How to be the boss of an awesome PA

[brawhen]

OK that title is a bit twee :-)

My husband and I run a small business (6 of us in total). It is quite high pressure, and in recent years we've been quite successful. We both work full time.

We are looking to hire a business admin person to try and take workload off me. In addition to my role on our product/service, I also cover pretty much everything that is that is outside of the core work - so I do account management, licensing admin, HR, bookkeeping, office management, sorting out insurance, buying stationery, credit control.... That's the area that I want to new role to take from me. It is a business administrator rather than PA - but this new person is going to be working very closely with/for me. I have never had an admin assistant.

Please give me you advice on how to make this successful for us! What can I do to make this a great role and get the most out of it - for me, for the business, and for the employee?

In the medium term, I would love to end up with a sensible right hand (wo)man that can keep all of the business 'housekeeping' going and also take initiative on generally making things better, plus muck in to crisis manage occasionally.

Job ad is going up on Monday.

If relevant, it is a B2B service industry in the tech sector. We are in Scotland.

I have done this role; once for an amazing boss and once for an awful one, hopefully this little insight will help, but you posting shows you care, so I'm sure you'll be fab to work for.

Good boss:
I enjoyed having freedom to make my own decisions within a budget.
Job was varied and interesting, they were bothered about my opinion and asked for it.
They understood flexibility worked both ways.
Lots of feedback, praise and asked for my feedback too.
Got to know me on a personal level too.
Opportunities for development, courses etc.
Good pay, rewards, treats.

Bad boss:
No boundaries, rang, text, emailed day and night.
Unrealistic deadlines.
Micromanaged.
Had no emotional control, everyone knew if they were in a bad mood.
Nothing was ever quite right or how they would do it.
Not open to suggestions and ideas.

Hope this helps and good luck with finding the right person.

Pay well and respect them, you are outsourcing the 'shit work' of running a small business, don't underestimate the value of that being taken care of whilst you develop the business

'Shit work' is a bit harsh. It is normal everyday stuff, and it would be valuable to me to have it done well.

I would say take your time with interviewing to find someone you click with. I’ve been very lucky to be able to chose who I work with due to the way I’ve chosen to build my admin career and fit is everything - for you and for them. You can teach someone how to do your books, how to order the supplies via your supplier but fit is harder, if not impossible, to teach.

I have one previous employer who when I went back to work for her another time said that she had felt so relaxed that morning just knowing I was there, which made me feel great and I honestly will always work so hard for her and to represent her.

My current boss is a made of few words but he is being really supportive around some changes I want to make to push my own career. Consequently, one of the reasons for the way I am approaching it right now the way I am and not just leaving for a new job is because I enjoy working with him and his support for my development.

Another boss treated me as a proper partner. We brainstormed together, solved problems together and he saw where I had skills or ideas and let me run with them, present them to the Board and generally encouraged me.

A person in this sort of role is trusted with all sorts of info so you and they need a really solid base from which to start. Back to fit.

good luck, and glad you are asking.

Emphasise flexibility and openness to part time working/ hours around childcare and home working opportunities. Many are mums and this is so important to them. Many a good PA will leave a good job to get one with flexibility around childcare or a day a week at home with a young child.

Definitely open to flexibility on hours etc (we are recruiting for part time) - have put in the ad that we are open to discuss term time working or similar.

Thanks for the comments about "fit". I think that will be important.

I'm thinking this is right up my street :D I'm interested, OP!
North East Scotland by any chance?

Be honest in the job description. There’s nothing worse than starting a new job that’s been sold to you as interesting, challenging, varied, room to development etc etc when you find out it’s nothing but constant diary-bashing and expenses reconciliation.
Also, pay for annual CPD. It’s worth it and will make the successful candidate feel appreciated and valued.

As above about good fit, flexibility, taking time to value and listen to their perspective.
Adding, regular communication - with agreed written actions and timescale for completion for instance a meeting at a set time at the start of each week, evaluates the week before via the agreed actions and sets again for the week coming.
Don't ‘gaslight’, if you get it wrong, admit it. Don't pretend you haven't said it, or made a mistake. It makes staff feel devalued and unsure.

I think there is a useful point here. You're outsourcing the work for a (perfectly valid) reason. You don't want to do it/can't do it because you need to focus on other things. Some employers view this kind of work as the 'shit work' and some employers view this as 'valuable work behind the scenes'. How you view it will b a factor in how the person you employ feels about the value and worth of their job.

I'm a soon to be ex PA. I'm leaving because the lines between "valuable work" and "shit, headachey work that nobody else wants to do" got blurred and I ended up bogged down in rubbish rather than feeling valued and respected (and as though I was actually using my brain...). I also felt as though I was doing constant 'admin' rather than being trusted to use initiative and take the lead on things (this used to happen, but when I went part time after mat leave my role defaulted to more 'bog standard/business critical' admin stuff which I, frankly, find utterly boring).

Be clear about your objectives and the type of person/position you want to hire.

Do you want a general admin assistant (who will probably stay at the same level, doing the same stuff indefinitely)? Do NOT hire for a 'PA/business support manager' if basic business admin is all you require indefinitely. You'll want an office administrator.

Or do you want a PA/someone who you can trust to be an extension of you? Someone who you want to use initiative and take the lead? If you want someone really awesome, you're going to need to think about how you're going to keep them interested and offer progression (or accept that you'll lose them relatively quickly).

Some other tips... never underestimate the value of, quite simply, saying that you value someone/their work. Say please and thank you. Make them cups of tea. Acknowledge if a certain piece of work is a shitty request and say how much you appreciate them doing it. Reward appropriately where possible (I'm a firm believer in bonuses for admin staff, particularly where they're an integral part of keeping a business going).

Post-pandemic, lots of workers have the expectation of being able to work at least partly from home. If you are expecting the person to be physically present in the office at all times during working hours, I think it's worth spelling that out in any job spec. If you'd be happy to allow "hybrid" working, be crystal clear regarding your expectations of when the employee must be in the office.

What budget have you set for the role? Is there a bonus structure, and what prospects are there for the person? What value are you putting on the contribution, to enable growth, and to reward adequately?

@Poppins2016 thank you, that is great advice. My most important requirement just now is solid covering of the basic admin (ie an office admin/bookkeeping role). If I can find someone who will grow in to a fuller 'extension of me' that would be amazingly great - but then I imagine that person might not want to do the basic admin. (Maybe this exposes some shit work attitude I have??)

Those of you asking about CPD, what kind of thing would you appreciate?

Just make sure your husband doesn’t covertly rents a flat where he “entertains” her.

The admin vs an extension of you is a key point. Neither is right or wrong but may attract or need different people in terms of skills and/or attitude. The basic admin won't go away if you find an exceptional candidate who could do more - so would you hire an additional person or expect them to always keep the admin? You don't need to know for sure now, but giving it some longer term thought should help recruitment.

Another point to consider is expectations from not just you but also the others. Sounds like a small business so fit with the whole team is hugely important but also if someone in the team expects them to do the 'shitty' jobs it will be felt keenly. Small businesses are great for teamwork but for an admin who may get requests from everyone, there needs to be clear expectations and boundaries. Talk to the wider team about this before the new person starts.

@MadamAndTheAnts I'll keep an eye on it 😁 Unless you are speaking from experience, in which case 💐

@MrsOrange Thinking about it, the team is actually pretty good at sharing out the 'shitty' tech tasks that crop up. That will help everyone appreciate the admin.

I will think on the admin vs extension of me. I do think it will probably be easier to find the former than the latter.

There is excellent advice on this thread OP. I would just add the following (all from personal experience as that awesome PA (ahem)):

Do not, under any circumstances, lose your rag and shout at your PA in the office. If you consider there is something wrong speak to them calmly and quietly in a private meeting. In fact, don't scream or shout in the office ever - it's demoralizing for staff.

I know this has been mentioned up thread but definitely respect boundaries regarding calls, emails etc before or after working hours including weekends.

Don't cry wolf and say work is screamingly urgent and needs to be done immediately if it doesn't. Appreciate that they may have been given other tasks and that yours may not necessarily be the most important.

Acknowledge staff in the office. A simple Good Morning goes a long way.

If late working is needed please try and give some notice. This is particularly important if you're going to employ someone who may have childcare or other caring responsibilities.

Pay. Seriously all the polite stuff and recognition etc is good and super important but ultimately, pay. If you want someone competent and driven you need to pay accordingly.

Give them some autonomy, and some of their own tasks to be responsible for, not just smaller adhoc tasks you need done then and there.

I do this role and absolutely love it. Been with the current company 15 years as a result and I’m paid very very well and have a very high level
of autonomy over my work. I was hired by someone exactly like you looking for an extension of themselves to take over the admin, accounts, office management etc while they got on with expanding the business. What you’re looking for is trust, flexibility, and fair pay. You aren’t looking for a friend though! Yes, it’s important they ‘fit’ but keep the line at a business level. With my boss and colleagues yes we chat and have a laugh etc but I’ve never socialised outside the office and I don’t get involved in family drama with any of them. They know next to nothing about mine! This helps maintain the trust and confidentiality about business things between me and the boss. So I would take the time thinking about what you want the role to be and take the same time considering the applications and really pay attention during interviews and definitely take up references!

Thanks everyone for your comments, this was v helpful.

So - we've posted one ad for a basic admin person and one for an 'extension of me' ambitious role, which would also cover taking over some of my product/service role. If we can get both, I'll move to more business development (and we'll take over the world). We will be picky, and are willing to wait for the right candidates.

If the stars align, maybe our basic admin would grow to become the super admin idea over time. Then I'll retire :-)