Management assistant

Management assistants perform varied types of jobs, usually under general supervision. They carry out administrative tasks and support managers to ensure the entire department functions smoothly.

Management assistants typically perform the following duties:

• Coordinate schedules among executive team members and plan the logistics of each meeting
• Recruit, interview, hire and train office support staff
• Prepare important documents for reports, meetings and memos
• Assist with research and writing reports, or independently writing reports on behalf of upper-level management
• Organize and plan all company outings and events
• Manage all administrative staff members, including onboarding and training new team members.

The following job titles also refer to management assistant:

project assistant
assistant manager
office administrator
office assistant
management aide

Many management assistant candidates likely have at least a bachelor’s degree in business administration, marketing or another relevant field. Depending on the position’s requirements, some management assistants may have a master’s degree in business administration or an industry-specific discipline. Entry-level candidates may require on-the-job training upon behind hired, while those with previous experience may need little-to-no training and can transition into their role quickly.

Some entry-level management assistant candidates may have previous experience in an administrative or assistant position, while others may have other customer service or support experience in other settings. The level of experience needed to succeed in a management assistant role depends on the position’s individual requirements. Larger organizations may prefer a candidate with more experience to manage the hiring and training of all support staff. A smaller organization may prefer to hire a management assistant with specific skills that relate to the position or an entry-level candidate that they can train.

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

• the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
• the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
• the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Management assistant is a Skill level 3 occupation.

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to management assistant.

executive assistant
administrative assistant
fundraising assistant
accounting assistant
supply chain assistant

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of management assistant. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of management assistant with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

marketing assistant
strategic planning manager
budget analyst
promotion assistant
parliamentary assistant

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of management assistant.

• Company policies: The set of rules that govern the activity of a company.

These skills are necessary for the role of management assistant.

• Perform business research: Search and collect information relevant to the development of businesses in different fields ranging from legal, accounting, finance, up to commercial matters.
• Disseminate internal communications: Disseminate internal communications using the different communication channels that a company has at its disposal.
• Coordinate events: Lead events by managing budget, logistics, event support, security, emergency plans and follow-up.
• Maintain internal communication systems: Maintain an effective internal communication system among employees and department managers.
• Use different communication channels: Make use of various types of communication channels such as verbal, handwritten, digital and telephonic communication to construct and share ideas or information.
• Process commissioned instructions: Process instructions, usually oral ones, provided by managers and directives on actions required to be made. Take note, inquire, and take action on the commissioned requests.
• Support managers: Provide support and solutions to managers and directors in regards with their business needs and requests for the running of a business or the daily operations of a business unit.
• Use office systems: Make appropriate and timely use of office systems used in business facilities depending on the aim, whether for the collection of messages, client information storage, or agenda scheduling. It includes the administration of systems such as customer relationship management, vendor management, storage, and voicemail systems.
• Disseminate messages to people: Receive, process, and pass messages to people coming from phone calls, faxes, postal, and emails.
• Fix meetings: Fix and schedule professional appointments or meetings for clients or superiors.
• Write work-related reports: Compose work-related reports that support effective relationship management and a high documentation and record-keeping standard. Write and present results and conclusions in a clear and intelligible way so they are comprehensible to a non-expert audience.
• Perform clerical duties: Perform administrative tasks such as filing, typing up reports and maintaining mail correspondence.
• Liaise with board members: Report to the management, boards of directors and committees of an organisation.
• Build business relationships: Establish a positive, long-term relationship between organisations and interested third parties such as suppliers, distributors, shareholders and other stakeholders in order to inform them of the organisation and its objectives.
• Draft corporate emails: Prepare, compile, and write mails with the adequate information and an appropriate language to make internal or external communications.
• Liaise with managers: Liaise with managers of other departments ensuring effective service and communication, i.e. sales, planning, purchasing, trading, distribution and technical.

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of management assistant. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Accounting department processes: The different processes, duties, jargon, role in an organisation, and other specificities of the accounting department within an organisation such as bookkeeping, invoices, recording, and taxing.
• Financial department processes: The different processes, duties, jargon, role in an organisation, and other specificities of the financial department within an organisation. Understanding of financial statements, investments, disclosing policies, etc.
• Operations department processes: The different processes, duties, jargon, role in an organisation, and other specificities of the operations and manufacturing department within an organisation such as purchasing, supply chain processes, and goods handling.
• Public relations: The practice of managing all aspects of the image and perception of a company or individual among stakeholders and the society at large.
• Marketing department processes: The different processes, duties, jargon, role in an organisation, and other specificities of the marketing department within an organisation such as market research, marketing strategies, and advertising processes.
• Management department processes: The different processes, duties, jargon, role in an organisation, and other specificities of the management and strategy department within an organisation such as strategic processes and general management of the organisation.
• Personnel management: The methodologies and procedures involved in the hiring and development of employees in order to ensure value for the organisation, as well as personnel needs, benefits, conflict resolution and ensuring a positive corporate climate.
• Sales department processes: The different processes, duties, jargon, role in an organisation, and other specificities of the sales department within an organisation.
• Legal department processes: The different processes, duties, jargon, role in an organisation, and other specificities of the legal department within an organisation such as patents, legal cases, and legal compliance.
• Human resources department processes: The different processes, duties, jargon, role in an organisation, and other specificities of the human resources department within an organisation such as recruitment, pension systems, and personnel development programs.

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of management assistant. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Maintain statutory books: Maintain updated the statutory books of the company with the relevant information of the directors and secretaries, the directors interests, and the register of shareholders.
• Speak different languages: Master foreign languages to be able to communicate in one or more foreign languages.
• Apply statistical analysis techniques: Use models (descriptive or inferential statistics) and techniques (data mining or machine learning) for statistical analysis and ICT tools to analyse data, uncover correlations and forecast trends.
• Write meeting reports: Write complete reports based on minutes taken during a meeting in order to communicate the important points which were discussed, and the decisions which were made, to the appropriate people.
• Use free typing techniques: Know, use and write documents, texts and content in general without looking at the keyboard. Use techniques to write documents in such fashion.
• Assist visitors: Aid visitors by responding to their questions, giving satisfactory explanations, suggestions and recommendations.
• Draft press releases: Collect information and write press releases adjusting the register to the target audience and ensuring that the message is well conveyed.
• Manage personnel agenda: Schedule and confirm appointments for the personnel of the office, mostly managers and directive employees, with external parties.
• Track key performance indicators: Identify the quantifiable measures that a company or industry uses to gauge or compare performance in terms of meeting their operational and strategic goals, using preset performance indicators.
• Perform cost accounting activities: Execute the cost-related activities and operations within the accounting activities such as standard cost development, average pricing analysis, margin and cost ratio analysis, inventory control, and variance analysis. Report the results to management and advise on possible courses of action to control and reduce the costs.
• Maintain register of shareholders: Keep an accurate register of shareholders and monitoring changes in share ownership of the company.
• Revise drafts made by managers: Revise drafts made by managers in order to check completeness, accuracy, and formatting.
• Translate language concepts: Translate one language into another language. Match words and expressions with their corresponding brothers in other languages, while preserving the original text’s message and nuances.

3343 – Administrative and executive secretaries

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References

1. Management assistant – ESCO
2. Management Assistant Job Description | Indeed.com
3. Featured image: Photo by Iwaria Inc. on Unsplash