Do you need an executive administrator? Many you may have already heard about how an executive administrator can act as the backbone of a company, but if you’re still not convinced, read on to find out why you should get someone who can fill that role.
An executive administrator is usually an administrative assistant or secretary who has moved up the career ladder. A person in this role typically has a lot of experience performing clerical tasks because executive administrators have to spend several years in a lower-level administrative position with fewer responsibilities before they can be considered for the post.
While high-level executive administrators are unlikely to perform basic clerical tasks that can be handled by an administrative assistant or secretary, those who work in smaller companies and startups usually do a little bit of everything in the workplace. So you will still see executive administrators handle mundane tasks like data entry aside from the more complex tasks they are required to carry out.
1) Calendar Management – An executive administrator is responsible for managing your calendar. She will schedule meetings for you, keep an eye on the clock to make sure that the meetings don’t exceed time limits, prepare agendas, and ensure that there is no double booking.
2) Train and Supervise – Supervision of lower-level administrative staff is part of the executive administrator’s job description. She is also in charge of delegating tasks to the rest of the admin team.
3) Travel Preparation – An executive administrator will make travel arrangements for you. This includes making reservations for airlines, hotels, restaurants, and rental cars.
4) Correspondence – Your executive administrator will be tasked with reading and responding to the correspondence you receive. She will also edit and proofread the correspondence sent out, so she needs to have excellent spelling and grammar skills.
5) Project Management – You can put your executive administrator in charge of projects, and she can create reports to keep you updated on the progress.
6) First Point Of Contact – An executive administrator is expected to answer the phone and act as the first point of contact for all inquiries, especially if you don’t have lower-level administrative personnel working for you.
7) Human Resource Functions – Executive administrators can perform administrative duties related to the operations of the human resource office. So if you don’t have a human resource department in place, you can hand those responsibilities to your executive administrator. She can assist in payroll preparation, maintain your employee records, and post job ads on career sites.
8) Market Research – Let your executive administrator gather information about your target market so you can evaluate the feasibility of your product or service.
9) Finance Administrative Support – Executive administrators can provide basic finance administrative support. They can create and update spreadsheets of daily transactions, manage accounts receivable and payable, and review and process reimbursements.
10) Data Entry – Executive administrators can also work on data entry tasks for you like preparing and sorting documents, entering data into your database, and reviewing data for deficiencies or errors.
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A good executive administrator has to have the right combination of hard and soft skills to be successful in her role.
1) Communication – This is an important skill for anyone working in a team, but even more so for an executive administrator. As the first point of contact for your company, your executive administrator will be taking a lot of calls for you, so her verbal communication skills have to be impeccable. Also, her written communication skills have to be just as good if she’s writing emails for you.
2) Flexibility – Flexible employees are willing to do whatever is necessary to complete a task. This is a great trait to have as an executive administrator. This allows her to work through issues and cope with things that don’t go as planned. Someone with this skill is also willing to step outside of their comfort zone and do different tasks.
3) Multitask – If done right, the ability to multitask can be beneficial to productivity. An executive administrator will have to handle a wide range of tasks each day, so the ability to multitask is a skill she should have.
4) Computer Skills – An administrator should have proficient computer skills because she is going to using Microsoft Office programs like Word, Excel, and Spreadsheet, and other software tools that are widely used in the business world.
5) Self-Motivation – Someone who is self-motivated will look beyond the bare minimum of what’s required. That’s what you want in an executive administrator. This skill can help them overcome challenging tasks.
6) Time Management – This skill is very important for an executive administrator because aside from her own time, she also needs to keep track of the work done by the lower-level administrative staff she is looking after.
7) Organized – Executive administrators have to be organized because they will be handling a lot of files and information. This is one of the most valuable skills to have for administrative professionals.
8) Proactive – Executive administrators who are proactive and are happy to take the initiative are the best ones to have around. That’s because they can think ahead and take care of situations before they become problematic.
9) Attention To Detail – You will see this skill listed a lot in ads for executive administrators because details are everywhere in an administrative professional’s work. Even the smallest detail can have an impact on a task.
10) Problem Solving – This is another skill that every executive administrator should have. They need to have the ability to handle complex problems to keep things running smoothly.
Now that you know what an executive administrator does, let me show you where to look for one that fits your budget. Since the average salary for an executive administrator in the US is around $20 an hour, you may want to look for one overseas.
OnlineJobs.ph is always a good option because of the depth of the talent pool there, and the average salary for an administrative professional from the Philippines is only around $3 an hour. Just sign up, subscribe to a paid plan (the $69 plan should do), post your job ad, and start hiring. Don’t worry about the monthly fee because you can cancel the subscription once you’re done hiring.
If you don’t think you have the time to train one, you can always look for agencies that offer executive administrator services and see if they have someone with the skills you’re looking for. You will have to pay a little more if you decide to work with an agency, but you don’t have to manage the executive administrator, so you’ll have a lot more time on your hands.
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