Assistants: A thread of our own

[eightdozenroses 0]

As assistants, we often have issues and challenges unique to our positions. We may have little to say about how things are run, but are often the ones doing all the running.

 

If you are an assistant, I would like to hear from you!

[Guest Tinki]

I am not an assistant, but I think their job is harder then the Activity Directors.

1

[trixiedg 0]

I'm an AD with one assistant. I have been at this for almost a year now and I feel like I still have no idea what to do when it comes to supervising an assistant. I've always been on my own. If you were able to choose your director, what would you look for or want? Also, what are your daily responsibilities? I'm trying to figure out what things I can do to improve my department.

[Melete 0]

hello

 

i have an interview today for an assistants position. it is in Canada and will be very different for me because i have always co-ordinated my department ordinarily.

 

What is the difference in being an assistant to a director..? obviously i know it from the point of view of responsibility etc. however i have always very much listened to the other memebers on the activity team when it comes to setting the programmes and given them freedom within activites. for example of craft day ..they have the choice of crafts they would like to be doing or places to go for bus trips.

 

( however this was also in another country)

 

can i expect it to be like that as an assistant myself. here in Canada..? i will be starting as a casual but i am told the casuals are getting more work than they can cope with.

 

 

any insights greatly appreciated....

[actpro 0]

hello

 

i have an interview today for an assistants position. it is in Canada and will be very different for me because i have always co-ordinated my department ordinarily.

 

What is the difference in being an assistant to a director..? obviously i know it from the point of view of responsibility etc. however i have always very much listened to the other memebers on the activity team when it comes to setting the programmes and given them freedom within activites. for example of craft day ..they have the choice of crafts they would like to be doing or places to go for bus trips.

 

( however this was also in another country)

 

can i expect it to be like that as an assistant myself. here in Canada..? i will be starting as a casual but i am told the casuals are getting more work than they can cope with.

any insights greatly appreciated....

Hi, I'm a ADC in Texas, I have an assistant. We have a Dementia Alz. Lock Unit. My assistant is the AD over it. She also helps me in front if I need assistance. We both help each other. She is new. I have been in the business for 12 years. So I am teaching her all the ropes. I hope this helps. I believe in everyone helping one another. Take care. actpro in Texas

[Melete 0]

Hi, I'm a ADC in Texas, I have an assistant. We have a Dementia Alz. Lock Unit. My assistant is the AD over it. She also helps me in front if I need assistance. We both help each other. She is new. I have been in the business for 12 years. So I am teaching her all the ropes. I hope this helps. I believe in everyone helping one another. Take care. actpro in Texas

 

 

Hi there ..thank you for your reply.

 

yes i would hope we would all be part of the team and have some input and autonomy to be creative. i dont' think i could do it i wasn't able to expressive within my role.

 

i have 10 years experience..and wonder if i am taking a step back..within my career...but then again..maybe it will be a step forward. only time will tell..

[eightdozenroses 0]

I'm an AD with one assistant. I have been at this for almost a year now and I feel like I still have no idea what to do when it comes to supervising an assistant. I've always been on my own. If you were able to choose your director, what would you look for or want? Also, what are your daily responsibilities? I'm trying to figure out what things I can do to improve my department.

 

 

Great questions. The best place to start would be, of course, the job description for the assistant as well as your own job description. Of course, many are quite vague and therefore not very useful as a springboard, but one can always hope.

 

I get no supervision at all - not that I need it. It would have been nice, in the beginning, if the director had invested a modicum of time in me, but I am managing without it. I do all the activities and bring the residents to them and take them back. This, of course, means that some do not get to attend, since there is not much time between activities and I can only push so many wheelchairs.

 

My supervisor enters all the assessments I take, and handles anything that must be done on the computer. I'm not even sure of what she does. I have asked to be taught but there is never enough time.

 

I resent this immensely. I suspect this is her way of keeping me from knowing too much about her job. A good supervisor is NEVER afraid that someone will be as good or better than she. She is secure in herself and her abilities and does her own job so well that she is not afraid that her assistant will become better than she. Even if the team is comprised of only a director and an assistant, it IS a team. Teams work together. So I'm the one who does all the dirty work and the grunt work - OK. So be it. But I am not someone on whom to look down and it has caused me much pain and quite a few tears that there is no interest in cultivating me as a valued team member - not by ANYONE with whom I work. This is not the way to keep an assistant. It's my understanding that several persons have walked out on the job,and I'm not surprised.

 

I am not some little kiddie who is clueless and needs her hand held. I would like respect as a professional, albeit new to this particular profession. I am a former store manager who succesfully ran a 3 million dollar pharmacy and built the most customer oriented team in the entire company. Yes, I had my bad days but my team liked working with me because even though I could yell, I was effusive with genuine praise and I invested time in each and every associate. I am proud of what I accomplished and I am beginning to think this career change was a very bad idea. Not only am I making half of what I made before (and I was grossly underpaid), I feel very alone and isolated.

 

I would ASK my assistant what s/he is thinking, what s/he needs, and how her performance measures up. From there, I would work with her on setting specific goals related not only to her performance, but also to any needs or desires she expressed during your conversations with her.

 

Developing an associate is hard work and takes a lot of time and patience. Some will insist on working your last nerve. You may want something done in a certain way, but realize that her way IS acceptable and IS achieving the results you desire. Or is close to achieving them. Close enough, if you know what I mean.

 

Forgive me for the blatant bragging about my store; I have not yet come to terms with my departure and I feel as though I should have gone down with the ship when Rite Aid took over and closed my store. I left to sell wireless phones and then decided to take THIS job because I wanted to help the elderly in some way.

 

And maybe I do - I don't know - but once in a while, I would like someone to acknowledge my presence and invest a kind word in me.

[eightdozenroses 0]

What you will be doing and how much autonomy/freedom are given will depend on your supervisor. I don't know how the interview went, but since you are a seasoned professional and know what's critical to your own success as well as the success of the department, you need to do as much interviewing as YOU are interviewed, meaning that you need to questions to make sure it's the right fit for YOU and your supervisor isn't power-hungry, insecure, lazy, etc.

 

If you are having a second interview, please - find out as much as you can about exactly what you will be doing and for whom. It might be hard for you, as a former director, to be an assistant to someone who is not as experienced and competent as yourself. This, of course, happens in the workplace all the time, but sometimes the scenario can be too painful or even abusive to tolerate.

 

Good luck! Let us know what happened! Don't forget - the internet is a great source of interview questions - things YOU need to ask as well as the best answers to the questions your interviewer will pose.

[trixiedg 0]

Thanks for the tips. My assistant and I were kind of thrown into our positions. I've worked along with activities for years but she has not. She has had no training but we are planning on getting her some. We have very little resources for training in our area, not even a state association. It is hard for me to get her to understand why I do the things I do and schedule the things I schedule. The schedule is pretty tight and I feel bad because I know it's alot to do in a day. I have to run the activity department and social services and do the admissions. My daily schedule is so unpredictable that I am unable to commit to any activity being the activity I am responsible for. I just have to fit them in when I can. You may be correct when you say the assistant gets the dirty work, but I would trade my responsiblities with my assistant any day. While she was on vacation a while back, I realized how much I love being with my residents and having fun with them. Then it was back to the hours upon hours of paperwork, sometimes I think it's enough to make a person go blind. I don't know what all your director does, but if it were not for paperwork, meetings, supply runs, and having to fix everybody's problems I might would have a little time to breathe. I usually get stuck with what no one else wanted to do. Do you ever get home at night and just wish you could sit down and have someone ask you "now what can I do for you"? I hope things improve for you and know that not every place has big problems but no place is perfect. I figure you already know that though. Good luck and don't give up just yet.