It's sad that all of those images strongly imply not only that the secretary/administrative assistant is a woman, but also that the boss (in the ones where we see them) is a man.

I'm hard on this blog from time to time. This is a good post. I like how it brings together a few disparate concepts.

Personal anecdote: My work history is mostly startup companies, which tend to have somewhat "flat" management and egalitarian team ethics. In spite of that, this coded holiday always resulted in a small cache of cheap mementos, exclusively presented to female staff. Looking back, it's amazing I never caught it at the time.

Also, if you're the sole female on a network engineering team, what job does the team assign you? That's right: DOCUMENTATION!

Indeed, there are certain events that it is impossible not to participate in to a certain degree. I personally dislike christmas (no meaning to me as an atheist and I hate the months of commercialisation).
And yet sometimes i am in situations where i know that people will get me presents and therefore i am going to reciprocate. And then if you do something like that you're views that you don't really like this holiday much are treated like just some act.

oh my god, that first one is cookies by design, I used to work there and would recognize those butterflies and message cookies anywhere. You'd be amazed the number of holidays/occasions people will create just to sell overpriced baskets of cookies on sticks.

IMO, I dislike things like mother's day/valentine's day/secretary's day because I'd like to be able to be nice to my mother/lover/secretary based on a reflection of actual events rather than because it's the required day for it.

sophia-- I have a good friend who is just like you in this opinion. He decided never to give holiday gifts, and made his own holiday. It is the only time he ever gives presents to anybody, but they're always quite nice (he got me a nice wooden wine rack last year). He bases his holiday on solar eclipses and calls it--get this--Solarbration. It's non-religious, doesn't line up with the calendar in any regular way, and is based on a natural phenomenon. He has a whole series of traditions and foods, too, and he has converted all of his friends. I have to say, it is awesome to have a holiday that hasn't been co-opted by Hallmark.

I'm working on developing Blue Moon-a-palooza, to celebrate a blue moon (the second blue moon in one month, quite rare). Take that, Secretary's Day!

As a second generation florist, this post hit a specific button of mine.

A quick trip to wikipedia tells me: "National Secretaries Week was created in 1952 through the efforts of Harry F. Klemfuss, a New York publicist. Working in conjunction with the National Secretaries Association, later known as the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAAP), Klemfuss wanted to encourage more people to consider careers in the secretarial/administrative support field." and the IAAP website tells me: "Since 1952, the International Association of Administrative Professionals has honored office workers by sponsoring Administrative Professionals Week. Today, it is one of the largest workplace observances outside of employee birthdays and major holidays."

So, faux holiday it may be, but us retailers did not invent it just to swindle people.

The floral industry is not really a "big business". You do have FTD and Teleflora, as well as order gatherers and drop ship businesses (who are really in no way florists), but the average florist in your hometown is more often than not going to be an independent, locally owned business. My point is that when people talk about florists greedily trying to force the public to celebrate random events, they need to realize who they are talking about: businesses that make almost no profit and people who work very hard (seriously, it's dealing in perishable items and interpreting the emotions of the public) for very little pay.

Administrative Professionals Day is not a huge florist holiday, as, apparently, you believe. We are slightly busier than during a normal week. Not only that, but this week is a barrage of higher-ups coming, extremely petulant about having to get a gift for someone lower in the company. Over half of my customers have bitterly told me that the secretary "is lucky to be getting anything."

Now, I do disagree with the obligation to give gifts (and really, for an employee, wouldn't a bonus or time off be more appropriate?), and I get that they just don't want to do it, but you would not believe how put upon they act because of this day.

So basically, the social construct of mandatory gift giving sucks, but individual retailers don't have the power to change that, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't come into my store and give me a hard time about it.

I know those cards are meant to be funny, but I wouldn't laugh if I got one.

If an office would burn to the ground without its administrative assistants, and those people are so much more capable than their stupid bosses who can't even locate their own heads, then we should promote them or pay them more or something instead of giving them condescending cards. That's probably not really the case, so it's both patronizing *and* inaccurate to say anything beyond, "you're a really great administrative assistant, and your work is necessary." They should say that frequently, and verbally would do just fine - as a former assistant, being treated daily with respect as a legitimate worker with a real job would have meant a lot more to me than a card.

I'm not saying administrative assistants all need to switch places with their bosses or something, obviously. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. It's just that when you give a card that makes a joke like, "you do all the work and I suck and am stupid, heh heh, but somehow I'm still in charge of you and earn three times your salary," it's not a nice gesture. The joke is on you whether it's true or not, because you're not the boss and you probably never will be. HA, HA!

I have always worked in government offices so the day has been an opportunity for me to do a little something for the secretary who does the work that I ask her to do even though we are both paid by the same source.

What I cannot stand is the term "Administrative Professional." Now, in my office, all the administrative staff, no matter what their salary range, get special presents. The accountants and office managers make as much money, if not more, than I do.

How about a simple " I couldn't do all I do without you doing all you do."
nothing wrong with showing you appreciate those who work for/with you.
And nothing wrong with a day reminding people they're not alone in their success... They had help and should say thank you now and again.

That said- those cards are stupid for all the reasons mentioned above.

I feel like this is the kind of thing that you could avoid by compensating for it in other ways, for example giving time off at the end of major projects or bonuses on holidays, or somehow making it obvious that you value your workforce. If a person felt well-compensated and appreciated every day in their company I doubt they would need the "___________'s Day" band-aid. If your assistant is going to be embittered by not getting cookies on a stick once a year clearly you're doing something wrong, in my book.

grammar correction ahoy!

The holiday is meaningful, of course, only because (like with mothers) we take-for-granted and devalue what adminstrative assistants do everyday.

you keep using that word. i do not think it means what you think it means. or, "everyday" is an adjective; you want the adverbial phrase, "every day."

The ideas in this article relate well to my recent gender socialization paper in that there is a standard, or expectation of behavior and set of values associated with male and female that we feel socially inclined to acquire. Similarly, the system of society is characterized by ways of doing - of what is celebrated, of how people should react to certain situations, of what is expected of us as students, for example. Society is socially constructed, based on social control, sustained by our acceptance and adherence to obtain the cultural values.

I find social expectations very interesting. I have enjoyed my sociology class because the sociological perspective asks me to step back to ask why I behave the way I do, or what standard do I live by, how am I controlled? As I ask myself these questions, I find myself abiding by the customs and attitudes deemed right by society.

I argue that social control results from the need to be socially integrated - the need to be a member of society, to be a part of a group. By nature people are social. We need to be socialized; we are fulfilled with purpose as we acquire a sense of our role within society from the socialization process. Moreover, the socialization process is matter of learning how to fit within society, and where exactly you can fit within society. In this regard, social control results from our desire to subscribe to the system of society - to find meaning and security within a system of standard values and expectations that we can learn how to relate to.

Professor Dalton Conley spoke to our class recently, and he mentioned an interesting idea relative to this article. Professor Conley is currently studying how our genetic composition and social behavior relate, that is how the aggression gene, for example, is acted upon differently within different environments, such as the inner city compared to an upper class competitive school. Within these distinct environments, a person's aggression could turn violent or it could make a person more competitive and driven to achieve the best. Therefore, social control influences our natural self. From how we are made, society transforms us to adjust to its ways of life, thereby forcing us to act in accordance to the surrounding environment. Moreover, I f ind it interesting how societies are bounded, and how different societies can be once boundaries are crossed - that social control binds its members so tightly that incredibly distinct boundaries are implemented.

Going with the crowd stabilizes society, as Secretary's Day implies. If the majority of society - or the most powerful few - were to jump off bridges, the rest of society would as well in order to maintain the sense of belonging. To follow something - to obtain a set of values and guidelines to abide by - provides us with security, support, and reliability. I think we would celebrate Secretary's Day because it adds more meaning to society as it makes the society more unique (the bonds are greater as more customs are shared). Furthermore, the identity of the group becomes much more evident if it is characterized with this socially accepted holiday.

Do you need your boss and your job as a low paid typing machine to justify your existence and make happy your life? Do you really expect your boss to give you gifts? Urgh. I'll assume this is an american holiday, I've never heard of it over here.

A bigger paycheck and less hours would be preferred.

Ditto on the American Holiday comment.

I must say that even though the imagery is pretty shameful, and doesn't do much for the recognition of women as dynamic "boss" types... Our Admin/ PA is THE go-to person in our office full of degree-toting professionals!

I think the issue is that the sort of organisation and personal skill that makes an awesome Admin/ PA isn't valued as much as white male (read middle-class educated) knowledge.

Imagine if we were paid not just for one set of knowledge but on how well we are able to mobilise resources, network and keep all of those key relationships functioning well in the workplace...

PS. I DO tell her every day how much I appreciate her!

Along with teaching, I am a departmental secretary and this post certainly hits home. While no one mentioned yesterday- not a peep- they did get me a "thank you" card and a gift certificate for doing a project that was completely my job. There doesn't have to be a "day" about it. Well, all of them did but the Chair, which is amusing. The dean used to give us all a rose, but that stopped. It reminds me of Valentines Day in that yes, some admins will get big bouquets from their bosses just as some women get them from spouses or boyfriends and we ooh and aaah, but it's not a measurement of appreciation just as the latter is not a measurement of love.

What gets me is "Boss' Day". Really?

As far as oppressive social norms go, acknowledging secretaries day is among the least burdensome. If you don't want to get a secretary a card, then don't. Personally, I don't buy cards for any occasion. It's a waste of money. Is it too much to politely wish someone a "Happy Secretaries day", or whatever the proper greeting is?

If the point is that we do things that we don't want to do in order to be polite, well, I guess that's true...

"You would if Secretary’s Day was being so ubiquitously advertised and promoted that everyone knew it was Secretary’s Day. And, if everyone knew that it was, including your administrative assistant, then it makes a statement NOT to mark the day. Marking the day is the path of least resistance. Not ”showing your appreciation” tells a story about you (you’re not a very nice person) or your adminstrative assistant (who must suck and be a crappy employee). And there’s nothing you can do about that."

This. Alternate example: About 3-4 years ago the Ontario Provincial government, in an effort to break up the wrist-slitting monotony that is February introduced a new statutory holiday called "Family Day". I could write an entire book on how marginalizing this is to single people, especially right on the heels of Valentines day, but I won't here.

But I did find in interesting that in the mere three or so years since its inception, there is already this 'social norm' (anecedotally speaking, of course) that dictates that if you have family, you need to plan special, family-oriented activities and outings. People around me were shocked that I would deign to actually VOLUNTEER to work that day, especially when I have kids (they were at their dads.. who, incidentally, is also family.. Go figure).

I'm pretty glad my boss did not observe "Administrative Professionals" Day, since I do think it's demeaning and rather sexist, especially as I'm the only woman in my office. I would much prefer consistent positive feedback for my hard work than cookies and balloons one day a year. Or, you know, a raise.

I work in healthcare, so it's definitely not the expectation that my boss is male. That being said, I think it's needed in my industry. I've worked in hospitals, doctor's offices, clinics, and now in health insurance. I understand that the nurses and social workers are licensed and make clinical/medical decisions on patient care. There is a national Social Worker's Day. There is a national Nurse's WEEK. When these people who make a starting salary easily 3 or 4 times what I've taken 5+ years to get to are apparently incapable of formatting a document or printing a form or putting things in a 3-ring binder without my assistance, I have to wonder why someone wouldn't want to recognize the effort I put in. What I do is a damned important contribution to the team. I also help organize these "recognition events". not every company is good at recognizing the efforts of its employees or even just letting them know they've done a good job. Sure, I'd rather have the bonus or day off or whatever. But if they're going to give me a cookie, then I damned well want my day too. I need the sugar some days just to get through the day without carving "CUT" and "PASTE" into their keyboards for them. God help them if they ever had to put pretty colors on one of their reports without my technical skill in Excel.

As a person who works out of the home and doesn't get paid (nor benefits, that's right, I'm "just a mom", whatever that's supposed to mean), this resonated with me deeply. I used to be a chemical engineer and you can imagine the status and pay difference I've experienced then and now. I've been thinking similar thoughts about Mother's Day (that is, growing irritated with the false pedestalling now and then, coupled with daily cultural, friend, and family devaluations of my worth and contributions, etc.). That said, mothers and carers (of children, of any vulnerable person or group) in nurture-oriented work, esp. unpaid, deserve acknowledgment, so Mother's Day like Secretarys' Day becomes a double-bind.

One other comment. When it comes to the inter-relations of people, if a boss is a good boss year round his or her behavior on Secretarys' Day is a moot point. That said, many jobs and occupations simply remain undervalued in SO MANY WAYS that one intelligent, kind, and appreciative boss, or a partner who gives an at-home worker respect, can't really take the sting out of all the rest of it.

It may be different in other industries, but in technology the number of admins has shrunk drastically since I started my career (in the 80s). There used to be at least one admin for each department; now, I believe, my company has one admin for every 400 or so employees. And their job involves very little that my father's generation would think of as "secretarial work." No typing, no dictation, no memos, no meeting planning (MS Outlook takes care of all of this), very little in the way of purchase orders or travel planning (now it's all self-service SAP). A lot of it is behind-the-scenes stuff that I never see, but I imagine that Microsoft is working on a way to productize it and add it to my job description.

(We recently needed to coordinate an all-hands meeting for about 90 employees worldwide, and the Director asked for a volunteer to organize it, because that's not considered admin work anymore, and our admin was too busy with her real job.)

The whole "Secretary's Day," by whatever name, is a reeking anachronism that belies its postwar origins as an assault on the wartime gains of women in the workplace. The very few that remain should be treated -- and paid -- as colleagues.

As a data entry person (who is a bit of a secretary to the secretary) I appreciate this holiday. Though perhaps for me that's just because the vast majority of the stuff I do is background stuff. Things that need to be done, records that need to be kept, but are not used much in the day to day running of things. So it's nice to have a day where a boss would say "hey, your job does matter and I do appreciate what you do"

Also helpful in my appreciation of this holiday is that I've never gotten any stupid cards or flowers for it. The first year I got a (cheap) bottle of wine, and the past two years I've been taken out to lunch. Which I think are nice simple practical things to give to/do for someone to show you appreciate them.

Well, this is like women/man/mother/father/children/valentin/whatever day for me. I wouldn't remember them for the life of me if someone in my office wouldn't mention them or someone I know was born on that day. But even then I don't celebrate them and fortunately enough my family doesn't expect me to give them some presents. The last time I did gave my parents presents for mother/father days (a couple of years ago) they didn't even knew it was mother and father days resp. and were suprised when I told them (and even wondered why I gave them something - "what for?" and "there is no need" were said).
(We also stopped giving presents to christmas. I can't tell you how relaxing that is - I don't have to worry about finding the right present for months anymore and have no stress in looking for said present. We just come together and talk, eat a lovely dinner and play board or card games.)
Recently if I've got the urge to give away presents (when I see something in a shop window or have an idea for a piece of handycraft work (and have the money at that moment)) I'll just do it and don't wait for an "official" occasion. The givee is often much more delighted by this suprise gift than on an official occasion. And at least *I* always have this "they only give this to me because of the holiday"-feeling when I get presents on such a holiday. (I also asked people to stop giving me presents on my birthday - boy, were they suprised. I had to tell them repeatedly that "yes, I'm serious. No presents. Yes, NO presents.". And before you ask: we normaly give away DIY handycraft works- nothing expensive- but they (=my friends) still wanted to give at least something!)
So, what do I want to tell with this little anecdote? If you want to tell somebody that you appreciate them, do so over the year. Don't wait for some artifial marked day.

I've been working as a secretary/receptionist/administrative assistant/clerk/whatever you want to call it for four years, and I've worked in 4 different places.

Secretary's Day was only celebrated once, and I went home feeling very good about myself - appreciated. It helps that I was being treated very well in my position, and I enjoyed my co-workers and what not. My boss ordered us all in lunch and we ate together in the lunch room.

Sometimes the owner would do something similar, on any random day. He'd bring us in Tim Hortons, and would always remember that I liked decaf tea. Little things like that help to break up the monotony and make people feel good about themselves and their work.

Also, one time another manager that was not my boss sent me a joke. It was about some zombies that ate a bunch of staff at an office, and no one noticed, but then they ate a secretary and the one zombie chastised the other saying "I told you not to eat any one important!"

It's a little silly and what not, but it made me laugh and feel as though he appreciated my contributions to the company. But then, that company did stuff like that all the time. They spent over $700 on my Christmas gifts that year!

So I think it should be taken in context and remembered that some people who celebrate secretary's day do so out of genuine concern for letting their administrative staff know how grateful they are.

It's nice to say things like 'oh, I'd be more thankful for a raise' or 'what about a day off?' but those things sometimes aren't practical or available depending on where you work. Also, if you feel you're really deserving of a day off or a pay raise, you'll likely have to ask for it - it won't be given to you for free.

As a Creative Director at an ad agency, it always amuses me to see the army of secretaries and switchboard operators in Mad Men. Almost nobody gets an "admin assistant" anymore, except maybe the big boss, and a one receptionist handles the whole place.

There are two things to consider here, though, apart from the sexist division of labour in those days:

1) That the office workforce has been greatly reduced, eliminating a whole sector of what were once living-wage, specialized jobs that contributed to the economy and self-sufficiency.

2) Many professionals (myself included), who bill out to clients at a high rate, today do all of their own e-mail correspondence, scheduling, timesheets and other admin. Before you say "poor baby", look at it from an efficiency point of view - each of these tasks now carries much more overhead than it would if performed by a specialized, non-billable (and yes, lower-paid and differently-trained) employee. Luckily for employers, though, we are simply expected to perform these extra tasks in addition to everything we did before. Just one more way our technological world has made us — men and women alike— into out-of-balance workaholics.

I wish I had someone to thank today...

My first thought on reading this post was, "Crap, I forgot!" Then I ran out and got our admin a Target gift card. Did I miss the point?

I personally don't think there is anything wrong with Secretary's Day; and don't see why gifts on this day and raises/time off need to be mutually exclusive.

Thanks for putting into words why this "holiday" always kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

It may have not been my idea to invent Secretary's day but I sure recognize the value of our administrative professionals and enjoy showing my appreciation in extra ways one day a year.  Let's not over think it.

As an admin (not a secretary! as in I do not make coffee, take dictation, or pick out presents for your wife), I appreciate the recognition and appreciation shown by some people in my office on this day. My office is great, and we have an atmosphere of mutual respect. However, my salary is governed by state law and showing appreciation in the form of a raise or bonus is not possible. As such, I make due with days like today for rewards.

As far as the day being compulsory, I don't believe that is the case. Many people do not even know about it, and I hold no resentment against those who don't observe it.

Why take away an occasion to recognize employees who are multi-talented, essential, and yet low-paid?

As a secretary/admin in the legal field for many years, I have experienced many different attitudes toward this holiday, depending on the company I worked for, as well as the attitude of the particular person who would be the bestower of cards/gifts.  My experience has been that this day is nearly always an uncomfortable one, and, generally, one that is treated as a joke and something that "must be done."  Although I have had bosses who did seem to genuinely appreciate the day and gave cards/gifts without any negative comments attached, there were far more occasions when I was told that they "didn't do" this holiday, or made "funny" comments about me not being worth it, to which I was expected to join in the laughter.

In my opinion, the holiday in many companies, particularly law firms, really reinforces the great divide between lawyers and their staff and the overall culture of many law firms and other businesses.  I often felt it was very similar to the old upstairs/downstairs UK class system, in which support staff was to be neither seen nor heard, and that this holiday was an attack on that system and an actual affront to the people at the top.  As an example, at my last place of employment, a small law firm, there were four attorneys and seven "support staff."  On Admin Professionals Day, each support staff was given a bouquet of flowers, and we were all taken out to lunch by the office manager, who was also considered support staff and was the person who ordered the flowers.  None of the attorneys attended the lunch, none of the attorneys gave cards, in fact they had absolutely no involvement in the holiday except for footing the bill.  The message they sent was very clear - "we have to do this, but don't think we will actually acknowledge you or your work in any way, and we do not wish to socialize with you in any way."  Although this was the most blatant example of the attitude toward this holiday, it was the prevailing attitude at most of the places I worked.

Thanks for the information your post brings. I see the novelty of your text, I will share it for everyone to read. I look forward to reading more articles from you. ghd sports

very good article. I enjoyed your post very much. Thanks for sharing so much useful information.

Thank you so much for sharing this interesting idea. The views in the article are extremely insightful and factual. I like it very much. Hope you will continue to have more articles like this.

Minesweeper