Bouquet of praise more valued than roses

Offices will look and smell like a florist's showroom as bosses bestow blossoms on their secretaries during National Secretary's Week (April 24-29). Sometimes it's easier to show appreciation with a budget bunch than it is to tell someone face to face.

Since secretaries are the unsung heroines of American business, I think they deserve to know what their managers think of their contributions.

I asked bosses about the best secretaries and administrative assistants they had ever had. Here's what they said:

"That woman had ESP. She seemed to know what I needed even before I did!"

"She was tough with my time. She guarded my calendar like a lioness."

"She could get her hands on anything I asked for. Her filing system was the most remarkable thing."

"She had her ear to the ground and an eye on the issues. She fed me information she heard on the grapevine and saved my butt more than once."

"She was always eager to take work off my hands. It was such a blessing to have someone who was willing to draft letters, do research and compile data."

"She was eager to learn, yet never let the routine work slide. She's moved on to bigger jobs and I help her career any chance I get."

"She wasn't afraid to give me her opinion. When she thought I was making a bad decision, she said so. She was usually right."

"The quality of her work was the thing I appreciated most. I never had to worry about typos or missing details. She caught mistakes for both of us."

"She is great on the phone. She's friendly and professional. She develops rapport with people and recognized their voices when they call. Some secretaries have trouble getting people to leave a message. She can get them to leave their life stories."

Don't let National Secretary's Day, April 26, slide by without telling your assistant how much you appreciate him or her. That kind of thank you will last long after the bloom is off the rose."