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Surviving Administration
Have you ever felt like you were a survivor- a survivor of policies and procedures that were never written down but that you were expected to follow-of reports you had to complete but never seemed to be right? This was the situation of 16 administrators who gathered at SISIP for their first-ever Administrative Assistant's Conference. Most of SISIP's administrative assistants have less than two years experience with this rapidly growing organization, which has been challenged to provide training and development to administrators from branches across Canada.
Armed with new tools, and a Policy and Procedures Manual to guide us, we proceeded to follow our central theme, Roadmap to Success. We explored these policies and procedures, set new standards, and received training on important computer applications for financial planning. We were given customer service training on SISIP products and services and explored how to ask the right questions to provide the best service.
LCdr Andrew Sharpe from NDMC spoke on the psychology of a soldier who may be experiencing the stress of military life and on how our administrators could provide appropriate service. We also explored communicating with our customers and the do's and don'ts of e-mail communication with CFPSA Communications Director, Marion Grobb.
Professionalism, the ability to network, and the ability to stay on top of our careers is important to SISIP admins, who spoke with members of the International Association of Administrative Professionals on the subject of life-long learning.
The final luncheon gave us the opportunity to see how many of us excel in "Serving Those Who Serve". We also discovered the secret aliases of SISIP admins, who were known in their branch offices as the Radar O'Reilly, the Nancy Drew, and the Marshall Dillon of SISIP. Who knew we had so many celebrities in our midst?
From left to right: Natalie Fondren-Gasc, Winnipeg; Sandy Cansfield, Greenwood; Susan Huryn, Kingston; Danielle Graham, Administrative Assistant to Vice-President Financial Planning
