PA to Sir Trevor Brooking CBE, Director of Football Development at The Football Association.
Emma Kernan-Staines, FAPA DipPA, has the kind of job football fans would die for: not only does she work at the iconic Wembley Stadium, she also has the ear of one of English soccer?s most venerable practitioners: FA Director of Football Development, Sir Trevor Brooking.
Not that the role was initially a natural fit for Emma, as this dynamo of a PA wasn?t sure if she was quite ready for the ?blazer culture?. In fact, she was a little worried that the environment wouldn?t be buzzy enough for her, or that she might be frustrated by the nature of the work of a governing body where regulatory processes take time.
It was actually the original location of the Football Association?s offices in London?s lively Soho Square that first attracted her to the position ? ?that sold it to me more than the FA connection,? she says candidly.
Despite Sir Trevor?s legendary status in British football, Emma admits that she didn?t appreciate fully who he was before she came to work with him. ?I didn?t grow up around a football family, so I wasn?t really familiar with him, but that was better in a way as I wasn?t nervous and just got on with it.?
She was asked in her initial interview if she liked football, but was honest enough to admit that it wasn?t really her thing. Her feeling is very much that Sir Trevor is already surrounded by a coterie of brilliant football specialists, so she doesn?t need to be one, pointing out that he already has ?a fantastic business support team.?
While football might not hold that great an appeal for Emma, what she does like about her job is ?the variety of the work I?m responsible for each day, and the opportunity to provide input into so many different aspects of the business. I really appreciate the way Sir Trevor asks for my opinion and I consider it an honour to be able to participate in the decision-making process at such a high level.?
Although it took her a while to get used to working at Wembley after the atmospheric surroundings of Soho ? ?the circumference of the stadium is one kilometre, so you have to be prepared to walk quite a way to get to the HR department,? she laughs ? she has genuinely grown to love the place. ?It really does have such a fantastic, electric vibe, especially on event days, like for the NFL games, big pop concerts FA Cup matches or the Olympic matches last summer.?
Once she started working for Sir Trevor, Emma soon found herself ?propelled into a different stratosphere? when he asked her to set up a meeting with a certain Mr Gordon Brown. ?I checked the staff list, but I couldn?t see his name anywhere,? she recalls. ?When I mentioned this to Sir Trevor he just said ? not at all patronisingly, I must add ? ?He?s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Emma?.?
Apart from having to get used to upping her game in order to work at that level, she has generally been allowed to mould the role and ?run with it?. One of the challenges she faces is Sir Trevor?s aversion to modern technology ? he doesn?t use a computer or Blackberry, meaning that Emma has to handle all his emails herself ? a daunting task by anyone?s reckoning, as he receives up to as many as 100 messages each day.
?His inbox is like one big Tetra puzzle,? she says with a knowing nod of the head. ?It can be completely overwhelming with all the red follow-up flags and messages marked urgent.? Luckily, Emma prides herself on being a good communicator and is happy to take on the responsibility of responding on Sir Trevor?s behalf.
Her enthusiasm for the job is obvious and has led to her spearheading a campaign to elevate the status of the PA role across the entire Football Association. It?s widely acknowledged that she was instrumental in introducing the FA PA Pathway in conjunction with industry body, the Association of Personal Assistants, of which she is a non-executive director. Her resolution to gain more recognition for herself and her fellow PAs grew out of dismay that they had all been categorised as being on the lowest rung of the corporate ladder.
?I was infuriated, to be honest,? she says fervently. ?It made me determined to show our real value to the business.? She helped incentivise her colleagues to undertake courses that would result in an accredited qualification, the Diploma in Personal Assistance.
?It?s all about proving the business case,” explains Emma. ?The most important thing is to demonstrate to the HR and finance departments what they will get out of it. The benefits of having properly qualified staff cannot be underestimated,? she asserts. ?I?m so proud of my job, but what I?d really like to see is more validation and recognition from employers of the important role PAs play in organisations.?
She may not be that passionate about football, but when it comes to being a PA, Emma is certainly a major league player.
