You will often find entrepreneurs who insist that they need to be in control of everything. That’s understandable. After all, they did embark on this journey to free themselves from the shackles of corporate life. However, these entrepreneurs need to understand that they don’t have to be personally involved in all aspects of their businesses. They can hire someone to take care of things to make their lives run more smoothly. That’s what an executive assistant is for. So without further ado, let’s go over the duties and responsibilities of an executive assistant.
An executive assistant’s responsibilities and duties vary depending on where they work. However, they usually include a combination of administrative and managerial functions.
1. Calendar Management – Managing an executive’s calendar is part of the job of the executive assistant. This includes scheduling meetings, ensuring that appointments don’t exceed time limits, preparing meeting agendas, and ensuring that there is no double booking or other scheduling conflicts when planning and accepting meetings.
2. Project Management – Executive assistants can oversee projects to make sure that everything is running smoothly and efficiently. They will make sure that tasks are completed within deadlines, and they will create reports to keep their executives updated on the progress of the projects.
3. Point Of Contact – One of the main responsibilities of an executive assistant is to act as a point of contact between the executive and both internal and external contacts. If there is no lower-level administrative staff available, she can also receive and screen phone calls, respond to inquires, redirect calls, and pass any information that requires the executive’s immediate attention.
4. Handle Correspondence – An executive assistant will spend time opening, reviewing, and distributing incoming emails, faxes, and other correspondence. She is also responsible for drafting and responding to correspondence, so she needs to have excellent grammar skills.
5. Travel Preparation – Making travel arrangements for an executive is a huge part of an executive assistant’s job. This includes making reservations for airlines, hotels, restaurants, and rental cars.
6. Train and Supervise – As a member of the leadership team, an executive assistant is expected to train and supervise lower-level clerical staff and take care of other office-management duties.
7. Finance Administrative Support – Since small businesses tend to employ minimal accounting staff, it’s usually the owners’ responsibility to keep track of the money coming in and going out of the business. Fortunately, executive assistants can help out and provide basic finance administrative support, like creating and updating spreadsheets of daily transactions, managing accounts receivable and payable, and reviewing and processing reimbursements.
8. Market Research – Market research is a key part of a company’s growth strategy because it provides data that can help solve marketing challenges that a business will likely face. Fortunately, business owners don’t have to spend all their time doing this because executive assistants can help them gather information about their target market.
9. Data Entry – Executive assistants can do the tedious manual data entry work necessary to keep a business running like clockwork. They can write reports, prepare and sort documents, enter data into the company database, review data for deficiencies or errors, set up and manage filing systems, create presentations, and transcribe, edit, proofread, and compile data for reports.
10. Human Resource Functions – Small businesses usually don’t have a human resource manager or HR department, so an executive assistant can fill the role and handle the duties associated with the position. She can maintain employee records, assist in payroll preparation, post job ads on career sites, and handle employee relations. An executive assistant can also maintain an updated database with all the information regarding the current employees of a company.
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To fulfill the duties and responsibilities of an executive assistant, one has to exercise a high degree of independent judgment and initiative. Executive assistants who can anticipate their executive’s needs and get things done without being asked are highly valued and can play a vital role in any company’s success.
“Simply put, the best executive assistants are indispensable. Microsoft will never develop software that can calm a hysterical sales manager, avert a crisis by redrafting a poorly worded e-mail, smooth a customer’s ruffled feathers, and solve a looming HR issue—all within a single hour, and all without interrupting the manager to whom such problems might otherwise have proven a distraction,” Duncan Group founder and president Melba J. Duncan said in an article for the Harvard Business Review. “Executive assistants give companies and managers a human face. They’re troubleshooters, translators, help desk attendants, diplomats, human databases, travel consultants, amateur psychologists, and ambassadors to the inside and outside world.”
Since the average salary for an executive assistant in the United States is around $4,000 per month, it’s better to look overseas if you’re thinking of filling this role – unless having someone physically present is absolutely necessary. If you’re okay with hiring someone from overseas, outsourcing to the Philippines may be your best option.
We usually go to OnlineJobs.ph to find the best talent at cost-effective rates. In fact, you may even find an executive assistant who is willing to fill the position for around $510 a month. Yes, you read that right. So head to the site and sign up, post your job ad, and start hiring. Check out this article if you need help crafting the perfect executive assistant job description. Once you have your list of candidates, just upgrade your account to a paid plan so you can contact them. It costs only $69 per month, and you can cancel the subscription after you’re done hiring.
Whoever you choose to hire, make sure that person is flexible and resourceful because she has to think on her feet at all times. If you don’t have the time or the resources to handle the recruiting process on your own, we can always help you with that. Just give us a call.
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