For the past two days, I’ve been deep in conversation with an organisation in Dallas, about how to restructure their administrative team to maximise ROI.
These conversations have been eye-opening, not because the challenges are unique, but because they’re the same ones I’m hearing in every corner of the world:
• How do we structure administrative roles so they deliver the greatest strategic impact?
• How do we move beyond outdated job descriptions that don’t reflect what assistants are actually doing?
• How do we measure the return on investment so that leaders see administration not as overhead, but as infrastructure that drives results?
The truth is, administration has never been more critical.
Organisations are grappling with hybrid working, digital-first operations, and the accelerating impact of AI. Transactional tasks are disappearing fast. What remains, and what is growing is the need for assistants who can act as strategic partners – project-managing, risk-spotting, driving clarity, and freeing up leaders to focus on what only they can do.
That’s why, for the last six months, I’ve been working with the World Administrators Alliance to refresh the Global Skills Matrix (first published in 2021) ahead of a relaunch.
The Matrix is designed to do three things:
1. Provide clarity, so assistants know what skills are needed at each level of the profession.
2. Create credibility, so organisations can finally benchmark roles properly and reward them accordingly.
3. Build career pathways, so we stop losing brilliant people because they can’t see a future in the profession.
The updated version will reflect the new realities: AI reshaping entry-level work, hybrid and global collaboration, and the growing demand for assistants who contribute at the highest levels of business.
But here’s the crucial thing. This can’t be built in isolation. It must reflect your lived experience. In the coming days, I’ll be releasing a short survey to sense-check what we’re hearing and ensure the 2026 GSM is rooted in reality. The results will shape the new framework, which we’ll launch next year.
This is our opportunity, as a global community, to define the future of the profession together. I can’t wait to hear your voice in this conversation.
