The title may say “Assistant”, but the impact is leadership level
What if your title was the least interesting thing about your role?
Working in business support recruitment, I believe I am in a valuable position to observe the intersection of women’s impact on business support and opportunity, progression, pay, leadership, and confidence.
Although we place plenty of men into our roles, women typically make up the backbone of this profession, and seeing as Sunday is International Women’s Day, I feel like this is the perfect platform to celebrate what I see women bringing to our industry – making a sometimes unquantifiable but critical commercial contribution. Keeping the machine running efficiently so someone else can do their job better, they:
- manage the chaos
- protect their leaders
- handle HR issues with discretion
- coordinate restructures
- keep teams steady during acquisitions and change
- drive culture, retention and morale
- Influence decision-making behind the scenes
- stand as strategic partners and trusted confidantes
- are operational powerhouses ….and much much more….
And yet, many are called “just support”. In recruitment, I have a front-row seat to the real impact business support professionals make; they are not simply diary managers or administrators.
However, too often women undervalue themselves, hesitate to negotiate, and stay loyal long after their impact has outgrown their salary.
To the women in these roles:
You are not “just support”
- You are influence
- You are leadership
- You are commercial impact
… and you deserve to be positioned accordingly.
To employers:
If you have an exceptional business support professional, invest in her. Benchmark properly. Create pathways. Recognise strategic contribution.
International Women’s Day isn’t just about celebration
— it’s about recognition and progression