What makes a boss great, is his executive assistant: Pradeep Mallick

Secretaries are the face of the organization - panelists say

The banquet hall of a city five star hotel saw congregation of over 200 executive assistants today who assembled to exchange ideas and enrich skills in order to remain relevant in a fast changing environment. Organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), this was the second edition of the conference titled Evolving Role of Today’s Secretary.

“Secretaries are the reason why some of the bosses are successful. They manage their boss’ schedules, lives, and play a key role in strategizing,” said Mr. Pradeep Mallick, past chairman CII Western region and founder Chairman The Listening Post in his address. “The qualities of a good secretary are good governance, bringing excellence in their workplace, managing humility with authority, and being discreet since they are privy to a lot of confidential information,” he said.

Executive secretary, also referred to as administrative assistant, is a person who performs a myriad of administrative duties. Traditionally, these duties were mostly related to correspondence, such as the typing out of letters, but with time their role has expanded to involve a multitude of responsibilities under various functions and the CII conference was conducted primarily to help equip the participants with the skills and knowledge required to excel in their role. The event saw participants from Pune and Nasik, besides Mumbai.

At the power packed conference, Mr. Pradeep Bhargava, Immediate Past Chairman, CII Maharashtra State Council, and Managing Director, Cummins Generator Technologies (I) Ltd. said, “As bosses, many times we tend to ignore the career aspirations of our secretaries. Since they are exposed to so many different management functions, many secretaries could be a part of the public relations or human resources function in an organization. Secretaries should try to enhance their skills and look for opportunities to grow,”

Bringing government’s perspective to the discussion, Ms. Malini Shakar, Development Commissioner – Industries, Government of Maharashtra, said, “The nomenclature Secretary has a different connotation in the government and private sector. In the government, the post of a secretary is the boss, while in private sector, secretaries are the personal or executive assistants to the boss which many a times is misunderstand”

Panelists urged participants not to see themselves as career secretaries but to broaden their horizons by seeking more challenges in other functions and roles. “A senior editor of Harvard Business Review began her career as a secretary. Likewise, there are three CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies who began their careers as secretaries,” said Mr. Vinay Hebbar, Managing Director, Harvard Business Publishing, India.

Mr. Shishir Tamotia, Chief Executive Officer, Ispat Energy Ltd., said Indian secretaries worked harder than their western counterparts, the same couldn’t be said about their bosses! “However in the West, a secretary will ensure that you don’t commit too many appointments, while here they go by the way the bosses want them to,” he said.

At the workshop sessions, Mr Sabira Merchant, Trainer and Personality groomer for Femina Miss India and Mr Gladrags conducted a session on self grooming, speech, effective public speaking. Mr Kedar Vashi from Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. through his interactive workshop touched upon skills that would assist a professional in self and career development. Dr. Hozefa Bhinderwala, Consultant Psychiatrist and Counsellor, Saifee Hospital and Prince Aly Khan Hospital, touched upon psychological, behavioral and emotional aspects of ones personality.