The Importance of Celebrating Administrative Professionals Day

An Administrator in the middle of Working.

Administrative professionals are some of the hardest working in any industry and so recognizing that effort goes a long way. Appreciating that hard work, whether it’s keeping the office organized, making sure things are scheduled and playing the role of support, which includes specialized tasks such as research, for example, can help build a stronger relationship with said administrators. Sure, the office could just pitch in and get something for the administrators and call it a day, but there’s more ways an office can show appreciation through the celebration of Administration professional day (also known as Admin day).

Administration day should be celebrated if only to acknowledge the hard work these professionals do on behalf of business as well as to show they are valued members of the team. Celebrating the day will not only raise morale but will show your appreciation as well as the office’s appreciation for their hard work.

How to Celebrate Administrative Professionals Day

A great and thoughtful gesture would be getting the administrators in question a small gift, such as a gift basket, mug, or even a treat like some candy, for example. The more thoughtful, the better. An accompanying card signed by the office would also be a nice touch as well. Besides just signing the card, small anecdotes; moments where their hard work paid off or when good times were had would also add something special to the gesture. If you want to go beyond, getting a flower arrangement is a great way to show appreciation.

Another great way to show appreciation to the office administrators would be to turn it into an event of sorts where not only do the administrators participate, but the entire office can as well. A team lunch, for example, is a great way for the office to get together in a casual setting in order catch up on a professional and personal level. You can even add a little flair to the lunch by turning it into a mini award show, for example-- creating fun categories for each of the administrators in the office to win a small trophy or prize, categories such as “Best Laugh” or “Best sense of humor” as examples.

A Chance at Team Building

If you’re looking for something more collaborative, creating activities, especially those that foster team spirit is a good way to celebration Administrative Professionals Day. This could be something as fun as an Escape Room, which offer immersive team-building puzzle solving. Escape rooms usually involve a team being locked in a room filled with puzzles and clues that need to be solved in order to escape the space within a set time-limit. That pressure encourages collaboration and quick problem solving win or lose. Or how about a team picnic or Bar-B-Que? Just like a lunch, this gives you the opportunity to catch up on a professional and personal level with the added bonus of being outside. Just like an escape room, a BBQ can give you the opportunity at team building through competitive sports, a game of volleyball or kick ball or even through around the Frisbee or football are but a few examples of activities that can help in motivate working as a team. You can even set teams up and create a friendly rivalry among the administrators-- the administrators versus the accountants, for example. As long as it is all in good fun.

Utilize Digital Platforms

Celebrating is one aspect Administrative Professionals day, but the lead up to the day should also be hyped in order to not only get the administrators excited, but again, to let them know how important they are to your organization. Word of mouth among the office is a great start, but also the use of digital platforms in order to promote the event is beneficial in a number of ways. For example, it could be a morale booster among the team, knowing they are only a couple of days before the event. Promoting online can also have the added effect of being good marketing for your business. Showing your customers—showing your clients that you care about your administrators is a good look for any business. But much better is showing your clients that you have faces-- that you’re just not a company with a brand, rather that there are people behind that brand, and well, there’s a lot of value in that. But it gets better! If you task your employees to share their experiences of the event through social media, those said experience can be used as marketing for your company even after the event has taken place. The sky is the limit when you put your people front and center. It’s a win-win.

Involving Remote Workers in the Celebration

An event like Admin day could be a good way to touch base with remote workers, whether they themselves are admins or not. If they are admins, don’t forget to include them in the celebration. Though a bit more limiting, depending on distance, there are still a few ways to include your remote admins. Like we mentioned previously, getting them small gift, like flowers, a gift basket, or even a gift card does wonders for morale. Including a signed card from the entire office is an even greater morale booster. Like before, it shows them that they are not only a part of the office, but they are also part of the team. If at all possible, expending the trip to the main headquarters of the business or office also goes a long way in showing how important your remote admins are, like paying for their transportation, or if from out of town, paying for their hotel rooms/Air BnB, though this is something you may want to save for the bigger events, like a Holiday party.

Gathering Feedback and Suggestions

The thing about celebrating any day to show appreciation is that it gives both the employer and employees the chance to give each other feedback or suggestions. Because it’s a celebration based on acknowledgment, this would be a great time to compliment the employees on their hard work while also making suggestions on what they can work on for the upcoming year. The same goes for the employees – any employer worth their salt is always open to suggestions or just general feedback on what can be done to improve the work, whether its conditional, or through aspects of motivation. Celebrating Admin day is one of the best times to both ask for feedback and suggestions from both ends.

Celebrating Together

The point of any celebration is to, well, celebrate. Celebrating your team members and acknowledging their hard work-- that’s what’s most important. Doing so, whether through gesture, gift, event, or just by flat-out telling them, that goes a long way in boosting morale and creating a team dynamic that will pay off in the long run by having a motivated team in a pleasant office environment. Any business, even small businesses are, in the end, collaborations. You want that collaboration to come from a place of enthusiasm. A day of acknowledgment could lead to years of efficiency and productivity – well worth it.