Todas las personas que formamos el equipo directivo de SEiEM anunciamos, con mucha ilusión, que nuestra asociación es la Embajadora por España del International Year of the Secretary and Assistant.
1.
What
is IYOTSA?
IYOTSA is the ‘International
Year of the Secretary and Assistant’. It takes place in 2014. In 1984, a similar international celebration was
organised by the PSI and 2014 marks its 30th anniversary. The
2014 celebrations are coming out of South Africa and aim to raise the profile
of the role as a profession, rather than just a job, changing the perception of
the secretarial role as purely a support role and explaining how businesses can
best use those that are in the role.
2. Who is involved?
Over
100 secretarial associations/organisations worldwide have requested information
following an announcement that South Africa would like to organise an
international celebration of the profession for 2014.
3.
What
is IYOTSA’s vision for this year long event?
The vision is that we change
the world for Assistants all over the world next year so that they are
recognised for the work that they do. Not just an inward exercise in
self-congratulation, we want Assistants, their businesses, Associations,
trainers and companies that support this sector to campaign for the recognition
of this role as a profession.
4.
Why
is this important?
Did
you know that a fifth of the world's working population works in
Administration? That is a whole heap of people to be misunderstood.
One
of the top degrees you can take is an MBA – a Masters in Business
ADMINISTRATION. Think about some of the key roles in our world – titles like
Secretary of State and General Secretary prove how important this role can be
at the highest level, and yet the majority of businesses still think of its
Assistants as doing menial and unimportant work. International Year of the
Secretary will be a great opportunity to spread the word that this is no longer
the case and to explain how the role has changed.
Since
2008 and the collapse of Lehmans, Assistants have been doing the roles of the
middle management in addition to their own roles, because that layer of
management were made redundant. Initially Assistants were told that that they
would be taking on these tasks 'in the interim', most Assistants didn't get any
training for these additional tasks or any extra money but did get an increase
in workload of usually about 50% on top of what they were doing already. It
makes it the perfect time to launch this campaign so businesses understand what
the role is now. This year should be a celebration of the backbone of
commerce.
We
want to make businesses understand that the other companies that are using the
role properly, they see their Assistants as far more that of a strategic
business partner these days, rather than as a pure support mechanism. In many
cases we are seeing Heads of Administration on Boards of companies – rather
than the common perception of the Assistant as a Dolly Parton or Mad Men stereotype.
Please see Melba Duncan's excellent article on this subject at http://www.executivesecretary.com/Article/?Article=430.
5.
What
is the official kick off date for IYOTSA worldwide?
IYOTSA runs from 1st
January 2014 to 31st December 2014
6.
How
will each country celebrate and participate?
Each country will have an
official Ambassador for IYOTSA who will coordinate activity within their
country. We aim to have an Ambassador in place in every country by the end of
2014. Any event taking place, anywhere in the world for Assistants can apply to
be part of IYOTSA and carry the logo. The Ambassador will also work with
Associations, companies and individual Assistants to raise the profile of the
Assistant within their country and to sign as many companies up as possible to
commit to the IYOTSA charter (see below). Ambassadors will also coordinate
media and press activity in their country. We are aiming for National coverage
in newspapers, on TV and on the radio but local is also important, so we are
encouraging companies and Assistants to contact local newspapers, magazines and
radio stations about IYOTSA. In addition, Ambassadors will be responsible for
contacting and raising awareness of IYOTSA with politicians. Please contact us
to find out who your country’s Ambassador is or to volunteer.
7.
What
is the IYOTSA Charter and how can my company get involved?
The Charter falls into three
parts and any company, anywhere in the world can sign up to it as a show of
commitment to its administrative staff. Companies that commit to the Charter
will be able to use the IYOTSA logo on websites, promotion, job advertisements
etc. Getting involved in the Charter does not require any financial commitment
and provides your company with an opportunity to promote their commitment
internally (which will boost morale) and externally (which will generate
excellent PR for your company locally and give you an opportunity to get IYOTSA
into the local media).
We will have a page on our
IYOTSA website to list the businesses that have agreed to take up the Charter.
This promotes the businesses but also means that if a business gets involved in
one country, Assistants in other countries can pick up the mantle - so for
example, if Ralph Lauren in Italy agrees to take part, Assistants with contacts
at Ralph Lauren in the rest of the world can get on the case, as well as
Assistants at competitive companies.
Here is the overview:
Every
Administrative Professional, EA,
Secretary, Management Assistant, PA - whatever they are called, anywhere in the
world will:
a) Have a job description that accurately depicts the role you are doing
b) Receive investment in your personal development whether this is in terms of money or time to participate
c) Have the opportunity to network with your peers
a) Have a job description that accurately depicts the role you are doing
b) Receive investment in your personal development whether this is in terms of money or time to participate
c) Have the opportunity to network with your peers
Once a
company has agreed to the above, the company can carry the IYOTSA logo for
the year. It is a great way for companies to show and talk about their commitment
to their Assistants in 2014.
More detail:
Job descriptions
Every
Assistant’s job description should accurately reflect their actual job
description, not just a generic template with a 'and everything else we want to
give you' clause at the bottom. Without a proper job description, career
progression and pay increases are hampered because assistants are not being
measured against what they actually do. This is the perfect time to
relook at job descriptions because as explained above, the role has changed
totally in the last five years. It makes it the perfect time to launch this
campaign so businesses understand what the role is now.
Julie
Perrine (www.allthingsadmin.com) is the Queen of procedures. There is no better
trainer to develop a process specifically for IYOTSA for Assistants to
take back to their businesses and use to get job descriptions right. She has
agreed to develop the process and template specifically for
the IYOTSA website and well as to film a
downloadable free webinar to train Assistants how to do it.
We
are also aiming to compile a definitive list of job descriptions and publish
research during 2014.
In the long term we would like this
part of the charter to lead to discussions on worldwide agreed job titles,
qualifications and career progression.
Personal
Development & Training
Companies
should commit to invest in training either in terms of money or time to take
part in training.
We
don't want to make this about money which is why we have suggested investment
either in terms of time or money. But bearing in mind the enormous shift in the
role, many Assistants are in great need of proper training and personal
development to help them with the new roles that they have,
Executive
Secretary Magazine already has a page online with training on it, where anyone
can post their training or networking event for free. We will also be setting
up an IYOTSA page where trainers/training companies can
put what training they are offering for free. We will be encouraging all our
contacts to offer as much as they can, whether this is in the format of free
webinars, all the way through to scholarship places at some of the biggest
conferences in the world. If you are a trainer that would like to get involved,
please email me so we can start discussions as to what you might do to help.
We
will also be conducting some research into training for assistants, What is the
average investment globally, which country has the most investment, when was
the last time you had training, how many hours on average a year, when was
the last time you asked? - that kind of thing.
We
want those that have not got access to any training to be able to email us for
us to match them with free training resources.
We will guarantee anyone who puts their name down
will have had some form of training by the end of the year.
We will also post a ‘Business Case for Training’ document in this section.
I will have spoken in 21 countries in 2013 at over 100 events and in 2014 hope to speak at even more than this. As the magazine is the Official Global Brand Ambassador for IYOTSA, I want to use this opportunity to spread the word about IYOTSA and get the audiences excited and committed to it. I am happy to attend any event, anywhere in the world in 2014 and speak or Chair for free, as long as my travel and accommodation are covered. We have a very small window of opportunity to make a difference. Please contact me if you would like me to come and speak at an event that you are hosting. Testimonials are available at my LinkedIn profile http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=25058950&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
We will also post a ‘Business Case for Training’ document in this section.
I will have spoken in 21 countries in 2013 at over 100 events and in 2014 hope to speak at even more than this. As the magazine is the Official Global Brand Ambassador for IYOTSA, I want to use this opportunity to spread the word about IYOTSA and get the audiences excited and committed to it. I am happy to attend any event, anywhere in the world in 2014 and speak or Chair for free, as long as my travel and accommodation are covered. We have a very small window of opportunity to make a difference. Please contact me if you would like me to come and speak at an event that you are hosting. Testimonials are available at my LinkedIn profile http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=25058950&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
Networking
All
companies that sign up to the Charter should either have their own internal
Assistant Network or actively encourage their Assistants to join a local
networking group for Assistants.
Executive
Secretary Magazine already list networking groups and events but would want to
expand this for 2014 and make it more useable, allowing groups/events to upload
their own content and make it searchable.
We
also want to recognise companies that have their own internal Assistant
networks.
We
will be conducting research this year into the ROI on these networks
as well as what works and what doesn't when you set one up. This will all help
with the message.
We
want to put Assistants in touch with local networking groups so they are not so
isolated which is the single one thing that we hear most when we meet
Assistants. It can be a very lonely job.
In
addition there is work to be done pairing Assistants and organisations in more
affluent countries with those that are without. We need to encourage them to pull
together The IAAP Johannesburg scholarship scheme, which supports those without
the revenue to pay for their own training to train to be Assistants is a great
example of what can be done. IAAP Johannesburg pays their fees, for books, for
a suit for the first interview, for travel etc.
8.
Will
we see/ meet all the other countries participating in IYOTSA?
There will be a website www.iyotsa.com which
will keep you up to date with all activities and press surrounding IYOTSA. Your
country Ambassador will cascade information down to us so we can put it on the
website.
Events will also be listed as well as
participating companies and Associations.
Watch
this space for details of a very special international event for all
Association representatives.
We would
like to connect as many IYOTSA supporters as possible next year for the good of
the profession.
9.
What
message does IYOTSA want the media to promote?
There will be official Press Releases
throughout the year and we are working on getting interviews with some high
powered Assistants so we have something generic to send out but the key
messages are above. At a local level, we are happy to give you freedom to
promote the year in whatever way you see fit.
10.Does IYOTSA have a social media presence?
IYOTSA
is already set up on Twitter at @IYOTSA14. Hashtags are #iyotsa14
#changingtheworld #oneprofession:onevoice
and
on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/groups/IYOTSA-2014-4975569?gid=4975569&mostPopular=&trk=tyah&trkInfo=tas%3AIYOTSA%2Cidx%3A1-1-1.
Follow both to be kept up to
date with what is going on globally.
11.I want to be involved! Give me some ideas – what
can we do to help?
We
are looking for Associations all over the world to get involved and spread the
word to their members.
All
Associations, organisations and trainers that are involved can display the logo
on their websites.
Could
you organise an event or a series of events, or do you already organise events
that could come under the IYOTSA banner?
Could
you generate media attention both for you, IYOTSA and the profession?
Do
you have a magazine or website that could carry information or news about
IYOTSA?
Do
you have an internal newsletter/magazine/intranet where you can raise awareness
for the role and its transformation within your business?
Would
you be able to help us to get companies to sign up to the Charter – whether
many or just one?
Do
you have training/personal development either online or face to face that you
would be prepared to offer free of charge?
If
you organise a conference, could you get a few places sponsored so people who
wanted a scholarship place could attend?
Do you have a database of
Assistants that you could contact to help us spread the word?
What contacts do you have that
might help us? Do you know people in the media or politics that might get
involved and help? Not only that but what contacts
do your contacts have? This is where Networking comes into play.
Not sure yet how you might be involved but still want to be kept up to
date? You can follow still contact us and we will put you on the database to
receive the newsletter so you can keep up to date.
We
would love to hear any ideas that you might have to help spread the word too.
Get in touch.
12. How is Executive Secretary
Magazine involved?
The IYOTSA initiative
is coming out of Johannesburg and the PAFSA but they need a global media
partner that can get the message out there and that is working on it
24/7. We also have day to day contact with 82 associations and
organisations for Assistants all over the world as well as many trainers which
makes us an ideal partner for this initiative.
We have therefore taken on the
‘Global Brand Ambassador’ mantle. As part of this we will build and host
the IYOTSA website. We can manage it properly and keep it as a
living, breathing entity to ensure we achieve what we should do this year.
We will be funding and maintaining this website and its messages for the team
in Johannesburg.
Our
events production people will be building an animation for us that organisers
of events in 2014, anywhere in the world, can use as part of their opening
sequence or to highlight IYOTSA 14 during their event. We are in
the process of putting this together. Let me know if you would like a copy.
FOR MORE DETAILS PLEASE CONTACT:
Lucy
Brazier
CEO,
Marcham Publishing | Publisher of Executive Secretary Magazine | International
Speaker | Conference Chair | Expert on the Administrative Sector
T: + 44 1932 560974 or + 44 7875 477165
E: lbrazier@executivesecretary.com
T: + 44 1932 560974 or + 44 7875 477165
E: lbrazier@executivesecretary.com
Anel
Martin PAFSA President
T: +27
813553165 or E: iyotsa2014@gmail.com
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