Group aims to boost members

Trish Dunn and Mary Eriksen from the Rotorua branch of the Association of Administrative Professionals New Zealand are encouraging more people to get involved. Photo / Stephen Parker

One of the downsides of working from home can be the lack of interaction with other like-minded professionals - but Mary Eriksen is hoping to change that.

The Rotorua president of the Association of Administrative Professionals New Zealand is hoping that as publicity increases about the Rotorua branch, membership numbers will follow.

Mrs Eriksen said they've got several events planned over the next couple of months and were hoping to double their active membership this year.

One of the groups they would be targeting was administrative professionals working from home who would benefit from the extra support, camaraderie and professional development which the group offered.

It's a situation she was in - and she said the benefits since joining the group in 2012 have been huge.

"It can get quite lonely working on your own, for me it is getting out and meeting like- minded people."

Everything from getting a second opinion on a template to finding someone to help fill in for her so she could take a break have been benefits.

"A lot of people in these jobs work quite autonomously or work from home."

This year she and fellow member Trish Dunn are planning a regional gathering next month.

Aspire is a full day of professional development for managers and administrators - looking at everything from goal setting to delegating and opportunities for business growth.

It's open to both members and non-members with a cost of $90 for members, and $110 for others.

She said sometimes businesses didn't have much money for training, so a full day's professional development like the course they were planning was a great chance to invest in their own development as well as networking with others.

Some of the courses offered through the group are NZQA approved qualifications, she said.

Mrs Eriksen said it wasn't a new group - established 14 or 15 years ago - but they were really keen to raise the profile, something she said was slowly happening.

"We aren't having to explain what we are quite so much."

She said it was for anyone who identified themselves as an administration professional which was a broad range.

"In Rotorua there are a lot of middle managers who do the day-to-day stuff and also the hiring and firing."

While there are no males in the local group, they'd love to get some on board.

"It's about networking, support and acknowledgement."

The group meet twice a month - once for a meeting and the other for more of a networking social event.

Each year the group also holds the Annual Administrators Day Breakfast and Bubbles event, which will be on April 22 at Rydges.

-To find out more about either events, or about joining the group, email rotorua@aapnz.org.nz or phone Mary on 027 430 663.