Survey by Brighton firm shows PAs feel undervalued (From The Argus)

Survey by Brighton firm shows PAs feel undervalued

2:06pm Wednesday 12th September 2012 in Business News

The growing importance of PAs in the workplace has been unveiled. A new survey shows that PAs often feel undervalued by their employers.
Today is National PA Day and the organiser of a major exhibition has produced a snapshot of how today’s PAs view their role in the workplace.
The survey, conducted by the organiser of The Office Show, based in Church Street, Brighton, shows that many PAs believe that their career development is overlooked.
The majority of the 1,431 respondents (56%) said that the PA role had grown in importance over the past 15 years. Only 46% said that career development was encouraged by their organisation with a further 40% reporting that it was neither encouraged nor discouraged. When asked how good respondents considered their career prospects to be, under a third (30%) thought they were ‘good or very good’, compared with 42% who said they were reasonable but that the onus was very much on them to further their prospects.
The full survey results were unveiled at The Office Show in London today. The two-day event features more than 170 exhibitors, expert training and networking for more than 4,000 PAs, office managers and executive support professionals.
Event manager Ali Mead said: “With businesses expecting more from their workforce than ever before, it’s easy to see how the growing contributions of PAs and executive support professionals can often get overlooked. “While the majority do feel appreciated for the essential business support that they provide, our survey shows that they don’t always receive the same level of support and career development opportunities themselves.”