Administrative professionals are the first and last point of contact at many companies. For clients, they make or break first impressions. For co-workers, they are often the go-to source when things need fixing. They work hard for everyone at the office, and for that they deserve all the praise in the world.

Too often, that praise doesn’t come. We take our administrative professionals for granted because they do the job so well and, as they say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

At this time of year, we honour our administrators with a day of praise and recognition. But, what about a little insight? What makes administrative professionals so amazing?

According the the Harvard Business Review, good administrators master three areas: personal, technical and conceptual.

1. Administrators are the first to receive praise from clients and co-workers alike. The reason? They boast great interpersonal skills.
2. You don’t have to be a techy to win this category. Why is it that the fax machine never works for me, but always for the office administrator?
3. Administrators see the big picture. They know how different sections of the company work together to form the whole.

Know any great administrative professionals? Make sure you thank them with the video below: