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Jackie G
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« on: August 05, 2011, 04:43:59 pm » |
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Not often I have a rant, but I need to clear my head of this. As PA to the Chief Exec, I am a one man band. So when I am not around, ie on leave, off sick, etc, there needs to be cover. My predecessor is still in the organisation, in a different, promoted post. I have tried to ask her less and less questions in the seven months I've been there so that she doesn't feel used.
In April at my first 1-1, I brought up the subject of who would cover for me when I was on leave etc. Oh, we'll need to sort that out... Last month I asked for a few days off - bad timing, it was right up against when he was going on leave. So I changed the dates - eventually. I didn't have anything planned, but wasn't letting him know that.
For his return from leave (hopefully chilled, 3 weeks in India!), I completed a leave request for some leave in a couple of weeks' time (in accordance with T&Cs) and early September. It has taken until close of play (in fact, after, he had to email me at home at my request) to agree this leave - some three days after his return! This is because they all went into a huge panic about cover. I knew things were partly in place and the gear just stepped up a little. But no, he still wanted to hear it from the director in charge of that area.
What he should have done? Agreed my leave first (after all, have taken very little since I started and am legally entitled to it) and then sorted cover. Having left him a fairly snotty email saying I wasn't impressed that it had taken 4 months to sort out, I think he got the message and emailed me at home to confirm it was approved.
ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks for reading and letting me vent!
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gee4
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« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2011, 05:44:13 pm » |
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Jackie,
While I see your point, there is not always cover for PA to the CEO. In my last job after I got made redundant, that left one PA. She was PA to the CEO and 2 Directors. When I lost my job she also took on my 2 Directors and the Chairman.
I have no idea how she coped, quite frankly I don't care, but surely there is not always cover in an organisation where there is a "one man band"?
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Jackie G
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« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2011, 05:49:06 pm » |
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That's true Gee but I have a boss who expects there to be cover. He was responsible for devising the job description and they forgot - despite it being pointed out by the then incumbent in post - to think about cover.
I gave them plenty of time to think about it, having raised the issue four months ago and still there was a drama!
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gee4
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« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2011, 05:59:33 pm » |
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Well in that case, lie next time and say you've a holiday booked. You gotta put yourself first.
What if, god forbid, you were on long term sick leave or had to go into hospital?
So much for forward planning eh?
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gee4
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« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2011, 10:35:41 pm » |
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Neither do I on a personal level for my boss, but for general things, someone can always book travel if required.
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Katie G
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« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2011, 08:41:23 pm » |
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I "sort of" have cover. We have three admins in the front office, each with their own areas of expertise. Events and external relations is one, bills and payments are another, and then me, the asst. to the AVP, in which I'm less "specialized" but handle things of a more delicate/confidential matter, along with more traditional duties like calendar, travel, messages, meeting setup, etc.
When we take vacation, we each try to have as many loose ends tied up as possible. Anything that might be hanging in limbo at 5:00 on our last day, we leave notes for each other about -- who to call, where to send a form once it's been signed, who's waiting for something to come in the mail... We also leave on our outgoing voicemails that we are away, and encourage people to either leave a message or zero out to our main number if immediate assistance is needed. So far, we really haven't had a disaster due to one of us being out.
Of course, being in the US, I don't think many folks, except at the most senior levels, tend to take more than one week off at a time nowadays. Heck, even our big boss is rarely gone for more than a week and a half. I really don't know what we'd do if someone were to take their three week's vacation all at once.
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gee4
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« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2011, 09:58:24 pm » |
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I used to work for a US company and while we got UK holidays, I was amazed at how poor the holiday entitlement was in the US.
I could never survive on that. Heck my boss goes on leave soon and will be away for 3 weeks.
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Atlanta Z3
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« Reply #8 on: August 11, 2011, 08:34:19 pm » |
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Oh yes I am so jealous of your holiday. I used to at least have banking holidays, but current company has six holidays a year with one floater and one appreciation day. We get 20 paid days off (sick vacation or what ever) it balances to about 30 days off a year. Any time off not used rolls into six bank which is a joke. I would have to take two days off to use sick bank and have a doctor's note. Knock wood, I can't remember the last two sick days I had.
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