Administrative Professionals Day: Celebrating Your Staff

Administrative Professionals Day is celebrated every April. In 2023, it will be celebrated on Wednesday, April 26.

This holiday was created to recognize the hard work and dedication of administrative support professionals around the world. These are the people who keep businesses running smoothly every day.

Before we talk about how to best celebrate administrative professionals, let’s talk about who is considered one.

Who is Considered An Administrative Professional?

An administrative professional is someone who provides support to executives, managers, and other employees within an organization. They’re responsible for a wide range of tasks, including scheduling appointments, handling correspondence, preparing reports, and managing budgets. They may work in a variety of roles, including secretaries, office managers, and administrative assistants.

They may also handle tasks such as managing schedules, organizing files, preparing reports, and handling correspondence. In many cases, administrative professionals are the backbone of an organization and play a critical role in its success.

Some common job titles for administrative professionals include:

Administrative assistants
Receptionists
Secretaries
Clerks (financial, accounting, court, etc.)
Office managers
Chiefs of Staff
Executive assistants

The inception of Administrative Professionals Day dates back to World War II, when admin positions were difficult to fill. National Secretaries Day was started in response to show appreciation for administrative staff report, and the day was eventually broadened to include all administrative professionals.

How to Celebrate Administrative Professionals Day

This is a day to recognize administrative professionals and their hard work. As a leader, you can lead this charge—with fellow leaders or the whole office.

Here is a quick list of ideas for celebrating administrative professionals on their day:

Offer physical tokens of appreciation: Gift cards, handwritten notes, and small gifts can go a long way.
Let them take the day off: Why not?
Have the office pool together for a gift: Rather than everyone offer small tokens of appreciation, the office can pool together to buy a larger gift.
Cater lunch for admin professionals: Gather the admin professionals at your office together and take them out to lunch. You can bring the lunch to the office, too. In any case, center your appreciation on the administrative professionals—not the whole office.
Improve their workspace: While this recognition should not be limited to one day out of the year, Administrative Professionals Day is a great opportunity to celebrate the employee by upgrading their work space.
Encourage employees to show their appreciation: Leaders aren’t the only ones impacted by these staff. Let your employees know about the day, and encourage them to show their appreciation in any of the ways listed above.

It helps to know how the administrative professionals you’re recognizing like to be acknowledged and appreciated. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to celebrating your co-workers.

Related: 3 Things to Consider When Leading Introverts & Extroverts

Benefits of Employee Appreciation

Employee appreciation and recognition go much further than boosting office morale. When employees feel valued, they are more creative, motivated, and empowered. Greater than four-in-five employees say that recognition improves their engagement at work.

These behaviors can result in significantly less turnover, a positive company culture, and higher profits. Diving a little deeper, here are some benefits of employee appreciation—administrative professionals or otherwise:

Helps foster solid company culture: When employees feel cared about by their employers, it permeates throughout the company. Leading by examples can set the tone for current and future leaders. That will trickle down to the entire culture.
Boosts productivity: Sharing praise and feedback helps employees feel seen, reduces symptoms of burnout, and increases creativity.
Attracts and retains talent: Job seekers talk. If they hear a company treats its employees well, it could be a factor in wanting to apply to a position at your business. It also helps retain the employees who work for you.
Elevates the customer journey: Managers can’t put out every fire. When employees feel cared for, that can trickle to the customer journey and experience.
Reduces burnout/improves mental health: Recognition recharges enthusiasm in the workplace and also boosts creativity and flow. Offering kind words of encouragement to your team members provides them with a much-needed boost of confidence and trust.

Celebrate Your Administrative Professionals

When you take the time to celebrate your staff, it shows them that you appreciate their hard work. This is vital for all types of employees. Administrative Professionals Day is the perfect opportunity to do just that for one of the core parts of a business.