Your Job Has Evolved But Has Your Training Kept Pace?

If you’re a typical admin, you are being asked to routinely handle countless demanding situations and projects: supporting multiple managers; coordinating work flow; juggling projects; overseeing office tech support; firing off written and verbal communications; supervising budgets; even training, managing (and/or hiring), other admins. In short, you are more challenged than ever before—and stretched thinner than ever before.

The big question is: Has your training kept up with your expanding responsibilities? If it has not, you run the very real risk of falling behind, in both your job and your career. And it’s a fact of business today that it’s likely on you to do whatever is necessary to keep your training current.

Here are 15 important reasons to keep up with your training, whether that training takes the form of online or offline classes, certificate programs, administrative conferences, or one-on-one mentoring. Training will help you to:

1. Brush up on current skills
2. Stay abreast of industry standards
3. Delegate more efficiently and effectively
4. Tune-up your verbal and written communication skills
5. Keep current on databases, word processing, graphics, and presentation programs
6. Learn the best ways to prepare budgets and expense reports—for yourself, your department, your boss
7. Discover how to get more done in less time 
8. Learn from the experience of others; i.e., gain new ideas that you can bring back to work 
9. Hone interpersonal skills, including conflict resolution and persuasion
10. Better manage multiple projects (and bosses)
11. Learn the latest techniques to keep you and your manager(s) better organized
12. Develop ways to initiate new policies and procedures
13. Learn specialized skills relevant to your organization
14. Prepare for new responsibilities by taking classes in areas in which you’d like to expand
15. Get required CEU's to keep your certifications current

As you can see, the benefits of training are myriad. And the more skilled you become, the better your chances to thrive in your current job, and to advance to higher positions, with a commensurate salary. What’s more, you’ll gain greater respect and credibility from those you work with and report to, and stay energized in your job. 

Check out ASAP's Training Center for online courses, ASAP's Live and On-Demand Webinars, and the Administrative Professionals Conference for four days of intensive live training and networking. ASAP also offers one day regional events through our ASAP Live series.