Celebrating the Excellence of Your Executive Assistant

Behind every great executive is a hardworking executive assistant keeping them organized. An excellent EA handles your calls, emails, schedule, travel plans, and so much more. They ensure that low-priority tasks stay off of your desk, so you can focus on making high-level decisions. An EA’s contributions can have a significant effect on an organization’s success. This impact is why celebrating the excellence of your executive assistant is so important.

The Importance of Celebrating Your EA

Celebrating the excellence of your executive assistant is a great way to show your appreciation for their hard work. Making sure your EA feels acknowledged can have many long-term benefits.

Celebrating your EA’s hard work can:

• Enhance work productivity
• Increase morale
• Increase loyalty and help retain key talent
• Reduce absenteeism
• Have an overall positive impact on the work environment

Like most employees, EAs do their best work when they feel appreciated and receive recognition for their contributions. Letting your EA know how much you value them can impact their overall engagement and job satisfaction. And a happy and productive EA leads to a happy and productive executive.

Ways to Celebrate the Excellence of Your EA

There are plenty of ways to celebrate the excellence of your executive assistant. They include an office-wide email recognizing their contributions or a gift card for their favorite restaurant. The best way to thank your executive assistant depends on personal preference, company culture, and budget. But to give you some ideas, below are some of our favorite ways to celebrate fantastic EAs.

Public Recognition

Let your whole team know how hard your EA is working by publicly acknowledging their achievements and contributions. Public recognition can make gratitude feel even more special. If your EA also works with people across the organization, it allows others to contribute to the praise.

You can recognize your EA publicly through:

• Praise during an all-staff meeting
• An office email
• A message on the company webpage or social channels
• An Employee of the Month award (if your company does this)

Many EAs like recognition in front of the entire team. But some might not and may appreciate more quiet praise instead. By getting to know your EA, you’ll quickly be able to gauge their preference and adapt accordingly.

Gift Cards

Gift cards are one of the most popular rewards given to employees in offices all across the country. With more companies working remotely than ever, eGift cards are also a convenient option.

Some of the most popular gift card categories include:

• Food. Restaurants, takeout, coffee shops, and food prep boxes.
• Relaxation. Spa breaks, wellness treatments, and beauty salons.
• Entertainment. Movie theaters, Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and iTunes.
• Helpful. Amazon, Uber, Target, Home Depot, and Sephora.

By the time you start celebrating and rewarding your executive assistant, you’ll probably know them pretty well. Make sure to choose a gift card that you know they will appreciate and use. Then they’ll know you picked it just for them, and it isn’t just a generic gift the company gives to every team member.

A Day Off or Early Finish

Executive assistants often work just as many hours as their bosses do, with many early starts and late nights. A simple way to show your gratitude is to give your EA an additional vacation day or let them leave early. Extra time off is a perk that they’re sure to appreciate. And you won’t even need to dip into the company’s incentives fund.

Lunch Celebration

Organizing a celebratory lunch is another great way to show your appreciation to your EA. The two of you could go to a nice restaurant, or you could order pizza for a team lunch in the break room. Lunch also is an excellent opportunity for catching up and team bonding.

Certificate of Appreciation

For a more formal way to celebrate the excellence of your executive assistant, you could present them with a personalized letter and certificate of appreciation. A certificate is a permanent reminder of your appreciation. They can take it home or display it in their workspace.

When to Celebrate Your EA

You can celebrate the excellence of your executive assistant whenever it feels right to you. If your EA is doing a great job, let them know about it. Celebrate as often as you see fit, as long as it’s sincere.

Times to celebrate your executive assistant include:

• When they go above and beyond expectations
• When they achieve a professional goal
• At their annual performance review
• On their birthday
• On their work anniversary
• During National Administrative Professional Week (the last week of April)
• During National Admin Professionals Day (the Wednesday of the last week of April)

Things to Consider When Celebrating Your EA

Before you start showering your EA with praise, consider the below points first. These tips ensure that your EA gets the recognition they deserve. They’ll also feel more satisfied and engaged afterward.

Be Direct and Specific

Make sure the praise you give your EA is direct and specific. When you express your appreciation, relate it to particular tasks and achievements. Don’t be too general.

Let your EA know what you’re praising them for and how their contribution has helped you and the organization. Genuine and specific praise reinforces positive behavior and provides greater motivation moving forward.

Acknowledge the Last Year

While it’s important to celebrate specific achievements as they occur, it’s also essential to look at your EA’s growth during the last year. Highlight any improvements you’ve seen and acknowledge how they’ve overcome hurdles or thrived during busy periods.

You may have been too busy yourself to appreciate their help at the time, but it’s never too late to express gratitude.

Make It Sincere and Meaningful

Whether you’re praising your EA with words or gifts, make sure that it’s sincere and meaningful. Gifts and celebrations tailored toward your EA are much more effective than gifts another team member chooses. 

Take them out to their favorite restaurant for lunch. Choose an eGift card for their favorite store and add a nice message. Let them leave early on their birthday and get your full team together with a sweet treat. Learn whether they enjoy public praise or would prefer a quieter thank you.

The better you get to know your EA, the more personalized you can make their celebrations.

Hiring an EA You Want to Celebrate

EA appreciation can go a long way. All of your team must see and feel your gratitude. But especially the one person who spends every day catering to your needs and making your life easier.

Being an executive assistant can be a challenging position. Whether it’s through words, gifts, or gestures, praising your EA and recognizing their hard work will provide motivation. After all, employees put in their best efforts when they feel appreciated.

At LifeSquire, we take the stress out of the executive assistant hiring process. We help you find, interview, and train an executive assistant that you’re guaranteed to want to celebrate.  Contact us for more information.