Personal assistants are often the most knowledgeable people within businesses – and their bosses’ most trusted confidants, according to a survey conducted on behalf of FedEx Express.
Almost two thirds of PAs questioned said they believed that their bosses would trust them over a senior colleague.
The survey covered more than 220 UK based personal assistants and revealed that 90 per cent of respondents said that they were privy to important company information. Some 97 per cent said they had access to their bosses’ diary, 85 per cent to their emails and 80 per cent to their credit cards.
PAs handle and manage service providers, whether it is IT, travel or stationary suppliers, with 77 per cent of respondents liaising with or hiring up to five suppliers a week. PAs also felt trusted by their bosses to make the final decisions when liaising with these suppliers (57 per cent).
William Martin, managing director of UK Operations at FedEx Express, said: “PAs have firmly established themselves as forces of business, playing an integral part in the success of a company. You may think hiring a cleaning company, printer supplier or courier is relatively small scale on the face of things, but these are the decisions which keep smaller and larger businesses running. The trickle effect of one hire potentially reaches hundreds of people.”
