Here is the next question from our World Class Admin. “How much information should an executive admin be privy to prior to the layoffs?” This is a great question and has a complex answer. I will explain this from 3 perspectives, as a:
· business owner for 18 years
· a 20-year employee in the administrative assistant profession
· consultant to executives and business owners
First when I was an executive assistant, I saw myself as a business partner to my executive. As a business partner, I expected to be included in everything. The more I knew, the better I could do my job. In that role, I was not much of a social chit-chatter. My style was a get-down-to-business attitude, even though I loved people and I had great working relationships. My first loyalty always was to my executive and employer. As such, it was easy for me to keep my lips shut.
With that said, I can tell you that, unfortunately, executives I know have been disappointed in their executive assistants because they divulged confidential information. Whether it was innocent on their part or not, the point is the information got out! Then what happens from the executive’s perspective is they feel they can no longer trust their executive assistant. That leads to not sharing future confidential information.
As the CEO of Office Dynamics and one who fully believes that my Chief Executive Assistant is my strategic business partner, I tell her just about everything that she needs to be aware of to assist me with the business. For 2 ½ years of working with me, she has proven to me I can do so. If she ever were to break that trust, I’m certain I would change my approach.
So to answer the question – how much information – it depends on the type of relationship an executive assistant has with his or her executive. Trust plays a big role in that respect.
With that said, I will tell you that there are some executives working in large corporations who have great relationships with their assistant. They are bound by the corporation, CEO, or Board and cannot say anything. Employees need to respect that and realize it’s not a “slap” to them.
Joan Burge
Read the first part of this article, Reduction in Staff - Admins Must be Able to Handle
Read the second part of this article, Reduction in Staff - Leaving in Tears