Professional administrative positions are important in any institution as they allow for planning, management and other functions that help in smooth running of the organization. The inclusion of such positions is crucial for the success of an institution. There are various professional administrative positions in different organizations depending on the type of services they offer. Professional Administrative positions can be posted or advertised in online systems including LinkedIn, Monster and eBay which are highly popular. Therefore, the paper discusses into details professional administrative positions posted in the three online systems including the required features that an individual should possess to manage such positions.
Professional administrative positions posted on LinkedIn may include Human Resource manager, General Manager, and Chief Legal Officer. Further, some of the professional administrative positions that may be posted on eBay include Sales Manager, Procurement Manager, and Managing Director. On the other hand, the following professional administrative positions may be posted on Monster: Human Resource Manager, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Operations Officer. I have chosen on the above postings since they are key professional administrative positions that will help in understanding the role of such positions in any particular institution. Managerial posts always pose various challenges to a manager as he or she has to ensure every employee understands the system to ensure they do not deviate from the set goals and objectives of the institution. I mainly chose on Managing Director position since the professional has the responsibility of overseeing all the operations of the institution, and this gives a better picture on administrative positions which are key positions in regards to smooth running of an institution. I also chose the above postings since they cut across in almost all the organizations I have encountered. A post such as Human Resource Manager is present in all organizations since the position plays a crucial role in organizing and planning for employees; especially in matters such as remuneration and planning for training activities for employees for continual improvement on performance and services delivered.
The first characteristic that I feel is a strong feature for these administrative positions is good communication. Professional administrative positions require an individual to communicate effectively with their juniors. Good communication is crucial as a manager can be called upon at any point in time to address his juniors (Caiden, 2017). In the event of addressing his or her juniors, the manager should be able to speak fluently and clearly to ensure that the employees understand the point he is explaining. Professional administrative positions also necessitate that one can communicate fluently through writing as most of the communications are undertaken via emails. When addressing junior employees, the individual should use a friendly tone which makes the environment friendly for asking questions for clarification purposes. As an employee, I would be able to appreciate the role of good communication in the organization and probably emulate my boss so that I may also develop the same. Developing good communication skills may help me in the future when I secure a managerial position.
The next characteristic that I feel is a strong feature for these positions is organization skills. A good professional administrator should be organized in his or her work. With effective organization, one can balance competing tasks which have to be executed for smooth running of the organization (Bennis, 2017). As a professional administrator, one should be in a position to ensure that all the tasks are arranged in order of importance so that no task is left out and that one should have the ability to shift gears quickly depending on the prevailing conditions.
Lastly, these professional administrative positions require flexibility. A good professional administrator should observe adaptability as an attribute. Flexibility enables one to cope up with any duties that may arise in the event of executing a particular task. The individual should be able to execute tasks regardless of whether they fall within his or her schedule. As an employee, I can benefit from flexibility at the workplace as I will be able to execute my tasks promptly and have adequate time to carry out other duties that may arise regardless of whether it falls within my schedule or not. With flexibility at workplace, I will have high chances of getting a promotion as the managers are on the search for such employees.
Significantly, professional administrative positions pose various challenges. The first characteristic that is likely to be a challenge to these positions is the issue of time management. Most professional administrators are poor time managers not because they are lazy, but because they have various tasks to accomplish. Time management is key to the success of an institution, and therefore, managers should be at the forefront of ensuring schedules are observed to the latter. It becomes difficult to plan oneself when the individual has a series of tasks awaiting their attention, and at some point one may end up doing the tasks at their convenience or pace, and this results into poor time management (Kerzner, 2017). Poor time management among professional administrators can be rectified by creating better ways of doing one’s work, for instance, coming up with video conferencing sessions to lessen the time spent on attending a series of meetings. This creates enough time to plan one’s activities while ensuring the time slots for every activity is not interfered with.
The second challenge for such positions is that one is expected to fix every issue in the organization. Professional administrative positions require that an individual should be able to provide solutions to all the problems that may arise at workplace regardless of whether the person has adequate knowledge in that field or not since they are the overall and final decision makers. Providing solutions to some of the problems may be stressful and demanding; hence, making a professional administrator work under pressure. It is a devastating challenge when every employee is banking on the administrator or manager to provide solution to a particular problem when he or she has little knowledge about the problem. One way to ensure that the above challenge is solved is by employing technical staffs that have adequate knowledge about the problem at hand. The technical team will be able to provide a solution to the problem with much ease as compared to a professional administrator who has little knowledge about the issue.
Additionally, professional administrative positions are challenging as one can be blamed for anything that goes wrong. For example, once you are a position to make decisions about a particular issue, and the decision made gives negative results, then all the blame will be put on you regardless of who executed the task. To curb this challenge, one should put everything down in writing pertaining to the issue and clearly stating how the issue should be tackled so that incase a failure arises then it can be traced back to the procedure to establish where the default came from.
The top skills that I feel are essential for an administrative professional role include possession of strategic planning techniques, good communication skills, and organization skills. These three skills are crucial for the smooth running of the activities undertaken in the organization. Good communication skills would ensure information is relayed in the required manner at the required time leading to timely execution of duties. Strategic planning enables individuals holding professional administrative positions to prioritize their tasks in order of importance. Prioritization of tasks ensures that dependence tasks are grouped hence continuous flow of work. Planning skills also helping in arranging employee and executive calendars especially in cases where unexpected changes arise. Organization skills are necessary especially in organizing team schedules, events, and files.
In conclusion, I have learned that professional administrative positions play a significant role in institutions as the individuals in these positions are key decision makers in various operations and activities in the institution. It is, therefore, important to scrutinize individuals who are to be selected for such positions because if they do not possess the required character traits like good communication skills then the organization is likely to fail. The knowledge I have gathered about professional administrative positions is vital as it has enabled me realize the necessary characteristics that I need to possess to be an effective professional administrator in my future career. The knowledge about professional administrative positions has helped me understand the level of sacrifice for one to lead and level of competence needed for one to deal with employees from different backgrounds with diverse notions. Therefore, for smooth running of activities and success to be realized in an organization, there must be efficient and reliable professional administrators to steer the process.