Administrative Assistant's Update

JULY 2018 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 UPDATE PM #40065782 INSIDE When change comes � � � � � � � 2 Flexibility keeps you versatile, resilient and responsive 'Humans wanted' � � � � � � � � � � 3 Admins understand the disruptive force of change PowerPoint tips � � � � � � � � � � � 6 Transitions, animation bring your presentation alive Interview tips � � � � � � � � � � � � � 7 Be ready for new soft-skills assessment tools Revolt at Nike Sometimes a workplace "culture" is carefully, positively designed and sometimes it's the result of observed behaviours, as in the case of Nike, where a group of fed-up women employees "covertly … surveyed their female peers, in- quiring whether they had been the victim of sexual harassment and gender discrimination," according to a recent report in The New York Times. As a result, said the Times, at least six top executives resigned or planned to resign, including the head of diversity and inclusion, and Oregon-based Nike is review- ing its human resources opera- tions. The company slogan is "Just Do It." Continued on page 4 By Jennifer Lewington AAU Associate Editor Before Marjie Cowell became an admin professional several years ago, she had already developed her event planning skills as a volunteer with the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Society's annual winter festival in Whitehorse. Now an administrative assistant at Yukon College, Cowell in- creasingly applies her event planning expertise to her day-to-day profes- sional duties. Cowell is among a growing number of admin professionals adding event planning to their job repertoire either because they are eager to manage a workshop or conference or because the request to plan an activity for their organization has been unexpectedly thrust upon them. Either way, admins are bringing their talents in time man- agement, teamwork, financial acumen and, yes, creativity to event planning – highlighting their contributions to an organization. "I see event planning and admin work in a similar way," says Cowell. "We plan and organize things for people all the time and that is really a big part of what I do. I like trying to anticipate the needs of people around me; the challenge that comes with that keeps you learning all the time." She moved to Whitehorse in 2001, and decided to meet people by entering the Sourdough Rendezvous festival's Queen competition whose winners serve as local ambassadors and fundraisers for the popular winter event. Cowell did not win the Queen's tiara (she came second one year), but stayed involved as a volunteer. In 2006, she offered to serve as a volun - teer coordinator – which carries the title of "Queen Mum" – with wide- ranging responsibilities to recruit and assist in training candidates for the competition. "I was passionate [about the event], I had an interest in doing it and they didn't have to find anyone to do the job," she says. She later joined the Society as its administrative assis- tant, serving in that role until 2010 as support for the executive director and a large contingent of volunteers for 'We plan and organize all the time' Yukon 'go-to' admin grows into event planning role Credit: iQoncept (Shutterstock) Marjie Cowell

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