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Maintaining confidentiality and protecting the boss are all part of the job, but you can go too far, says Kate Hilpern
It is increasingly fitting that the word "secretary" originates from the Latin "secretarius" - meaning secret. Among the key attributes for today's PA is the ability to maintain confidentiality at all costs. So - why are there more secrets to keep, why is it more difficult to keep them, and what happens if you feel it's your moral duty to let the cat out of the bag?
"In today's competitive marketplace, there are inevitably more changes likely to be going on in organisations, to which secretaries are privy," says Sue Inman, operations director for Office Angels. "Classified information may relate to job losses and pay negotiations, right through to mergers and acquisitions."
Nesta Nott, PA to the sales and marketing director at Adecco, says, "Like many top PAs, one of my tasks is attending the weekly board of directors' meeting, who discuss all the current burning issues. All big businesses are changing at the moment and ours is no exception. These meetings have therefore meant hearing more than I ever have and it has also become more essential than ever that I didn't discuss it with anyone."
Michelle Pinnegar, senior business manager for Reed Employment in Reading, adds, "It is significant that the role of the PA has completely changed during recent years. The job used to be about tasks like dictation, typing and travel arrangements. Today, it is more or less an extension of the job of the person they are working for. In many cases, they are becoming a driving force behind the organisations they work for. What this means is that they are not only seeing more private information than they used to, but they are actually involved in creating it and acting on it." Indeed, according to the latest support staff survey by recruitment consultancy Gordon Yates, a growing number of PAs manage significant budgets, liaise at all levels, undertake research, analyse data, manage projects and make decisions on behalf of their firms.
Louise Holder, who has been secretary for 15 years to the chairman of R&W Publications, believes the ability to keep things confidential has become the be-all and end-all in her job. "Practically every piece of information I know has become confidential, at least for that moment in time," she says. "We published a book on hunting when the topic was extremely sensitive, for example, and if word had got out before it was ready to be published, there would have been serious business risks."
Occupational psychologist Rob Yeung believes it's more difficult than ever to keep a lid on the growing number of office secrets, because of changing technology. "When letters were the primary method of correspondence, it was much easier to ensure that copies were kept in a safe place. But with emails and voicemails, both of which can potentially be forwarded with the press of a wrong button, it's easier to let things loose," he explains.
The fact that PAs increasingly have multiple bosses doesn't help, he adds. Some have to be careful about sharing information among their various managers. The issue becomes most acute in competitive environments like sales, he says. "The two bosses may be peers of the same level, perhaps themselves reporting to one boss. And it's difficult to do a good job by both of them when they may not have the best interests of the other at heart." Then there are the situations that you don't even realise are confidential. Linda Brumfield, one-time PA to Liza Minnelli, claims she was fired "for repeating an unimportant conversation I had with my boss to the houseboy".
Knowing information about your colleagues, many of whom may be friends, can be the greatest challenge for today's PAs, says occupational psychologist Cary Cooper. "It's a real problem and can affect office politics," he says. "The secretary knows which workmates may lose their jobs or be refused a promotion or pay rise, but can't even warn or console them. It's not that colleagues expect today's PAs to break their confidence. In fact, most appreciate the PA's position because they understand what the role is all about. But it makes the inevitable discussions about the issues in the canteen or down the pub - which usually strengthen social cohesion - rather difficult for the PA to join in."
"Sometimes, there are things I don't really like knowing," says Nesta Nott. "It's hard because we are based in a Hertfordshire town which is a close-knit community and most of the people employed here are local, so changes in the company can have a major impact on lives. The only way I have learned to deal with this is to switch off and try to think objectively. I also try to focus more on things that will ultimately be good news that I have to keep to myself." Fiona Morgan, who used to be a PA in the City, wasn't so successful. "It was common knowledge that redundancies were on the cards. It was also common knowledge that I knew exactly who would be affected. It took several months for them to be told and during that time, a lot of my friends from the office began to act as though I was on the boss's side. It caused me a great deal of stress and in the end, I became so unhappy that I felt I had no choice but to leave myself."
In a growing number of instances, the expectation that PAs will keep secrets is even turning into the expectation that they will tell fibs. "Our latest survey shows that a staggering 79% of support staff have been asked to invent the truth on behalf of their boss under the banner of 'confidentiality'," says Richard Grace, joint managing director of Gordon Yates. "At one end of the scale, these may be white lies such as 'I'm afraid Mr Jones is in a meeting.' More critically, secretaries may be expected to shred important documents on the boss's behalf and keep quiet about it." According to another study by career website Fish4Jobs, one in 10 secretaries is asked to keep their boss's whereabouts a secret from their partners. One PA, who wishes to remain nameless, found it backfired. Having being asked to do exactly that by her male boss, she lied that he was out of the office when his wife called. "Funny that," replied the wife. "I'm standing outside the office and can see him through the window."
It's the more serious cases that PAs really need to think twice about. Christine Allan, PA to an oil company boss who was on trial for fraud four years ago, found herself in court where she said lying had become "standard practice" for secretaries in City life. She was discovered to have faked documents to smooth the passage of a £7.2m City deal. In her defence, she denied any wrongdoing, suggesting that she was, in part, keeping the confidentiality of her boss which was ultimately her job. But, Rob Yeung points out, whilst confidentiality is part of a PA's duties, you shouldn't disengage your brain in the process. "Yes, you are there to provide support to your immediate boss. But you also need to think about the implications of what your boss is doing for the wider organisation. The notion of corporate social responsibility is becoming ever more prevalent - the idea that the actions of the business have to be in the interests of the overall organisation as well as customers and other stakeholders. So if you do have doubts as to the ethical implications of what your boss is asking you to keep quiet about, it might be worth having a guarded conversation with someone else, say, from HR." The bottom line is, he says, that even for top PAs in top organisations, conscience must come before confidentiality.