Celebrating the colleagues who make us shine – National Administrative Professionals Day
“When you feel valued as a person, not just for your job, it makes you want to bring your best every day.”
Administrative professionals are at the heart of everything we do. They keep services running, support teams to deliver care, and make sure no detail is missed. Their work often sits behind the scenes, but its impact is felt every day across our services.
For National Administrative Professionals Day (22 April), Anne-Marie Francis, Business Administrator, shares her experience.
“I fell into the NHS by accident, but I’ve literally just worked my way up through the ranks, and I’ve been able to move across different services and keep building my skills as I go. I’ve lived a lot of lives, and if I can use what I’ve lived to enhance someone else’s life, that’s always been at the heart of what I want to do. My route has been really non-traditional. It’s not all academic, but if you’re open to learn, be a sponge, and stay inquisitive, you can make it.”
Anne-Marie is clear about the value of administrative roles and the difference they make across the organisation. “We underpin everything. We are the foundations, and you’re never ‘just admin’ because we are the ones who hold the knowledge of how things actually work. We’re the ones making sure things run, whether that’s systems, processes, or knowing who to contact, and without that, services would really struggle. Admin are hidden heroes, and a lot of what we do goes unseen, but it makes a huge difference.”
Alongside her day-to-day role, she supports colleagues to grow and develop in practical ways. A member of staff approached her with questions about how they could progress in their career, and Anne-Marie said: “I thought, right, let me show you what I do day to day, let me help you get ready for when these jobs come up, and help you see how your skills transfer. It’s about helping people recognise their transferable skills and bring them to the forefront. I don’t do it in a formal way, I just take people under my wing and work around what they need.”
“It’s about peer-to-peer support and connecting people, because networking is your biggest gift and the most critical skill you can have. I want to know people as people, because that’s critical to everything I do and how I build working relationships. Those small conversations, even just checking in with someone properly, can move mountains in how people feel and how they work.”
A core part of the admin role is enabling others to succeed. That support often sits behind the scenes, from preparing meetings to troubleshooting issues before they arise.
“The way I look at my role is that my job is to make others shine, so they can walk into a room and focus on what they need to do. There’s so much behind the scenes, from setting things up to troubleshooting, that means others don’t have to worry and can just perform at their best.”
Despite the impact admin staff have, their contributions are not always visible. “We can feel invisible at times, so taking the time to say thank you and really mean it goes a long way. Recognition doesn’t need to be complex, but it does need to be genuine. No matter who you are, you should feel like you can bring something to the table and that your contribution matters.”
National Administrative Professionals Day is a chance to recognise the skill, care, and dedication of admin colleagues across the organisation. They keep services running, support our teams to deliver outstanding patient care, and make a difference every day. As Anne-Marie reminds us, sometimes the simplest actions have the biggest impact: “We can feel invisible at times, so taking the time to say thank you and really mean it goes a long way.”
