As an administrative professional, you are like the secret ingredient that makes everything better. Without you, everything at the office might very well fall apart. In other words, you help keep everything operational and running smoothly. As such, you are the person in the office that has a significant impact on company culture.

You are more than just a secretary — and likely have your hands in a little bit of everything. You also probably observe and hear more than anyone else in the office. This means you can more easily see when things are going wrong and when things are going right, making you the perfect person to identify what might help boost company culture.

You are also likely the first person many staff members see in the morning. Most staff workers will interact with you on a daily basis which means you are more likely to have an influence on everyone’s day.

All of this is to say that as administrative professionals, you are a fixer — you are seen as “having the answer to all problems” — and are somewhat of a master of all things office-related. For this reason, you are ideally suited to help build a more positive company culture by collaborating with your bosses and upper management to create better solutions.

1. Set a Good Example For a Positive Company Culture

Because of your position within the company, you are the ideal person to promote company culture and set a good example for everyone else.

You also — as mentioned above — are the person that tends to have the most direct contact with everyone in the office, so your positive attitude will more heavily influence others. As a good AP, you are simply a good people person.

So, as an administrative professional, the best way to have the most influence is to evaluate the company culture, identify what needs to change, and then lead by example.

2. Continually Recognize and Celebrate Team Members for Their Work

One factor that often leads to poor workplace culture is a lack of recognition. If employees don’t feel like their hard work is being acknowledged or rewarded, it can negatively affect morale and compromise workplace productivity.

As an AP, you are well-positioned to notice when employees are working hard and when they are perhaps feeling underappreciated. You can thus help battle workplace woes by verbally recognizing employees yourself and telling them what a great job they are doing.

You can also communicate this information to your bosses and collaborate on better ways to show staff that they are seen, heard, and valued, such as by starting an employee recognition program. Or simply by offering tokens of appreciation more often.

3. Clearly Define and Exemplify The Company’s Core Values

Having more clearly defined company values embodied every day by APs and upper management is another excellent way to boost company morale and create a more positive workplace culture.

Your company’s values are the core principles and philosophies that drive the business. They are what help staff keep a positive mindset and enable everyone to work together towards a common goal. They guide crucial behaviors and actions, and they can give employees a greater sense of purpose. 

As you are who everyone in the office sees and greets every day, you can help embody these core values and influence others to do the same. You can remind staff of the values, exemplify them in how you speak and act, and you can even make visuals about the values and post them around the office.

4. Encourage Healthy Habits

It’s not uncommon for staff to start prioritizing their work over their personal needs, especially in more stressful and fast-paced work environments. Unfortunately, this is a sure way to develop bad habits that can impact physical and mental health, which can then impact workplace morale and culture.

Companies that offer hybrid or fully remote workspaces can struggle with this in particular. When everyone is coming into the office, it’s easier to keep tabs on everything and ensure employees are having their needs met. But when employees work from home, they are more likely to neglect their needs.

There are actually many health risks that come with working from home, such as an increased risk of developing symptoms of depression from isolation, a lack of physical exercise, increased eye strain and musculoskeletal, and higher rates of burnout. So to keep this from happening and to maintain a more positive company culture, you can help encourage healthy habits.

For example, you can remind remote employees that they are allowed to take breaks and step away from their computers. You can send out email blasts to everyone with other ideas for ways to stay happy and healthy while working from home, like stretching throughout the day, eating healthy meals, and getting enough sleep.

And this doesn’t just go for remote employees, but for those that work in-office as well. Everyone can benefit from paying more attention to what their bodies need. If you are the one in charge of ordering office furniture, you can help by ensuring everyone has more supportive ergonomic chairs and desks. And if you are in charge of time cards, you can make sure everyone in the office is taking their scheduled breaks. 

In Summary

As an administrative professional, you are ideally positioned to help your company create and establish a healthier and happier workplace culture. While it is not necessarily your job to do so, you likely have a lot of influence on everyone in the office and therefore are better suited to set a good example. And as you see and hear more than most, you can also more easily relay this information to your bosses, so you can work with them on ideas to help boost company culture to help employees feel happier and more comfortable in the workplace.

Author Bio: Katie Brenneman is a passionate writer specializing in lifestyle, business, education, and fitness-related content. When she isn’t writing, you can find her with her nose buried in a book or hiking with her dog, Charlie. To connect with Katie, you can follow her on Twitter.

If you’re interested in improving your office skills, take the Administrative Office Professional course on officeskills.org. You can sign up here https://officeskills.org/administrative-professional-online-course/

Tags: positive company culture