Is it worth a company investing time and internal resources in leveraging the competences of EAs and PAs? Yes, urges Eliana Bertassello, Executive PA reader, former PA at CBRE and now PA and office manager at Vailog Segro. Here, she tells Claire Muir why…
“When I reached CBRE, back in 2015, I noticed assistants where mostly confined to secretary roles and that was the reality of many national and international companies in Italy, of all sizes and industries. I immediately felt like doing something to change things but as they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day! When you need to work on a change of mindset you must make sure all preconditions are in place, otherwise it can be a big flop, with frustration, rage, and regrets.
It took me six years to take the first deep breath and make my proposal. It happened after a particularly illuminated and trustful people manager joined our organisation. When I started planning my program, I relied on all that I had learnt at IKEA, the previous company I had worked for, covering a double role of EA and internal communicator. I had also been trained in communication and change management, which became crucial for me.
The first tool I used was the stakeholder mapping, answering questions like who could be my sponsor, who would support me and who would resist my proposal? It flew quite naturally – during the meeting to set my objectives for 2022 I proposed my idea to my CEO. It was well-received and he referred me to our people manager who was enthusiastic. She immediately turned into my main sponsor and the person who made all happen.
A meeting with our COO followed and, finally, I got a ten-minute slot at a management meeting. That was the crucial moment as I had to sell my program to all the line managers of my fellow assistants. I was excited and scared at the same time. I love presenting but believe me, I’d never dedicated so much time to a presentation! When the day came, I knew every word and pause by heart. My enthusiasm and deep belief were clear and I got positive feedback from 100% of the management team.
The program came as a total surprise to my colleagues (I had kept it secret in case of a negative outcome). To make it inclusive from the beginning, the first action was a survey to collect their learning needs and suggestions on future initiatives. Everyone answered with interesting and enthusiastic inputs.
The outcome was huge and, once again, developed with our people team. We introduced:
- Meeting stakeholders
- A bi-monthly meeting to discuss various topics
- Mini training sessions, held by me, on soft skills such as assertiveness, handling emotions and communication
- A job description equal to business teams to guarantee a clear career path
- A learning program focused on hard skills, such as Excel, PowerPoint and other corporate tools (hosted by colleagues who are subject matter experts).
Results were outstanding and 2023 brought us a new wave of developments including the subscription for the entire group to Unassyst (the Italian EA association recognised by government) and the promotion of two colleagues to senior levels.
It was hard to leave CBRE and although I no longer work with them, I’m confident my colleagues have everything needed to continue a successful journey in their assistant careers.
Born in Turin, Italy, Eliana completed her studies with a diploma in foreign languages and a bachelor degree in economics. Before choosing to consolidate her career as an EA and PA, she spent a few years in the commercial and customer care fields. Since 2011 she’s been working as an EA and PA for top worldwide companies such as IKEA, Amazon, CBRE and Segro.
