Celebrate Administrative Professionals Day!

Today is Administrative Professionals Day! To coincide with the occasion, Staples.com conducted a survey through its social media handles to gather people's perceptions of the office manager. Here’s an interesting (yet perhaps not all that surprising) result: nearly two-thirds of respondents (65.2 percent) reported the office would be more likely to fall apart without the admin than without the boss.

In addition, the survey found administrative professionals fill many “official” and “unofficial” jobs at the office. The majority of administrative assistants who responded report their roles could be described as all of the following – from crucial business functions (human resources director, accountant) to personal support (concierge, therapist), even the impossible (magician, miracle worker).

The holiday marks a special occasion this year—it’s the 60th anniversary of Administrative Professionals Week/Day. Since 1952, the International Association of Administrative Professionals has honored office workers by sponsoring Administrative Professionals Week.

The IAAP says Administrative Professionals Week—which is always celebrated during the last full week of April—has become one of the largest workplace observances. The event is celebrated worldwide, bringing together millions of people for community events, educational seminars and individual corporate activities recognizing support staff.

Other interesting tidbits from the Staples.com survey: 41.6 percent of respondents said their administrative staff knows their day better than their spouse. And the majority of non-administrative professionals (67.8 percent) polled said they plan to give a gift to their administrative workers, with gift cards ranking supreme (26.2 percent), followed by flowers (19 percent) and food items (16.9 percent).

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