Focuses on the training and development needs of admin professionals and features topics such as hard skills (software competencies, writing, communication, filing) and soft skills (teamwork, time management, leadership).
Issue link: https://digital.hrreporter.com/i/1071575
3 Administrative Assistant's UPDATE By Shelagh Donnelly Have you ever wondered what sup- porting a board might entail? This depends in part on whether you land in a one-person board office or a secretariat. At its core, though, your role revolves around ensuring that the board is positioned to succeed. That may sound simple. It's not. Good governance professionals execute evolving responsibilities with a grace that belies the pressures they face; they'd be formidable foes at a poker table. In this role, your career revolves around meetings, events, research, reports and people. You prepare, circu - late and file institutional records and statutory reports. Yours is a world of policies, by-laws and terms of refer- ence (TOR). Logistically inclined, you coordi- nate board and committee meetings as well as retreats and special events. You nurture relationships, and you never ever base the way you treat people on the basis of their place on an org chart. You may be in touch with government representatives as well as business, community and/or political leaders. You'll expend as much energy and care on people – internal and external stakeholders – as you will on any other aspect of the role. You'll be privy to a great deal of sensitive information, since you'll record board and committee meetings. You may count ballots when the board elects its executive. You're in the room when the board debates and finalizes decisions on budgets, key perfor - mance indicators (KPIs), internal and external audit reports and recommen- dations, and more. You may support the board in its recruitment of your CEO. You have a front row seat as the board considers and makes recommendations on de- velopment of the organization's stra- tegic plan. There's also potential for organizational crises every now and then; that's why we have enterprise risk management (ERM). In all such situations, the board will absolutely require your discreet professionalism. The governance professional's ex- pertise continues to evolve in tandem with expectations of boards. Gov- erning bodies that don't want to be "rubber stamp boards" will challenge management's assumptions rather than simply approving recommenda- tions. This is completely appropriate, and it can sometimes generate dynamics that may impact you. Effective boards will strive to be as transparent as pos- sible, which can lead to debate as to appropriate degrees of transparency. Boards of 2019 need to be bet- ter informed than ever, and so you may identify development resources. Boards monitor and provide recom- mendations on risk registers and ERM; sexual harassment policies and cybersecurity are just a couple of elements. With digital disruption and changing demographics, boards may consider technology strategies as well as traditional investments in bricks and mortar. There's also shareholder and stakeholder activism, and ESG – also known as environmental, social and corporate governance. I present to assistants from across the continent on the governance professional career. Taking on this role requires tacit acceptance that you must always act in the best interests of the organization. As you build your governance expertise and institutional knowledge, you'll be able to offer advice and diplomatically speak truth to power. I promise you this: you'll be challenged, and never bored! International speaker Shelagh Donnelly educates, inspires and challenges assistants on cybersecurity, governance, digital disruption and matters of longstanding relevance to the career. She has extensive C-suite experience and is past chair of the Board of Directors of Governance and President's Office Professionals (CICan:GPOP). Assistants from more than 100 countries turn to Shelagh's Exceptional EA website, https://exceptionalea.com, for professional development. Step up to a governance role (Part 3) Board support gives you an inside view Shelagh Donnelly APC in Toronto June 16-19 More than 600 admins are expected to attend the annual Administrative Professionals Conference in Toronto June 16-19. The APC, at the Westin Harbour Castle, has in recent years been scheduled in April. Among workshop and sym - posium presenters will be AAU authors Leslie Hughes, Helen Latimer, Rhonda Scharf and Janice Vilaca. For more information: apc- canada.com