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| Vol. 17, No. 33 | May 28, 1998 |
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| Vol. 17, No. 33 | May 28, 1998 |
A panel addresses the future of the secretarial
position at a
recent campus forum. From left are Anne
Boylan, history;
Bruce Hammonds and Judy Kline, both MBNA America
Bank, N.A.; Gary Hayes, Norrell Staffing Services;
Richie Holland,
UD employee services; and Tom LaPenta, UD labor relations.
The presentation, entitled "2001: A Staff Odyssey," was held May 21 in the Trabant University Center and featured speakers from both the University and the private sector.
The surge of new office technology and the growing trend of companies to downsize their ranks to increase profitability is moving the secretarial profession from the traditional, one-supervisor structure to one that is melded within a team environment that many companies are adopting. According to Anne Boylan, history, "We are now in a new era in the history of secretarial work, powered largely by a new technology that is transforming the work as radically as the typewriter did 100 years ago: the computer."
While technology gives some secretaries greater responsibilities, it also lessens demand for some clerical jobs. According to statistics provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of stenographers and typists is expected to decline by 1 percent between 1994 and 2005.
"There will be fewer secretaries in the future," Bruce L. Hammonds, senior vice chairman and chief operating officer of MBNA America Bank, N.A., said. "Technology will eventually take over what secretaries currently do, which will enable the profession to evolve into more of a decision-making role."
Hammonds said that, due to downsizing, a blurring of job responsibilities is beginning to exist between secretaries and supervisors. "Because we're all 'doing more with less,' a secretary is called upon to make more executive decisions now," he added.
Given this changing climate and definition, the demand for increased job autonomy is coinciding with an expanded job description. Panelists said that in order for secretaries to seek opportunities for advancement, they need to develop knowledge of the latest office technology, learn the company's mission, develop soft skills-such as office negotiation and creative problem-solving, networking with other secretaries and actively promoting their own goals within the company.
"If you have a dream, you need to have your supervisor's support," Judy C. Kline, certified professional secretary at MBNA, said. "You need to have everybody know what it is you want. You need to make them aware of your dream."
Many panelists expressed the need for more companies to play a larger part in building a stronger secretarial career track.
"Secretaries are becoming their own corporation within a corporation," Gary Hayes, marketing manager for Norrell Staffing Services, said. "As the definition of the workplace changes, companies will need to take a more active part in increasing job satisfaction and expanding the role of the secretary, to reflect that change."
To encourage professional growth for secretaries, the University's Office of Employee Training and Career Development is offering a Salaried Staff Career Development certificate-a series of six classes designed to create a personal plan for career enrichment and growth. To obtain certification, participants attend workshops on career planning, resume writing, the salaried staff classification system, educational benefits available to salaried staff, interviewing skills and goal setting.
Richie Holland, employee training coordinator, said the department is focusing on three phases specific to this curriculum: using technology, improving soft skills and providing work skills pertinent to the University's increasing de-centralization-which is placing more reliance on departments and offices to do the work once done by central units.
"It is important to know the culture and keep yourself marketable," Holland said. "In the University's system, the more you know, the better off you'll be."
As the definition of the secretarial profession has evolved through the years, so has its face.
From the turn of the century, the identity of the secretary has gone from being a male-dominated profession (in 1900, two-thirds of secretaries were men) to one that is now almost entirely female. Business schools like the Katharine Gibbs School and, locally, Goldey College in the early part of the century, provided women with "business track" training that offered job opportunities beyond domestic or factory work. By 1920, the national secretary pool had jumped to being 50 percent female, and by 1990, secretarial work employed the largest number of women working in paid occupations.
The forum was sponsored by the salaried staff constituency of the Commission on the Status of Women.
For information on the Salaried Staff Career Development certificate program and other classes, call the Office of Employee Training and Development at 831-2059, or access the website at http://www. udel.edu/EmployeeTraining
-Richard Gaw
Photo by John Chabalko
