The Unusual Things Some Bosses Expect Their PAs to do

Copyright (c) 2011 Alison Withers

Earning a high salary for their services is one of the perks of being a top PA, but there seems to be no limit to the tasks their bosses expect them to undertake, some of them well outside the usual workload to be expected in a corporate environment.

It goes without saying that a top executive is likely to be extremely busy, perhaps stressed and certainly under pressure, especially during the economic uncertainty that has characterised the years since the onset of the global recession in 2008.

So in an effort to lift the early New Year's (2011) doom and gloom the following stories gleaned from anecdotes from PAs, who must remain anonymous, here is a selection of tasks they have been asked to carry out for their bosses, which the writer hopes will raise a chuckle or two.

It's almost become a part of the job profile for a PA to be able to write emails on behalf of their boss, correcting spelling and grammar along the way, but it seems many are still challenged by technology and regularly throw their expensive executive mobile phones at the hapless PA largely because they haven't a clue how to use it!

This can also apply to photocopiers, air conditioning and tv remotes, heating controls and other devices!

The PA is often also required to exercise extreme tact and an ability to be shock proof. Bosses have been reported to share the intimate details of their activities with the latest "girlfriend" and asked their PAs to book suitable and discreet rooms for the night, tables in lap dancing clubs and other such venues and taxis for the morning after.

Walking the dog? Midnight calls when the boss household has run out of toilet paper? Organising a birthday party for the kids? They're all pretty routine.

Equally routine is keeping track of his or her family commitments, wedding anniversaries, birthdays, dental, hair, gym, optician and other appointments for the whole family, organising the hire of a horse for the wife to have a gentle canter on a Saturday, buying and wrapping Christmas or birthday gifts for the wife - and sometimes the girlfriend - but of course never ever letting on to the wife that the girlfriend exists!

One harassed PA has told of a memorable occasion when she found herself having to tactfully stonewall her boss's wife, who had arrived unexpectedly in the office, with the excuse that he was out at meetings and not to be contacted, while all the time knowing that boss and girlfriend were at that moment indulging in getting "better acquainted" in a nearby unused office!

It is not unusual to receive a call from an irate boss stuck at a fog-bound airport where all flights have been grounded and requiring the PA to "fix it", it seems, nor are out of hours calls on weekends or even on Christmas Day.

A degree of clairvoyance is definitely an asset when it comes to producing tea and other refreshments made exactly to taste and at the time required even if the boss has not said a word, not to mention working out what action he wants to take when he doesn't know himself.

All of this may be amusing and light-hearted but there is a serious point here. Too often top PAs feel obliged to say "yes" to any demand from their boss, however, unreasonable, say employment experts.

However, they advise that bosses may have their idiosyncracies and that staff don't leave bad organisations, they leave bad bosses but there are ways of avoiding having to take such drastic action.

They suggest that a PA establishes a good working relationship from the start by being pro-active, making suggestions and working with their boss to develop understanding of the latter's habits and style of working. It is important also to establish boundaries, so that if the boss requests house cleaning or dog walking, the PA can refuse politely but firmly and with a reasonable chance of having the refusal accepted.