For more than a decade, Gonzalez experienced firsthand the ups and downs of being an office worker. In 1982, she helped found the Milwaukee chapter of 9to5. In 1984, Wisconsin's governor appointed her as an observer to the state's Comparable Worth Task Force. She is a spokesperson on many issues that concern office support staff, including pay equity, family leave and flexible work arrangements.
Gonzalez has served on state advisory councils and gives training sessions and workshops on such topics as automation, stress, sexual harassment and communication skills. The Wisconsin Women's Network voted her Stateswoman of the Year in 1989, and Milwaukee magazine named her one of its Giants of the Decade for the 80s. Gonzalez also served on the Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce and contributed to its report America's Choice: High Skills or Low Wages.
Gonzalez has not only "been there" herself but also understands very well the daily experiences of the 20 million office workers in America today. Here are her ideas about what the office of the future may hold for those who work in administrative support jobs and words of encouragement for those who hope to find office careers.
Working in an office can be a rich and varied experience. There are the other people with whom you work-a wide range of personalities, cultures and experiences. There is the challenge of being highly organized-figuring out the priorities, which tasks to do first, which ones can wait. There are the deadlines, the pressures, the conflicts, the new skills to learn, the old ones to hone and update.
Many employers want you to take the initiative and deal with multiple demands on your own, make decisions and proceed with minimal supervision. Office workers are often the first contact outsiders have with an organization, and the impression you make can determine the relationship they have with the company.
And the good news is that there are so many office jobs out there; the demand for qualified personnel is high!
In the more than ten years that I worked in office jobs in both large and small offices, I often liked the type of work I did very much. I typed very fast-and still do (100 words per minute). I took dictation from dozens of managers, all of whom had a different style. That was a big challenge at times! In some jobs I did a lot of writing and editing, which I particularly enjoyed. I also liked mastering new technology.
What I didn't like was the way I was treated in some jobs. At several companies, the policies-inflexible hours for support staff, made no sense to me. I've always talked about office problems with my colleagues, who usually shared my reaction to working conditions that were not so wonderful.
The last job I had before starting the 9to5 chapter in Milwaukee was with a very large company. While I liked my duties, I felt that what I did was undervalued. How much work I got out was more important than its quality. And my employers were overzealous in checking it. That spurred me to want to take steps to help change the climate of the work place, not only for myself but for the millions of women and men like me.
In the last decade, I believe that office workers have come to expect more for themselves and that employer attitudes have begun changing for the better, which makes the future even brighter for young people interested in working at office jobs.
Major technological changes have redefined how office support workers spend their time. Letters don't have to be retyped, only corrected on the screen. Pulling files to find a piece of information isn't necessary; your computer can do the searching for information in its memory in seconds.
Now there's more time for office support staff to use higher-level skills such as composing, editing and refining letters. If you have the interest and the motivation, you can learn some really interesting software and create better-looking reports and other publications like brochures and newsletters.
These days, receptionists don't just take messages, they "handle" calls, which means they use their judgment as to the urgency of the call, the information needed and who should get back to the caller. Secretaries don't just type a report; they help develop and complete it. An office assistant doesn't simply enter data in a database; she or he systematizes that information, organizing it according to the company's needs. A bookkeeper doesn't only enter the numbers in the right columns but utilizes a sophisticated spreadsheet program to help the accountants do their jobs better.
1 took my first clerical job many years ago, as a secretary in the offices of a housing development, for the same reason as many young people entering the field now-I needed the income. I was expected to do very routine, repetitive tasks.
Now those in their first office job can often look forward to a greatly expanded set of responsibilities. Many companies are beginning to realize just how critical their office employees are to the smooth functioning of their firms. They are more likely to encourage and develop decision-making, listening, evaluation and problem-solving skills.
Involved workers are helping to create the future. I foresee a workplace where office support personnel can earn a series of certifications that verify their proficiency in different skill areas. On-the-job training will become more prevalent and more sophisticated, allowing office workers to learn new skills while performing their existing jobs. Managers say their offices cannot operate without their clerical staffs. I predict that the future will hold an upgrading of their jobs to reflect the skill those jobs require. There will be more opportunities for people entering the field to climb a new type of career ladder, aided by advancing technology and innovative company policies.
More and more, I see the words "clerical" and "career" going together, certainly to a greater extent than when I started out in the field. When 9to5 began, over 20 years ago, our slogan was "Raises, Not Roses," in an effort to begin educating employers to see that office workers were worth much more than a gesture on Secretaries Day. Later, we moved a step further to "Raises Rights and Respect"- reasonable goals for a whole new generation of office workers who join the teams that keep American businesses up and running.
Estella Hernandez Gillette, Deputy Director, Equal Opportunity Programs Office, NASA, Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
Gillette began her career working as a clerk stenographer. Her shorthand skill led to a job in NASA's engineering office. It's been straight up the NASA ladder ever since. She's held management positions in the national space organization's most visible areas, including the Astronaut Program. A problem-solver who welcomes challenges, Gillette received her college degree 22 years after she began her first job and her master's degree 8 years later, while continuing to work full time.
Elizabeth Dole, President, American Red Cross, Washington, D.C.
Dole's first job was working as a secretary at the Harvard University Law School library. Thirty years and several degrees later, she was named U.S. Secretary of Labor, which enabled her to have a major impact on the workplace in which she got her start. During six presidential administrations. Dole served in several major policy posts, including commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (at age 37) and U.S. Secretary of Transportation. She now oversees 30,000 Red Cross staff members and 1.5 million volunteers.
Lucie Salhany, Chairwoman, Fox Broadcasting, Los Angeles, California In her first job, as a 19-year-old secretary at a Cleveland television station, Salhany was trained so well by her boss that she took over his job as the station's program manager at 24. She moved The Oprah Winfrey Show into national syndication while at Taft Broadcasting and directed the development of Star Trek: The Next Generation while working for Paramount. When she took her present position, Salhany became the first woman to head a U.S. broadcast network.
