When you’re a C-level leader in a growing company, you might feel hard-pressed for time. There are just too many tasks pulling you in different directions, not to mention the fires that keep on popping up. Eventually, you’ll find that most of your day is spent doing lower-priority tasks that require immediate attention rather than focusing on strategic, high-level decisions.

Sound familiar?

You can’t be an effective leader if administrative processes, no matter how necessary they are, bog you down. It’s simply not the best use of your time.

That’s why more and more executives are turning to executive personal assistants (EPAs) to help streamline both in-office and out-office operations. Contrary to popular belief, EPAs are not glorified secretaries. They’re core team players that can increase your efficiency by removing excessive administrative and personal burdens.

At Deb’s Domestic Agency, we focus on staffing your team so that both your business and private life can reach its full potential. We hunt for strong EPA candidates who are just as capable of managing your calendar as they are performing research, critical thinking and communicating decisions.

Let’s take a look at the top 3 reasons why C-level executives hire EPAs.

1. EPAs Reduce Your Administrative Responsibilities While Increasing Efficiency

The average EPA should be proficient at answering phone calls, responding to emails, scheduling meetings, running errands and more. Those are all important tasks that can be time-consuming, especially when your priority is best spent elsewhere.

Melba Duncan of The Duncan Group frames productivity this way: Say you’re an executive who earns $1 million in salary per year working a 40-hour week (50 weeks per year). If you spend 5 hours each day answering critical, but low-priority emails, that costs your business $2,500 daily.

Having an EPA handle those tasks (i.e., drafting important emails, managing basic financials, rigorous calendaring) cannot only save time but also give you the freedom to pursue business growth operations.

2. EPAs Understand Your Business Strategy and Can Contribute to Strategic Decisions on Your Behalf

To be an effective high-level member, your EPA should have a strong grasp of your overall business and personal strategy. If they don’t understand why a task needs to be done, they won’t be able to communicate your needs, let alone figure out the best way to do it.

Having a strong business sense often translates to an EPA supporting and coordinating with senior members of your team — which can overlap with more supervisor-like responsibilities in both the office and home.

An EPA can also:

    • Mark down areas that require further research and look into them afterward
    • Delegate potential action items for each involved party
    • Follow up appropriately to ensure completion
    • Travel with you or on your behalf
    • Run business and personal errands
    • Schedule your business and personal calendar
    • Interview, hire or manage company or domestic personnel
    • Arrange business and personal travel arrangements
    • Communicate with clients, employees or family members

That level of execution requires someone who is proactive and well aligned on your thought process, commitments and goals. Over time, a good EPA is like a member of your family, as they will earn your trust, learn your preferences and personality and will have your best interest.

3. EPAs Are Not Limited to Working In Your Office

EPAs occupy a unique position within the company as well as in the executive’s personal life. They’re simultaneously close to top-level management while still being attuned to the executive’s personal and private needs.

The ability to communicate vertically and horizontally allows EPAs to manage your personal and professional appointments as well as your message. This could mean conveying your seemingly authoritative email in a softer, more convincing way. Or it could mean funneling potential dissent upward before it becomes a problem. After some time, your EPA should know you almost better than your own spouse or friends. In fact, a good EPA will have your spouse’s birthday in his/her calendar to remind you to get a card and buy a gift on time! They are there to make sure you are successful in both your business and personal life. If you’re failing in one category, it’ll negatively affect the other.

C-Level Executives Benefit From Effective EPAs

An empowered EPA can play a key role in boosting your productivity thanks to their agile, highly personalized role. However, it can be hard to find the right EPA for your professional and personal needs. That’s where Deb’s Domestic Agency comes in! We have one of the largest databases of top level EPAs in the country and receive applications from all over the world. Some of our EPAs have degrees in law, accounting, business, fashion, nutrition, foreign languages such as Mandarin and a wide variety of other diverse degrees, training and experience. Whatever specialized skillsets you desire in an EPA, it is our mission to find them. EPA placements can take 3 weeks to several months based on your location and the details of the position. We recommend starting an EPA search as early as 3 (or more) months before your desired start date. Although we can work with most requests, we can’t guarantee a fast placement.