Читать книгу Assistant’s Path In Russia: A Guide For The Profession. A book for and about Personal Assistants - - Страница 5

My career started as a receptionist in a foreign bank, whilst I was a student at university.

The fact that most of our stream went to work almost from the second year is the merit of our teachers and the dean of the faculty.

We were immediately told that theoretical knowledge is good, but we will use only thirty percent of them, and without experience, even the most brilliant graduate with a red diploma will not be needed much.

Alas, the laws of business are severe: besides knowledge, experience and practice are valued.

Since I studied English from the first class of a specialized school with in-depth study of Foreign Languages, at the time of admission to the university I could practically communicate freely at the everyday level. As it turned out, in order to sit at the reception desk, answer calls and meet guests, my level of English was quite enough, and I was hired.

This first job I still consider as fundamental in my career.

It was where I learned what systematicity and organization mean and how important it is for normal work.

Every person had their place. We worked in tandem with a second secretary, and this was my first experience of teamwork.

In addition to us, the administrative department had an office manager, an inner courier, coffee-ladies, drivers, department assistants. And, of course, an assistant to the President of the bank! Back then this position seemed to me something beyond the reach and unattainable!

Sometimes we combined the functions of a secretary and an internal courier. And then one of us worked full day at the reception, the second one shuttled round the offices with correspondence. And if the working day was on Friday, then those who worked elsewhere in the building on this day could afford to come in jeans!

This rule has permanently settled in my head, and wherever I work, I know that jeans and T-shirts I can afford only on Friday. And then, if there are no important meetings. But then, Friday’s metamorphosis concerned everyone, from the President to the drivers. It was especially fun to watch after the Department of Information Technology. All week, respectable young men who came to the office in suits and ties, turned into boys in colorful T-shirts and jeans.

In general, then it seemed to me that people who occupy high positions, can afford a lot, starting with clothes, and no matter what day of the week on the calendar.

How far I was from the truth! This now I know that less than ever, I can afford to wear what I want to the office. And this rule – the higher you climb the career ladder, the less free you become. Not in everything, of course, but in terms of conventions and rules – absolutely. In this there are undoubted advantages, you learn to look good always and everywhere.

And when you go shopping for new clothes, you cannot help figuring out whether you can wear it in the office, and if not, buying one or another thing may be postponed, because we spend most of our time in the office.

Despite all the complexity of the secretary’s work, I always remember my first job with a smile. At least because it gave me an understanding of the processes and devices of work.

Although, no, there is something else. I found out exactly who the most important person in the office is. More precisely, there are three of them. The secretary, the driver and the cleaning lady. Do not laugh!

The work of the first person is actually unrecognized and unrewarded. And before you challenge me on this statement, let’s remember together how each of you started in your administrative career.

And if you say that your way up has always been strewn with roses on the red carpet, and then in advance please forgive me if I do not believe you.

One time on Reception, my colleague and I were told to await the arrival of some tickets for one of the Vice- Presidents. This fact was controlled personally by the administrative director, and we had to immediately report on their delivery.

The next morning an uproar broke out in the office. The tickets were nowhere to be found! We searched for them everywhere: at the reception area, inside the office, and at the desk of the assistant to the President.

Although at the time it was obvious to me that it was pointless to look for them, since we registered the receipt of all incoming correspondence, and since there was no mark for the tickets in the registration journal, then there could really only be one conclusion – they were not delivered to us.

There was always a slight chance that someone took the envelope from the courier, forgot about the registration, and even forgot where they put it or to whom they gave it, but that chance was extremely small, because every pair of staff working on the Reception followed the same rules. And the probability that we amicably spit on the orders of our superiors was, to put it mildly, insignificant.

Be that as it may, a verdict of «You lost them!» was issued and, although my colleague and I were not fired on the spot, which seemed absolutely inevitable in such a situation, it was not very pleasant. Our supervisor herself took up organizing the reservation of new tickets, and all would be resolved, but that was not the end of things – the story continued.

After lunch, a messenger arrived from the courier company with the apparent «lost» tickets.

It turned out that they simply did not have time to deliver them to us the day before and did not bother to contact us to let anyone know.

It is not difficult to guess that there was another uproar at this! Only now the uproar was directed at the leadership of the courier service.

Towards the end of the day, when I made tea in the kitchen, the driver of the President of the bank came into the room. Of course, he knew about the epic story about the tickets. In general, news items like this are always spread with the speed of light in any company.

The driver was a man of a certain age, and from his point of view, when employees are accused of slipping, and then it is discovered that they were accused unfairly, then at the very least, they should receive an apology.

The whole story is to ask: how often do we notice people who by definition should be invisible?

We come to the meeting room after a meeting, and there should not be dirty dishes and crumbs on the table.

We arrive in the morning in the office, and under the table we have empty trash bins with a clean bin liner inside.

Once, however, the baskets were not empty, because there was some failure in the schedule of cleaning workers. At that time, I was already working as an assistant to the head of the department, and I took care of the situation myself, as it happened in my department.

Normally, when there is no rubbish, we take it for granted, but if the garbage builds up or appears where it should not have been, it is often only then that we sincerely begin to wonder, what is the problem? But it is nothing, it is just garbage. You, apparently, just forgot how it looks.

At this point, may I introduce you to Svetlana, the cleaning lady, about whose existence in your office you probably did not even know?

Next, we leave the house in the morning, and the car with the driver is already there, ready for us. And we do not need to wait, call an assistant or call the driver. Because they have already agreed among themselves, and you only need to get into the car.

And what if the person who is always driven by a personal driver, suddenly finds themselves having to go instead via the subway? I have seen this happen – and a more miserable creature was hard to imagine.

Although, you must understand that I tell this story with reservation: not everyone sees this as a tragedy of a global scale!

I think that the main thing is: when you got to the top and you are somewhere comfortable and you feel good, do not forget where you first started.

It will not change much in your life; it will change very little in the lives of subordinates, as their mistakes will still be noticeable. But it will help to save the human face and will not turn you into a soulless business card!

In one job interview when I asked about the personality of the CEO in the context of other things, the HR Director told me that the CEO’s current assistant tried to warn colleagues when the manager was about to come into the office: which was reminiscent of the very famous movie «The Devil Wears Prada».

Respect has nothing to do with servility.

And the management style, in which the manager’s door is always open to everyone, is much more effective than the one in which, despite the open door, no one enters it.