🤒 How Many Sick Days do we Take?
Your weekly round up of what's going on in the Admin world
Hello and welcome to this week’s Admin Wrap!
Do you know how many sick days the UK took in 2024? Have a quick guess before you scroll on…
This week I’ve been reading about how to prevent social isolation when working from home; how a face tattoo can measure stress levels; and what a terrible long-service gift looks like (spoiler: the manager clearly didn’t have an EA to source the gift for them).
🎂🍾 Next week marks The Admin Wrap’s 5th birthday! 5 years since I started writing these weekly emails in the hope that someone might read them, and 5 years later I’ve got over 6000 people subscribed!!
A huge thank you to all of you - for every “hello” I’ve had at events, and for every reply I’ve been sent ❤
Have a wonderful Friday
Yvette
NewsWrap
The sick rate in the UK in 2024 was 2%. That might seem pretty low, but it all added up to a whopping 148.9 MILLION working days! I don’t know about you, but that absolutely boggles my mind. It works out to be about 4.4 days per worker on average. Whilst this article says that the loss to the economy is large, I’d challenge that and say I bet there are a load of people who should be taking a day or two sick leave but don’t, which might even reduce their productivity.
I’ve been working from home for the past two weeks as I had (very minor) surgery on my knee and had to rest up and ice it. I don’t particularly enjoy going to the office, but I also don’t enjoy staying at home 100% of the time. So this article was quite timely on what things I can do to help prevent social isolation.
If you work from home, do you think you get the same promotion opportunities as your office-based colleagues? We certainly should, but a survey of 1000 managers suggests otherwise! I know someone who recently got completely overlooked for a promotion because they were on medical leave, so the old phrase “out of sight, out of mind” could very well be coming into play here.
Would you get a face tattoo so your work stress levels could be measured? Scientists have apparently come up with this concept which allows the bearers of this (temporary) face tattoo to have their mental workload measured. I’m not sure about you, but I’m pretty sure people can see clearly on my face when I’m stressed…
Have you ever had a long service gift from your employer? Years ago I worked somewhere where you got a Rolex if you worked with the company for ten years! I never made it that far, but I knew people who did. A person at this company got recognised for 40 years of service…with possibly the worst gift I’ve ever heard of!
If you’ve head about something better than this, please let me know!!PwC have released their second AI Jobs Barometer and their research suggests that not only is EVERY SINGLE industry using AI these days, but those with AI skills can command up to 56% higher salaries (remember, this is across the board, including those on very low salaries). An interesting report, and you can read the summary on LinkedIn.
Looking for a Mentor?
I’ve teamed up with three fabulous mentors to offer mentorship across a range of specialities. You can book in for an hour, or a block of three hours, to get expert advice and guidance from one of four women who all have vastly different backgrounds and experiences. Take a look here
Your Right To Switch Off
In our hyper-connected world, the line between work and personal life has become increasingly blurred, especially for Executive Assistants. We are the gatekeepers, the fixers, the problem-solvers, and the silent engines behind top-level executives. Our workdays don’t run 9 to 5; they stretch, shift, and morph around the needs of our bosses. Emails buzz at all hours, calendars clash across time zones, and the ping of a new message can feel like a dog whistle demanding immediate response. But where do we draw the line? More importantly, how do we draw it?
By referring your friends and colleagues to The Admin Wrap, you can earn yourself free access to The Extra Wrap - our in depth thought leadership pieces which are sent out every Monday. Can you make it to the top of the leader board?
💻 TechWrap
Each month we’re going to be deep diving into a software platform or piece of tech that you might use, and we’ll give you a Top Tip each week for it.
For June we are looking at Microsoft Excel (because that’s what you voted for!)
Freeze Panes to Keep Headers Visible
Make scrolling easier by keeping your headers in place. Go to View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Top Row (or selected rows/columns). You can do the same thing if you need to keep the first column too.
EventWrap
I’m a big fan of Jodie Mears and you can catch her on a webinar WITH her exec next Thursday 12th June at 1pm Eastern Time. Hosted by ASAP, you’ll get the chance to ask questions to both Jodie and her exec, Dave.
One definitely for the diary is this interview with Molly Denham, former EA at the Pentagon. You can sign up free for this EA How To event here
The EA Campus are hosting an Events Management Masterclass next Friday 13th June. This is a 3-hour session, hosted by Events Management Expert, William Thomson, and starts at 3pm UK time. Get all the details, including the cost, here
For a list of Conferences, head over to the Conferences section in our Ultimate Assistant’s Toolbox.
If you are running an event aimed at administrative professionals, please send me an email and let me know all about it - hello@theadminwrap.com
The Ultimate Assistant’s Toolbox
Your complete guide to the tools that every assistant needs! And it’s FREE!
