Assistants are among the most overlooked workers in the world. These tireless individuals spend all day maintaining the organizational structure of a department or small business, completing tasks that range from scheduling interviews to answering the phones. Administrative assistants often possess an alphanumeric memory of the personnel at a company, and are experts at digging up information that may not be found otherwise. They deserve the same recognition as any other employee, if not more, and the end of April is the perfect time to reward these professionals with business gifts.
On April 25th, businesses and corporations around the United States will celebrate Administrative Professionals Day, which will experience its 60th anniversary this year. The day focuses on the unique skill sets that administrative experts have developed over the years, which include data management, gatekeeping and more.
If you can think of any employees that fall into this category, you might want to consider having a promotional giveaway to honor them on April 25th. However, there are a few guidelines that you should keep in mind before embarking on a promotional advertising campaign.
The International Association of Administrative Professionals
If your secretaries, administrative assistants and receptionists are not a part of the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP), you should encourage them to join immediately. This non-profit organization aims to improve the industry by offering educational events and seminars based upon the administrative world, and they are always seeking new members for lectures and other events.
According to their website, the IAAP claims “there are more than 4.1 million secretaries and administrative assistants working in the United States and 8.9 million people working in various administrative support roles. More than 475,000 administrative professionals are employed in Canada. Millions more administrative professionals work in offices all over the world.”
Promotional products can raise awareness of this agency by providing the history of the industry in general. For example, custom coffee mugs may mention that the IAAP was formed int 1942 as part of a timeline logo. This way, anyone who uses the mug can pursue membership immediately.
Keep promotional giveaways short but sweet
If anyone respects time management, it is an administrative assistant. Therefore, when holding a ceremony to honor the time a person has spent helping to organize an office, it is important to keep it as succinct as possible. This does not mean having a five minute presentation, but celebrations should not drag on longer than an hour.
As the business owner or marketing manger, it will be your responsibility to gather everyone and introduce the administrative assistance for applause. Then, everyone who wishes to speak about the employee’s dedication should be given a turn, followed by a speech from the honoree his or herself. Extended fanfare can be celebrated at restaurants and bars after five o’clock – while in the office, keep it professional and give out only respectable executive gifts.
Choose items that will be remembered and used for a long time
The longer your administrative assistant has been working at your company, the more luxurious a business gift should be. A good idea is to create employment tiers that are categorized by increasing years spent with the company. For example, you might stagger these at five year intervals. By stretching out these awards, you ensure that they are special enough that only dedicated employees will receive them. After all, if someone can last fifteen years at a company, chances are they deserve a rich, embroidered tote bag or personalized laptop case.