What's most important to you as an Admin?

[andrea843]

 Another thread on the lack of good Admins got me to thinking.... and we all know what that means...a poll!  What's most important to you as an admin?

Results (total votes = 51):

MONEY! Give me green stuff, lots of it,  and I'll follow you anywhere!	5 / 9.8%
Respect.  Give me THAT and you'll have an employee for life.	19 / 37.3%
Advancement.  I don't want to be an Admin forever ya know!	13 / 25.5%
Learning.  Teach me new skills, and convey my worth to you for learning them.	10 / 19.6%
Other, see my heartfelt post!	4 / 7.8%

 

[jadegrniiz]

I had a hard time just picking one of those options, Andrea. The truth of it is, they are ALL equally important to me, and if any one of those 4 things were missing, I'd consider my job a personal dead-end.



If the money is top notch, but I have to lower myself to be something I'm not (ie errand girl, coffee server and shoe tier), then I'd walk away in a heartbeat. Same goes for advancement and learning. Keep me doing new things that will get me places in life, pay me for it, and I've found my dream job!







 

[goldenearring]

Good Saturday morning, Andrea:

I have a great combination of a number of things that make me so happy where I am at right now with my current position, that I keep pinching myself to make sure I'm not in a dream.  I can only thank God (and, believe me, I do all day long, every week!)  I am close to home, with a **LOT** of flexibility regarding my schedule (it's o.k. to work from home from time-to-time, come in late, leave early without having to ask for permission), great salary, great benefits, learning skills that have prepared me for the next step back, a dream boss who lets me call the shots regarding what I do and how I do it (as long as stuff gets done), and (on the whole) excellent co-workers who are there because they also have good deals and believe that if we all mind our own business and take care of the company's business, we can keep this good thing goin' indefinitely.  That's not to say there aren't problems, because there are.  But, they are much more manageable due to all of the above.  I have someone to mentor and someone to mentor me.  The longer I am there, I am finding it possible to shed some of the undesirable duties of my job and grow into other areas.  I hope everyone gets the opportunity to experience something similar to what has fallen into my lap at least once in their working life.  (I've been cheated, been mis-treated, but now, daggone, it I am loved! <BIG cheesy grin>)

[goldenearring]

Please, please, please write down ***on paper, in your own handwriting*** exactly what you want out of your next position.  Go get the book "Secrets of Super Selling" by Lynea Corson Hadley, and look up the guidelines on how to do this.  Keep that list you've made in front of your face day and night, and you will get a great job.  When?  I don't know exactly when.  All I know is that you have been cheated/mistreated/emotionally 'beated', and you will be able to find a place where you can take all the crap-ola you've experienced and pull it all together to be an incredible blessing to somebody else (like you're not already!  Do you see it?  I DO!)  I hope your ankle is feeling better, sweetie.  Write down what you want, believe you can get it, and go after it like there is no possibility of failure.

[msrobbie]

I must agree with Jadegrniiz that the absence of any of the categories listed would make my career less fulfilling.



To me, the most important thing is having my opinion solicited in the management process.  Working within a team of managers and having my voice carry the same weight as the other managers is worth so very much to me.



I have worked under tyrannical bosses and wimpy bosses and just plain psycho bosses.  While my work is not easy and throws new challenges at me each and every day, I thank my lucky stars (almost) every day for my general manager and the changes he has brought to our company.  My fellow managers come to me to discuss problems they are having within their departments and seek out my advice.  I can't tell you all how much that means to me.  And I, in turn, feel free to let my hair down with each of them when I have a problem.  We share our triumphs and our tragedies with each other, and our concern for each other is evident whenever a tragedy is upon us.  We are currently dealing with a heartbreaking situation, and our group has pulled together to be strong and supportive and hold each other up.



Respect is priceless, especially to admin personnel who have been through the mill.   To actually like and admire and respect the people with whom you work is the greatest job perk of all.



Fighting the flu in Las Vegas, I am . . .



Robbie  

[fullmoongoddess]

I also agree with Jade.  Balance of all the choices is the key but given the options, I consider Respect to win out by a nose.  



Dawn (celebrating today as my 14 year old son's FIRST day of WORK!!! )

[kknisley]

I believe that respect is what I'm looking for the most.  Respect that I do have a brain, respect that I have "been there and done that" in most situations.  If you have the respect of your boss and other members of the staff, the training, money and advancement will naturally follow.

[yankeestarbuck]

Respect, I'm afraid, is not high on my list.  It's earned, so if you can do a fabulous job, it comes naturally.  I had a hard time deciding between money and advancement.  I chose advancement, because with that, the money usually (not always) follows.  I'm not a job hopper, but I've done the money-no-respect-no-advancement thing and just money alone, doing the same thing (literally) every day for three years, I was happy to go.  No, I'd like advancement, a change in jobs and a change of pace and the like.  There may be a chance for that here in my current position, and I'm going to try and pursue that.  Wish  me luck.  I don't think I could maintain files (that is my main function) for another 3 years.  I'll end up leaving.  And my boss is the nicest man, so leaving him would be the worst for me.  But, time marches on.

[lioness70]

In my opinion, these go hand-in-hand.  If you don't get respect for the job you do, you'll always be stuck in an admin position.  An admin whose contributions are valued and whose presence is respected gets ahead.  Those who don't get respect from their bosses and peers stay admins (well, you know, we hired her to type, file and copy, and that's about it.  How can we possible expect her to succeed in a high-level job when all she does is type, file and copy???).  Unfortunately, I ran into the latter view at the 4 full-time jobs I held.  It wasn't just me-I never knew one admin who was promoted at any of those jobs.  Usually the reason why was just as I stated above-admin work was not seen as crucial to the company's success, so admins stayed in the same position-some for many years.  If more people saw how admins keep an office running smoothly instead of focusing on the "file, fax and copy" stereotype, more admins would get the respect and promotions they deserve.  But after they're promoted, you get that shortage of good admins that we discussed before, and then you get people trying hard to keep admins as admins because there's too many so-so admins who don't want to be admins...the cycle goes on and on.

[dedlered]

I have to agree with Jade here, it is a balance of all of the choices that make my job my career.  Lack of any one of them will make the job tolerable but always not quite it.



Thanks Andrea, for an interesting poll.



Laura

[ozbound]

I chose respect - although that means something more like appreciation to me - I was out sick a day last week and it really IS nice to come back and hear how much you were missed--makes it worth having a sick day once in a while just so you're reminded they really DO need you!

I can't say Money isn't important though--after all, it's hard to do a good job at work if you're worried about how you're going to pay the bills at home! It also somehow makes me feel more valued when I get a raise or bonus...like it's not just lipservice, they really DO care enough to show it tangibly, from the pocketbook!  

[countrigal]

I chose advancement...  Respect is nice to have, but it is something earned, and if someone won't give you respect, at least you can advance out of that position and hopefully leave that behind you.  And if you have advancement opportunities, then education must be offered with that in some form, so that takes care of that option... and then of course, we all know that with advancement comes more salary.  So start me out low on the totem pole, low paid, but let me work my way up that ladder, earning respect, gaining knowledge, and increasing my salary as I go.  That's a great job for me.