Feeling Confused About Moving from HR Assistant to Secretary Role – Is It a Step Forward?

I have been an HR Assistant for more than 6 years now, working in academia. Last Monday, I was informed by my HRD Head that the Executive Vice-President & Human Resource Director wants to appoint me as Secretary to the HR Director. Currently, he has an executive secretary but is not satisfied with her performance anymore, so he wants to have two secretaries—one as his executive secretary and one as his HR Director secretary (me).

Concerns About the New Appointment

My concern now is, will this appointment drag me away from an HR career? Is this a promotion or a demotion? They insist that the Secretary to the HR Director position has higher pay and a higher rank than an HR Assistant. Please enlighten me. I am now confused. Thank you.

Steps to Address Job Title Concerns

1. Ask them to help you with a job description.
2. Provide them with a list of Key Result Areas (KRAs).
3. Cross-check the above with your current job description and KRAs.
4. Inquire if they can suggest a different job title if you are not comfortable with the Executive Assistant title, while keeping the same job description.
5. Clearly communicate that you are uncomfortable with the job title, not the job responsibilities.

In my opinion, it is an opportunity to work directly with the Director of HR and has a lot of learning potential. As an HR Assistant (your current job), you may have exposure to only a small portion of the overall HR function in your organization. As a Secretary, you will probably be required to coordinate not only with different sections of your HR department but also with other functions (like operations, finance, and business development, etc.) and deal with higher-level executives of the company. This will give you a chance to have a helicopter view of the entire organization besides learning about the HR strategy. You may be required to work on MIS and thus learn about data analysis and HR statistics.

Surely, you will have to put in long hours of work and be available to the HR Director all the time. If you are a career-conscious person, you should feel obliged to your HR Director for having picked you up for this job.

You do have a problem, so to say. Going by what you mentioned, both you and them (HR Director & HRD Head) are right—from each other's perspectives.

Taking the different aspects one by one, it's correct that the chances are high that this will drag you away from an HR career. However, their counter—'secretary of the HR director has higher pay and a higher rank than an HR assistant'—is also right. It all depends on 'which side of the situation' one is looking at.

Focus on Your Career Direction

What you need to focus on is: what do you want and the direction you want your career to take. Based on what you mentioned, it seems as though both the Head and Director own the company—please confirm.

Consider the Current Secretary's Performance

Another point that can be needed to suggest more accurately is: if the existing secretary isn't working properly, then why is she being tolerated instead of being fired? Practically, it doesn't make business sense (or 'common sense' for that matter) to add another person for the same function for the reason you mentioned. Is there something else to the whole thing?

Evaluate Your Options

Another way of looking at this is: do you have the option of refusing? What would be the likely consequences for you? Especially since you mentioned that you are close to them?

If you don't have another option, for whatever reason(s), except accepting the offer, then try to make the best bargain out of the situation: ask for the HR role also to be added to your job responsibilities, without being stuck with only the typical secretarial functions of taking notes, typing letters, minutes of meetings, etc.—in writing, please. The reason why I am suggesting this is: once you move away from the core HR role, then getting back into it again—here or in another company—would be tough, if not impossible.

All the best.

Regards,
TS

My HRD head and his husband (the EVP & HR Director) are co-owners of the company. This is a family-owned corporation. Both of them are stockholders. Yes, it is like I don't have the option to refuse but to accept. Would it be possible if the appointment wasn't only as secretary but like this:

"Concurrent to your position as HR Assistant, you are hereby appointed as Secretary of the HR Director effective ___. Blah...blah." Is this okay?

Another thing, my HRD head is asking for my job descriptions. I have attached my current job descriptions here. If you don't have another option for whatever reason(s) except accepting the offer, then try to make the best bargain out of the situation: Ask for the HR role also to be added to your job responsibilities, without being stuck with only the typical secretarial functions of taking notes, typing letters, minutes-of-meetings, etc.—in writing, please. The reason why I am suggesting this is: once you move away from the core HR role, then getting back into it again—here or in another company would be tough, if not impossible.

Can I possibly ask for your help to look into the attached JD? Would it be okay to maintain this JD and to add the Secretary of the HR Director JD, and what do you suggest? Thank you so much. You all really helped me in weighing things.

Dear Tajsateesh, I have attached my current job description, which I would appreciate if you could review to determine if it is suitable to include my secretarial duties.

Thanks

Feedback on Job Description and Role Clarification

The JD looks okay from the HR function angle, but there's no mention of the new role that's being planned for you—maybe you can add it.

Query on Concurrent Roles

Regarding your query: "Concurrent to your position as HR Assistant, you are hereby appointed as Secretary of the HR Director effective ___. blah..blah." Is this okay?

I suggest not indicating the Secretary of the HR Director as your designation. You could face a tricky situation if and when you plan to leave later for a better job—there will be a dilemma on what designation to give you. It would be better to include/add the new role to your existing one.

I suggest using the following wording:

"In addition to your primary responsibility as HR Assistant, you will henceforth also be responsible for the Secretarial functions/activities as Secretary of the HR Director effective ___. blah..blah."

Reporting Structure and Designation Change

Also, I suggest ensuring the existing secretary reports to you. Otherwise, there could be clashes of interest/work assignments later. If she reports to you, you could decide your priorities as you go along and assign any lower-priority tasks to her, allowing you to focus on larger things.

Also, just a thought... can you negotiate a change of designation from 'HR Assistant' to, let's say, 'HR Executive' or something similar? The idea is to ensure that the rest of the company recognizes that your responsibilities have been increased/raised—though the actual effect depends on the total staff/employee strength.

All the best.

Regards,
TS

You should just accept the offer because you can learn more than what you are currently doing. It is a position where you can work closely with the HR Director and quickly learn major aspects of HR. You can showcase your experience as an HR Assistant or Executive on your CV since you will be familiar with all the activities of the HR department.

Regards,
RK

Your concerns are accurate; however, you need to weigh your pros and cons, such as money, experience, and gaining insight into both sides of the fence.

Yes, EAs do get a better package (I know this since I come from the same background). If you ask me, I'll take the opportunity since:

1. I get to work closely in the HR Director's office and attend all his meetings, see firsthand how he handles issues, etc. I think you'll learn more and get paid more in a shorter span of time. Besides, the HR executive position will always be there when you want to get back. :)

Regards