This year, Secretaries’ Week arrives April 20th through the 24th, and it’s a great opportunity to celebrate the contributions of administrative professionals in the office with flowers from Walter Knoll Florist. Celebrate the holiday with a simple card of “thanks,” or go the extra mile with a special lunch and gift.
Established in 1952 by the president of the National Secretaries Association, the holiday has been celebrated on a variety of dates from April to June. In addition to the weeklong celebration during the last week of April, a special holiday also arrives April 22nd as Administrative Professionals Day.
Celebrating Secretaries Week Today
The concept of a secretary has changed over the years, and today’s administrative professionals may be male or female and may also have a variety of essential responsibilities in the office that weren’t part of a classic secretary’s duties in the 1950s.
Secretaries a century ago would have had responsibilities like taking dictation, arranging meetings for employees, and handling phones. In the fast-paced business environments of today, secretaries have often taken on additional tasks like editing correspondence and coordinating with other departments on important projects.
Today, Secretaries Week is known as Administrative Professionals Day, but businesses do have freedom in how they choose to celebrate. Not surprisingly, gifts of flowers or plants are popular, and it’s not uncommon for administrative professionals to arrive at work to find a beautiful arrangement waiting on the desk.
Flower Power
Choosing Gifts for Secretaries Week
In addition to recognizing the contributions of administrative professionals in the office, today’s celebrations also feature small gifts and tokens of appreciation. If an assistant routinely gets coffee for his or her boss, Administrative Professionals Day might be the perfect time for the boss to surprise his or her assistant with a cup of coffee and a morning muffin.
Choosing a vase of flowers as a gift is also an appropriate way to celebrate, and popular flowers range from elegant calla lilies tofestive baskets of springtime flowers. Virtually any combination of flowers will look beautiful on an assistant’s desk, but choosing flowers in an assistant’s favorite color is a nice way to show appreciation.
Celebrating and honoring the administrative professionals in the office is a great way to end April whether your office goes all-out and celebrates with a large lunch at a local restaurant or whether the celebrations are quieter in nature with lovely gifts of flowers or plants.
