The secretary and the rehabilitation office.

The Secretary and the Rehabilitation Office

Few things bring greater disruption - or near panic - to the typical counselor's office than for the secretary to call in at 8 o'clock in the morning and report she is ill. As one counselor-trainee succinctly put it, "the secretary is your right hand." The trainee paused, then added," and your left hand, too!"

Who will answer the telephone, or retrieve needed information, or greet clients, or type the letters, or make the appointments, or work out travel arrangements? With whom can you coordinate ideas for getting essential paper work organized and completed and reports checked for accuracy? Who is a walking, talking memory bank? Who is expected to recall on cue a hundred-and-one small but important specifics which relate to who? what? when? and where? When everyone else is away from the office, who responds to the "drop-ins," provides information, answers questions, and is the sole representative of the agency or institution? Who is expected to deal tactfully yet effectively with uncooperative people over the phone - or in person? Who is supposed to do not only what is listed in a job description but to plan ahead, to anticipate what is needed to be done in the office to streamline ways of getting the job(s) done?

Who is expected to be consistently well-groomed, courteous and understanding in everyday interactions with counselors, clients, peers and in other contacts with the public? Who is charged with being able to use office equipment, spell, punctuate, have an appreciation of good composition and use diplomacy in suggesting needed corrections in written correspondence? Who is expected to use tact and good timing in asking questions in such a way as to effect clarification or elicit information without challenging the competence of "authority" figures? Who is expected at a moment's notice to be able to leave an unfinished task and immediately concentrate in responding to a last minute request or an unexpected set of circumstances?

Fortunate are the counselors whose secretaries have such a range of expertise. Is it any wonder these "pearls of great price" are "your right hand - and your left hand, too?" Happily the day has dawned when fewer such secretaries are on trial to determine the legitimacy of their claim of being professionals. We who benefit from their services are! How many of us can measure up to the competencies and discipline we expect of our secretaries?

The main thrust of this article is to give recognition to the contributions of the secretary as a member of the professional team dedicated to the objective of helping people with disabilities better help themselves. Particular emphasis will be given to the diversity of attributes and human relations skills expected of her and her influence and power in image development and maintenance. An examination will also be made of ways that esteem and respect can be shown the secretary and the importance of her sharing the satisfaction of understanding and participating in the rehabilitation process. While these are important, a minimum of attention will be given to the purely technical skills which can be objectively evaluated, for example, being able to type and spell.

The secretary is expected as a matter of course to consistently adhere to a kind of disciplined behavior not imposed to the same degree on others in the office. With rare exception, she is the one person who is always at the office when it opens and often is the last to leave at the close of the working day. She is expected to protect confidentiality of clients and everyone else 100% of the time, no exceptions. When personalities clash or there are conflicts among other professional personnel, they can usually manipulate the environment to minimize contact with one another. The secretary is expected to keep her cool, remain at least outwardly neutral, cooperate with and pleasantly relate to all other members of the team.

Power and influence are only partially reflected in a formal Table of Organization. Many of the "movers and shakers" in an office or organization are part of an informal power structure which can literally make or break the best laid plans of peole at "the top." As an inherent part of her role and function, the secretary in a counseling setting can decide whether or not she has a significant amount of influence and power. By the way she does her work she can make her agency look efficient and organized - or inefficient and disorganized. In her response to others, she can convey quiet confidence that "whatever needs to be done will get done" or she can come across as uncertain and vague. She has great freedom in making literally hundreds of small but significant everyday decisions as to how she will use her opportunity for influence.

The secretary often is the key person in determining the image of the agency, institution or company. Think for a moment of all the money and talent spent in trying to create a favorable image. In the final analysis, physical plants, budgets, brochures, and facilities are secondary to what is communicated in the human equation--the impact of personality on personality. The office furnishings may be expensive and the decor warm and inviting, but the "people" variables dwarf furnishings, decor, and all the rest. For example, there is only one opportunity for a first impression. Someone has said, "a first impression can be a last impression." Research has shown that the first four or five minutes of an initial encounter are of critical importance. First impressions are like the residuals of a nuclear reactor: they last and last and last.

Think of all the expertise essential to maximize a favorable first impression, often the first link established between a client and the counselor. In those first few unrepeatable seconds physical appearance is noted, greetings are exchanged, introductions made and information provided. The complex dynamics of communication are set in motion--verbal and subtle non-verbal cues, body attitude and body language, listening, and the all-important tone of voice used. All of these variables and more, meld in helping to set the stage and create the climate for the client-counselor encounter.

To paraphrase and reinforce this important dimension, the following are some comments shared by a rehabilitation secretary, Mary Harrison who works in the Stillwater District Office of the Oklahoma Rehabilitative Services. Mary is a former member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Rehabilitation Secretaries (NARS) and former editor of the NARS Newsletter:

The Rehabilitation Secretary can set the tone for her office. every time she speaks to anyone -- client, vendor, official, or administrator -- she is representing our agency. That one contact, conversation, will make a lasting impression of both the secretary and the agency. Even the finest details are important such as the tone of your voice, the questions you ask, and how you phrase them, etc. This can make an impact on all future dealings we might have with them. We may never again have this chance to establish credibility with that person.

Many times an individual's first contact with the agency is through the secretary. It is vitally essential that this contact and all others are handled in the most appropriate manner ... We must always be in touch with that human element -- sometimes very fragile--and we must make on-the-spot decisions how to react to each individual client and what their needs might be on any given day....

Tone of voice was earlier referred to as "all important." This was for a reason. By varying tone of voice the same words can convey radically different messages. Tone of voice can heal or hurt, encourage or enrage. The same literal content can reflect apathy or enthusiasm, anger or reassurance. When the contact is by phone, initial or otherwise, tone of voice takes on even more significance. Then there are no non-verbal cues, no body language or eye contact -- only the voice on the telephone. Repeatedly "the voice" is that of the secretary.

In view of the foregoing, it would seem the recruitment, care and nurturing of secretaries would be a matter of first importance. It should be. This understanding is in stark contrast to the cavalier attitude of the travelling salesman who entered an office around lunch time, looked straight at the secretary and asked, "Isn't anyone here?" How do we make sure the secretary will know we appreciate her role and function? What can we do to help her continue to be motivated and willing to put her best foot forward?

Professional Respect

First and foremost the secretary wants to experience respect. The counselor must see her as a valued professional colleague. Viewed as a vital member of the team, her input is not only accepted but requested. Implicitly and explicitly, her role is recognized as being an integral part of implementing the mission and philosophy of rehabilitation. She is then more likely to see her work as it really is--as a means to an end, an essential part of a group effort. This understanding is fostered when her ideas and opinions regarding office procedures and guidelines are solicited; when she is provided opportunities for continuing education and provided updated information about relevant legislation and other developments which relate to her and her work and when she is given support in joining NARS and other professional organizations. Of particular importance is the need to frequently make mention of specific ways her efforts are making a positive difference.

The counselor or supervisor must remember to use the same human relations skills in responding to the secretary as are used with clients. Active listening, recognizing feelings wants and needs, and reflecting warmth, empathy, and genuineness are behaviors which need to be extended beyond the counselor's office door. Too quickly, counselors may assume that those who do not need their official services do not need their people skills.

In a similar vein, it is imperative to remember we are all chronically subject to making mistakes. Counselors need to allow fellow professionals the same right to be imperfect as is given to clients. Too often the expectation exists that secretaries must always be on top of the world, flashing their thirty-two pearly whites and exuding a cheerful, upbeat manner. Secretaries, like anyone else, should be given the privilege of having their "off days." Counselors need to be reminded that even secretaries with the highest "batting averages" have the right to human frailty and sometimes less-than-perfect job performance.

Many secretaries have been nurturers much of their lives--meeting the needs of others, often to the neglect of their own dreams. The counselor can provide an optimum climate for such fellow professionals by active listening and encouraging the surfacing and development of their dreams, whether these be vocational or otherwise. In other words, the counselor strives to encourage her personal and professional growth with the same care and concern which is regularly given clients.

To further elaborate on the crucial "people" aspects of the secretary and her work, the following are some edited excerpts from a presentation given by Sharon Yearsley, rehabilitation secretary in the Logan, Utah District Office of Rehabilitation Services and past president of NARS, to the Pacific Region NRA Leadership Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 17, 1988:

Our self-concept as humans is so previous and so delicate, and sometimes we forget our own individual worth. It's easy to ignore how much we need each other and how much we care about each other.

We are people first.

Every person needs to know, to hear, and to understand that he or she is a contributing member in life. It really makes a person feel good to know their efforts are worthwhile. These little things, just knowing that you appreciate and that you care, are so important...

To be effective, each member of the team must be equally valued..as each person brings to the group the expertise of the field for which they were trained. Only if each link is given equal significance can the team concept work. All employees want to feel that what they do is seen by others as a meaningful contribution to the team's overall success. Studies have repeatedly shown that employees treat customers or clients the way they feel they have been treated by their bosses.

People who feel powerful, in the most positive sense of the word, have energy, ideas and determination. Secretaries who feel they have a sense of power, or control, are more willing to accept responsibility for their actions, and the pride they feel will show in their work. They know that they work better when they have the "power" to reach their goals-when they are involved in making decisions that effect them directly; when they feel comfortable about expressing their ideas and suggestions openly; and when they feel they are accepted as an equal and valuable member of the team.

When these conditions are present, the secretary experiences "the bottom line," the pay-off experienced by those of us fortunate enough to be in the field of rehabilitation. Despite the hard work, frustrations and failures, there is something intrinsically right -- and satisfying -- about being part of a process which helps get people, figuratively, off their back and onto their feet.

What more appropriate way to conclude this article than by sharing another quote from Mary Harrison, a rehabilitation secretary of nearly 18 years experience:

I am "rewarded" many times over for a job well done. What more "thanks" or feeling of satisfaction could you want than when a client says he could not have done it without your help. When you have had a part in helping restore a fairly normal level of life for them and you see them smiling again, feeling confident, being independent again and they would not be there without Vocational Rehabilitation assistance. When a person has been provided hearing aids and can hear the ripple of the water and the sound of the wind and the rushing of a busy world. When a person's sight has been restored and they can see their loved ones again, can see the beautiful and vibrant colors around them, can see to conduct their own business and return to a normal life. Or when a person is fitted with a new lower prosthesis and can walk again. Or the multitude of other services that make such a difference in peoples' lives. I have assisted someone become more independent and now this person can help someone else. It's a revolving wheel where good things happen and there is a chain reaction right down the line.

I am most satisfied with the concept that I am helping people help themselves and this is one of the things that makes our profession so rewarding. In our work we can provide the tools to help others succeed -- minimizing their disabilities, helping them in gaining confidence and assurance and becoming more independent. This gives them a whole new perspective on life; they can learn more about who they really are and what they are capable of doing. This in turn opens new doors for them and helps them to feel good about themselves. They can then be contributing members of society. This is reward enough for me! A very satisfied feeling of a job well done.

PHOTO : Best Performance! Rehabilitation Secretary Catherine D. Hall, of Washington, D.C., (left) was honored by her peers at the National Rehabilitation Association's recent annual conference in Reno. Sharon Yearsley, (right) of Utah, presented the plaque inscribed "NARS Secretary Service Award for 1988."