Lunch Is Nice, but Bonus Is Better : Working: Secretaries appreciate annual day of recognition but want more regular and meaningful rewards.
A Washington Post columnist recently asked secretaries whether they would like to dump Secretaries Day. Of the 300 who responded, only seven said they wanted to keep it.
Washington’s secretaries, apparently, object to the day being a bonanza for florists and restaurants and dislike the awkward lunches and the idea that a year’s work can be rewarded with a bouquet or a bottle of cheap perfume.
Maybe it’s the weather, but that sentiment is hard to find in Orange County with Secretaries Day just a day away.
Secretaries here seem to like the special recognition--as long as it’s not the only time of year the boss expresses appreciation.
“Secretaries Day is just a symbol,” said Marion Selover, a secretary for the Leukemia Society in Orange. “I don’t feel like people wait until this day to say thank you.”
“It’s kind of fun,” said Joan Hill, who works as a secretary for Julie Newcomb, chief executive of Costain Homes in Newport Beach.
A gift that the boss has taken the time to shop for is especially meaningful, said Cecilia Ruiz-Smith, a secretary at UC Irvine. “Lunch is not very interesting to me,” she said. She works for nine different bosses and, therefore, could be feeling very full if each offered a lunch this week.
One solution to the complication of one secretary working with multiple bosses, or vice versa, is the annual Leukemia Society’s Salute to Secretaries lunch and fashion show. It will be held Wednesday at the Beverly Heritage Hotel in Costa Mesa and at least half of the $30-per-plate ticket price benefits leukemia patients.
More than 300 people are expected this year, Selover said. Sometimes two bosses will accompany a secretary, or the company will pay for tickets for the support staff, or the whole office may go.
“People like the idea because it’s for charity, and (lunch is) more comfortable in a group,” Selover said.
Another solution is a companywide celebration. This year, the Irvine Co.’s retail group will host a lunch and fashion show for the company’s 350 employees, 75 of whom are secretaries.
And Rockwell International’s defense electronics division in Anaheim will award $100 and a plaque to each of 10 winners of its Secretarial Excellence Awards.
In addition, John McLuckey, president of the company’s defense electronics businesses, will speak at the awards ceremony about a topic chosen by secretaries.
This year’s topic clearly shows where their heads are at--the secretaries asked McLuckey to tackle the philosophy behind the company’s restructuring and where the company is headed.
What Secretaries Want Vs. What They Get Results from a recent survey show wide discrepancies between how secretaries want to be recognized for good work and how their managers generally reward them.
Type of recognition % Secretaries wanting % Managers giving Bonus 42 1 Raise 30 1 Time off 30 4 Letter of appreciation 29 7 Flowers 7 53 Lunch, dinner 6 77
Source: Professional Secretaries International
