What does an executive assistant do?
What is an executive assistant? An executive assistant (EA) is a highly skilled professional who supports senior executives in managing their daily responsibilities. They act as a strategic partner, handling…
Updated 12/6/2020
New research, commissioned by Tiger Recruitment, has confirmed what we’ve known for a long time – for 73% of UK bosses, personal assistants are essential in helping to improve their mental wellbeing and reduce stress.
Since our establishment in 2001, we have become the go-to agency for permanent PA recruitment and have endeavoured to match outstanding personal assistants with employers of choice in London and further afield. We’ve recognised the importance of the PA role and the impact that a great PA can have on an executive’s professional and personal life.
In October 2018, we surveyed 600 senior managers, directors and owners of businesses across the UK, 300 of whom had a PA and 300 didn’t. Spread across a variety of industries, including financial services, IT, legal, retail, sales and healthcare, these leaders worked in companies ranging from under 10 to 250+ employees. The results revealed just how important support staff are to senior decision makers, regardless of industry or size.
There’s no doubting a fantastic PA or EA can significantly change an executive’s lifestyle. Receiving additional support, whether that’s diary management or acting as a gatekeeper, frees up senior leaders to focus on other things, allowing an innovative and creative approach to business matters.
Within the research, we also found that male and female bosses work differently with their PAs. In fact, 29% of interviewed female executives found having a PA improved their wellbeing, compared to 20% of men.
Key findings
- Three quarters (73%) of UK bosses say personal assistants improve mental wellbeing and reduce stress
- Leaders without PAs work on average 22 hours more each month than those who are supported by an assistant – this equates to as many as 34 days per year
- Over a quarter of bosses (28%) say their business doesn’t have enough PAs, while nearly one in five (18%) say their business doesn’t invest in PAs at all
- A third (33%) of those who don’t have a PA believe they would be more successful if they had one
- 30% of male bosses have a male PA, compared to 8% of female bosses
- Female bosses are more likely to hire a PA earlier in their career – 22% say they did within a year, while 31% hired a PA within 1-2 years. Just 15% of men hired a PA within the first year, while 16% hired within the first 1-2 years.
- 10% of female bosses spend 41-50 hours with their PA week to week, while just 4% of male bosses do the same.
- 21% of female bosses say their PA saves them between 10-30 hours a week, while 16% of male bosses say the same.
For those that had a PA, they named several key advantages, including having more time to reflect and think (45%), screening calls and unnecessary interruption (37%), being able to eat well (36%), time to exercise (26%), keeping up with life admin (24%) and more time to spend with family (23%).
The large percentage (62%) who cited being able to maintain their own health and wellness as a benefit of employing a PA is indicative of the general movement towards an emphasis of workplace wellbeing and work-life blend. Having a PA frees up executives of administrative tasks, allowing them to focus on their lifestyle and by extension, their mental health.
Below is an infographic to help highlight some of these results.
Look after your leaders
Mental health continues to be a huge issue for businesses across the UK, costing the economy over £35 billion last year. More specifically, recent research from Bupa found that more than six in 10 senior business leaders have suffered from mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression and stress. Therefore, any initiative that has been shown to successfully reduce the occurrence negative mental health should be embraced by businesses. Receiving administrative support in the form of a PA or EA could go a long way to ensure senior executives can remain at the top of their game.
Bosses should use their PAs as effectively as possible
When recruiting a PA, an employer should think about the scope of responsibility they could pass on, like a project or monitoring an email inbox. By taking the time to assess how they are spending their days, it will give them a framework from which they can allocate their tasks.
Should you need administrative support in the form of a PA, EA or secretarial recruitment, get in touch with Tiger today!
