to the Clerk of Procedur
-
al Services at the Legislature.
Sometimes, in email or in-person
contacts, Brickwood is assumed to be
his boss and vice versa. In a previ-
ous job in the private sector, he was
the sole male among 73 admins. In
group emails to admins, the opening
salutation would be "Hello Ladies," he
recalls.
He notes some easing of gender ste-
reotypes, with recent television shows
and films featuring male actors in the
role of admins.
Tips for mentally
healthy
workplaces
Ignoring metal health issues at
work carries a price: $17 billion.
That's one estimate of lost
productivity over the next 10
years if mental health issues
are not addressed in the Greater
Toronto and Hamilton Area,
according to Civic Action, a non-
partisan organization.
Among barriers to a mental-
health-supported workplace
cited by the organization is an
erroneous belief by one in five
employers that mental illness is
within a person's control.
Moreover, some workers fear
taking advantage of confidential
counselling through employee
assistance plans.
For more details, go to
civicaction.ca/mentalhealth
JUNE 2016
Women's work?
Not for male admins
Credit: artenot (Shutterstock)
Continued on page 4
