Survey: PAs are a ‘special’ bunch

Speak to most successful, accomplished senior managers and they?ll tell you that if it wasn?t for a personal assistant dealing with direct communications, diary and event planning as well as the constant stream of emails they receive ? they wouldn?t be in the position they have found themselves in.

Nowadays, PAs are the heart of many an organisation and play a key role in making business decisions for their bosses and companies. Here at PA Life, we are well aware of just how important a personal assistant?s job is. But now, there is the statistical proof to back it up.

A new psychological study, commissioned by Avery UK in association with Executive Secretary and BrainChimp, surveyed 300 PAs and 300 non-PAs in a bid to compare personal assistants with other office workers. The in-depth research looked at numerous factors of working life including PAs? personality traits, stress levels, responsibilities as well as their IQ, qualifications and emotional intelligence levels, comparing each aspect to the rest of the working population.

Some of the headline findings are below:

– Despite the fact that PAs are working longer hours than colleagues and being given tasks they have no training for – they do not report higher stress levels

– PAs have are very low on neuroticism which allows them to feel happier in life and work, despite stressful conditions and a challenging workload

– PAs have fewer qualifications than others in the office but an IQ test found they are just as intelligent as their colleagues

– PAs have significantly higher emotional intelligence levels than others in the office 

– PAs have the ideal skill set for business success. What would the workplace be like if more staff were like PAs and had a positive nature, a high EQ and the ability to handle stress? 

Read the study?s findings in full at bit.ly/1RPj812