NEWS
BRIEFING Keep up to date with the latest news surrounding the role of the EA
40
35
30
25
20
If any , what size meetings or events are you planning in the next 12 months ?
15
10
5
0
Less than 10 pax
Less than 50 pax
Events and travel
Less than 100 pax
More than 100 pax
w 55 % of EAs already had COVID-safe guidelines for managing events .
w Eight out of ten of the respondents stated they were planning events for their organisations over the next 12 months .
One in ten EAs had already begun to plan business travel for their executives , despite fewer than half of all organisations not starting to return people to the workplace . 49 % said they thought it was likely staff would attend a conference or convention in the next 12 months .
FOLLOW UP RESULTS A month later in July , Executive PA Media conducted another survey to reassess the post-COVID transition back into the workplace . The survey ran for six days and collated responses from 80 executive-level assistants . In just one month , business confidence had increased despite a second spike in COVID-19 cases that took place during the survey . Nearly three quarters ( 72 %) of the respondents said their businesses started the process of returning staff , compared to just under half in the June survey .
Furthermore , businesses that were bringing their teams back and could provide a pathway to do that , were enjoying far higher levels of optimism than organisations still with remote workforces .
It showed that organisations that had returned staff to the workplace and worked to a plan , were nine times more likely to be planning a Christmas party . The proportion of respondents who believed more people would work from home didn ’ t materially change at 78 %, although the percentage who believed there would be less staff in their organisations softened from nearly four out of ten , to just over a third .
More EAs were organising business travel for their executives ( more than doubling from 10 % in June to 22 % in July ) and more were confident that
“ We are engaging an occupational hygienist to assess our workplace in light of how we usually ( pre-COVID ) worked and how we will need to adjust .”
physical internal meetings would take place within three months of returning . The findings indicate that businesses were learning to operate in unusually adverse conditions and adapt to those changed conditions .
Most significantly , the EAs who took part in the survey were increasingly confident about their organisations and were returning to more usual business practices as staff returned to the workplace .
Back to work summary
w The proportion of respondents stated that their organisations had begun the process of returning staff back to the workplace and increased from just under half ( 46 %) in June , to just under three quarters ( 72 %) in July .
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
As a result of Covid-19 , do you expect staffing changes in your organisation ?
0
Fewer staff No change More staff
The expectation that more training will go online hardened , while the same proportion of respondents stated they expected staff to attend external training .
The proportion who believed there would be no external training for staff in the next twelve months went from 18 % to 39 %.
Events and travel summary
w More EAs were organising business travel for their executives ( more than doubling from 10 % in June to 22 % in July ).
Just 4 % of respondents in businesses that had not started to return staff to the workplace answered they were planning a Christmas party . The likelihood jumped to 31 % with respondents from organisations that had begun the process and increased to over a third ( 35 %) from those in businesses with a schedule to bring everyone back .
“ The challenge with the department off-site is how to find a fun activity when considering 1.5 metre distance between each other ,” one respondent said . S
Issue 2 2020 | Chief of Staff 13