Next Wednesday, April 25, is Administrative Professionals Day. Formerly called Secretaries Day, it was begun about 70 years ago to appreciate certain office workers who are often taken for granted. While it isn’t as popular as Christmas and Easter, those that it honors really appreciate it.

 

I remember one year, the other pastoral administrative assistants and I started plotting early. We left post-it note reminders of the holiday all over the church office, hoping for a big celebration. It didn’t really pan out for us, but every year we could count on a free lunch or at least a special thanks. But, we knew the pastors loved us anyway.

 

While your church secretary or administrative assistant probably knows that you appreciate him or her, it’s still nice to do something a little extra special once a year. As with most church activities, the problem probably isn’t your desire to honor them, but rather your budget. Here are a few ideas to make your church’s administrative professionals feel loved that don’t cost a thing:

 

Written Appreciation

It’s nice to get a card from your boss that says thanks. It’s better to get a card with specific thanks from everyone on staff. How much better would it be to get appreciative messages from church members as well?

 

If you really have $0 budget, don’t even bother buying a card. A card isn’t what matters, anyway. Grab a few sheets of paper and roam the office collecting words of encouragement and appreciation for your admins. Then, this Sunday, collect even more from your congregation. Some of them probably appreciate what the admins do as much as you do.

 

I guarantee, if you take the time to do that, it will be incredibly meaningful to the administrative assistant in your life. If it were me, I would treasure it and reread the messages during times of discouragement or when I was frustrated with my job.

 

The Gift Of Time

What’s the one thing that everyone wishes they had more of? Not chocolate (some people are unfortunately allergic), but time. Give your secretary the day or half day off. What kind of a response would you get if you walked into the office on April 25 and said, “Happy Administrative Professionals Day! Now go home, I’ll clock you out at 5.”?

 

I’ll warn you, though, some of us administrative people are very task-oriented and have deadlines to meet and might actually be upset by that kind of surprise. We have work to do and sending us home unexpectedly might mess up our schedule or plans. If you work with someone like that you probably know it, so it would be best to plan the time off for another day.

 

You can get major bonus points for this one if you can schedule with the admin’s spouse to take the day off and surprise them with a date. Especially, if they have young kids and don’t get out much. You would definitely win the boss of the year award. (If you can’t swing a date, a spa gift certificate is a close second.)

 

Homemade Treats

While a box of Godiva chocolate may not be in the budget, I’ll bet you could swing the $2 for a box of brownie mix and a couple of eggs. I can’t really speak for men, but I know that most of us women love chocolate. Even so, if the US obesity epidemic is any indicator, most of us really like sweets, whether or not we allow ourselves to eat them all the time.

 

More important than the fact that we all like sweets would be what making them yourself would communicate. Anyone can buy a box of chocolates. That takes about 5 minutes and can easily be done with a couple of mouse clicks. However, baking something yourself takes a lot more time and energy. It shows how much you value the person you’re doing it for. (If you’re truly incompetent in the kitchen, it still shows effort to ask your wife or one of your kids to do it for you, but, I’m telling you, boxed brownies are one of the easiest things in the world to make.)

 

Public Recognition

Administrative work can sometimes make you feel like a rat on a wheel. Many of the tasks are routine and repetitive, so you don’t always get to see real, motivating results as you do with more project-oriented work. I know that a lot of the pastors I worked with were always grateful and encouraging, so if you’re like that, a card might not be as special or out-of-the-ordinary.

 

How about you give the gift of embarrassment while you publicly praise your secretary from the pulpit this Sunday? Now, that would shake things up for sure. If my boss had done this, I would have been thrilled on the inside and bright red on the outside.

 

Public recognition can also lead to further recognition. Once you’ve thanked your admin publicly, a lot of the people that heard it will likely also thank them. This is great for employee motivation and morale, and also the sense of love and unity within the church. After all, a church admin isn’t just working for his or her boss, they work to serve the entire church.

 

So, you have 9 days to come up with a plan before Administrative Professionals Day. And, you can’t use budget as an excuse not to do anything. If you’ve got some money, everyone likes a free lunch or flowers. But, if you don’t have any money, use one of these suggestions to make your admin feel loved and appreciated. After all, your ministry is a team effort and wouldn’t be possible without them.