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Administrative Assistant’s Day is next Wednesday — which, in our experience, can be a difficult time for women lawyers and executives. Women tend to get to know their assistants better (and BE known better by their assistants), so any lack of a gift or a lesser gift than expected tends to be taken as a personal slight — whereas if men forget (or purposely give cheaply), the secretary thinks, well, they’d forget their own heads were they not attached. Which is another problem in and of itself, because any woman who shares a secretary with another person or a group of people knows that it almost always falls to her to remind the others in the group. Maybe we were oversensitive here, but who knows: Our tactic was always to remind the men in our group that Administrative Assistant’s Day was coming up, and then to assign it to the most junior among us to collect the money and purchase the gift. (Fine, maybe the “assignment” was really more like asking nicely if he or she could take care of it, but either way we made sure that the sole woman in the group wasn’t the one organizing it every year.)
We’ve always been a fan of giving flowers for this particular holiday, but according to new survey results (conducted by American Express), the assistants would prefer cash — in fact, 79% would prefer a $25 reward to spend in any way they want rather than a $40 floral arrangement (20%) or $30 in chocolate (1%). Among the assistants surveyed,
feeling valued is important but if they are to be rewarded in the form of a gift, it’s important that they can put it to use. According to one administrative professional, ‘Much as I love flowers, they usually die within a week. A gift card allows me to choose something that will last longer or to indulge in something I wouldn’t normally purchase for myself.’
Our advice? Get a small floral arrangement (so the office as a whole recognizes what a great manager/boss you are) and a gift card (so your assistant actually likes you). Anyway, you lucky readers, you — American Express contacted Corporette with these very interesting survey results — and the offer to give away five gift cards, each in the amount of $100. Here are our rules (and this is our first time doing this, so bear with us):
1. Comment below, on this thread, and tell us what you’re planning on getting your assistant this year (or what you’ve given her or him in the past that went over well). You must give us a valid e-mail address to enter, as that’s how winners will be contacted.
2. We’re still going to moderate the comments and approve them manually, (as always, anything non-spam will be approved) — but the comment must be received in our mailbox by Monday at 10 a.m. E.S.T.
3. You may only comment once, unless you share the contest on your blog, your facebook, your twitter, or your favorite forum, then come back & leave a second post telling me where/how you shared — then you’ll be considered to have two entries.
3. Winners will be randomly chosen and we’ll contact the winners to get your address. We must be able to contact you by Monday afternoon (2 p.m. E.S.T.) to get your mailing address; if not we’ll select someone else randomly. We’ll also announce it on the site on Monday morning (not posting e-mail addresses, but referring to the winning comments).
4. Gift cards will ship from American Express and should be in your hands by Wednesday.
You can also visit www.americanexpress.com/gift to order a Gift Card for Administrative Professionals Day on April 22.
Karen
A spa day on me
Andrea
I used to think flowers were the way to go, but they only last for a few days…the latest idea was a basket of their favorite goodies to keep at their desk and really nice office supplies
Amanda
I am a second year law student, so I am not buying anything this year. Before law school, I worked in a very small office – there were eight of us, in a firm that had sixteen people total. We shared many duties, including answering the phone, etc. There was one person who was a personal/administrative assistant to the boss of the company, and we didn’t know what to do for secretary’s day for her… we felt it more appropriate for the boss to recognize her, but we still got her a nice plant for her desk. She grumbled for *a week* about how we didn’t show proper appreciation and how at other offices she worked for this wouldn’t be tolerated. I am glad that when I am a lawyer I will be able to follow the lead of other people – but I think something personal is the way to go for this sort of holiday (chocolates, coffee giftcard), plus a plant/flowers
Bill Dugan
I don’t want the $100. I don’t want to have sex with my secretary either. I used to have a secretary long ago that I should have banged, but she’s now a mess.
Rachel
I think it’s important that you take the time to know your assistant enough to get something that reflects him or her personally. That, more than anything, shows that you care about them and pay attention to their individuality. For example, one former assistant loved Florida Gators football, so I got her a few things reflecting that hobby.
Shannon
I’m a medical resident, and even though we, as residents, don’t have our own assistants yet, we work very closely with our attendings’ assistants. I am going to take up a collection from all 6 residents, and probably do either a starbucks gift card or small floral arrangement for each. The attendings do something larger, usually flowers, but I feel like it’s nice to acknowledge that they help us, too.
M
My secretary and I were actually friends before our present working relationship (we met at my old firm and then when I told her there was an opening at my then-new firm, she got the job). So we know each other pretty well. In addition to the usual (flowers and lunch), I try to get her things I know she’ll use. For example, I know that sometimes she craves pizza from her favorite local pizza place, so this year I’ll get her a gift certificate to that restaurant.
Liz
I will just get my assistant a card this year, because I was assigned to her recently and don’t know her very well yet.
S
I’m planning on giving my secretary some small flowers from the florist shop in my building, and either a gift card or cash.
C
I will give my assistant a gift card to her favorite department store and probably a small flower arrangement as well.
bl1y
Stefanie: Your response to your secretary coming in late every day because she stops by Starbucks is to get her a Starbucks gift card? The appropriate gift for her is clearly a coffee maker and a pay cut.
Amy
I gave our office assistant a bunch of beautiful tulips and some ymmy chocolate.
Carrie
I usually give my assistant flowers, a card, and a gift card. In the past I have done spa gift cards, which usually go over pretty well.
Kisha
My secretary was always telling me that she buys gifts for her newphews and neices at Macy’s so I got her a Macy’s gift certificate. I figured that if she doesn’t use it on herself, she’d at least use it to buy presents for others. In any event, the gift is very practical and she was pleased to receive it . Oh, and I also threw in a small bouquet of flowers for her desk at work.
Jen
My legal assistant loves flowers and plants. This year I will be getting her a “Christmas” cactus–flowering cactus that usually blooms w/beautiful flowers around the holidays. She will appreciate it b/c it doesn’t take a lot of water & is heat tolerant so it won’t die in our hot office over the weekend. The blooms will remind her again how much I appreciate her help long after the “official” assistant’s day.