Why I have changed my stance on EA/PA networking...

When I wrote a shortened version of this within the EPAA Facebook Group earlier this year a few trainers vehemently disagreed with my updated stance on this. ?I am sure a fair few EAs, and PAs will also widely disagree with this too and that is fine.

My career story is well documented, and I have been privileged to share this story many, many times on EA/PA event platforms. I built my career not just from my skill-set and a huge thirst for CPD, but also from networking.

I am not and never will be degree educated. When I entered the City of London to start my career, firms and recruiters had an absolute obsession with people having a degree. If you didn’t have a degree, you were day old bread allegedly… absolutely yawn inducing.

Frankly, I am tired of the degree debate, having seen it debated again and again and again in this industry for over 20 years. Many of us, including me have bucked that trend.

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So, in the absence of me being ‘not academically bright enough’, I set about doing things differently to get ahead and that was network, network and more networking.

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Here is the thing, I was in my 20s, single, not reliant on anyone, no children, no disabilities, and no relatives to care for. I was completely footloose and fancy free and had complete charge of how I managed my own time. ?I had all the time in the world to go to as many EA/PA events as I wanted to.?

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It did help my career and it did build a brand for me in this industry, the latter of which I wasn’t seeking. It just happened organically, and I am still profoundly grateful for this.

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Almost every single trainer and high-profile EA who speaks on an event stage will say that networking is the most important part of escalating your career. I want to provide a different viewpoint to this now.

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The UK is in a very different place to what it was when I started networking over 20 years ago.

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Caring responsibilities:

The last census for the UK was taken in 2021, but Carers UK research in 2022 estimates the number of unpaid carers could be as high as 10.6 million?(Carers UK, Carers Week 2022 research report). Further compelling statistics below.

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• 59% of unpaid carers are women (Census 2021). Women are more likely to become carers and to provide more hours of unpaid care than men. More women than men provide high intensity care at ages when they would expect to be in paid work (Petrillo and Bennett, 2022)
• One in seven people in the workplace in the UK are juggling work and care (Carers UK, Juggling Work and Care, 2019).
• Caring can have a significant impact on health and wellbeing. 60% of carers report a long-term health condition or disability compared to 50% non-carers (Carers UK analysis of GP Patient Survey 2021).

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I know many EPAA members are caring for family members in addition to very busy EA/PA roles. Their day does not end when they clock off from powering up Britian’s executives. For these members being able to attend an EA/PA event of an evening is tantamount to winning the time lottery. They simply can’t do this very often or if at all.

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Childcare:

Recent statistics from the OECD shows that the UK has the second most expensive childcare system in the world. If that statistic wasn’t depressing enough, since 2009 prices have increased by 27%, making childcare more expensive than ever before. (Pregnant Then Screwed)

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It is fair to say that for the best part of two decades our childcare system has been in a continued decline and is for want of better words, in a complete mess. ?The two main politicial parties have continued to use this as some kind of political football, but both have been as useless as a chocolate teapot in providing solutions. ?

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The UK has become very anti-children and families in my opinion, and I say this as a childfree woman!?

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Being a parent in general is a very costly business and means you can miss out on some things, as you try to climb a career ladder.

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A dear EA friend of mine was announced as a winner of one of the numerous awards out there. She can’t go to the evening event – it is an expensive train/tube fare and then childcare costs for her to go and collect the trophy… So, she will be at home on awards night.

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Another of EPAA’s members is a woman who I would consider to be in the top performing 10% of EAs in the UK. She has two disabled children. She works for a great firm in Surrey and has an amazing supportive boss. She needs to be at home every single evening. Going out to a networking evening or any EA/PA event must be planned months and months in advance and for the most part is simply not an option.

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In the UK, 15-20% of the population is neurodivergent, with thinking and learning styles that differ from what’s considered typical. This equates to 13 million people, including 700,000 people with autism spectrum condition and two million people with dyslexia. Neurodivergence also includes attention hyperactivity disorder, dyscalculia and dysgraphia (among others).?(ICAEW 2024)

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A number of members have disclosed to me that they are part of the neurodivergent population and find typical EA/PA events, in their current set up, actually very hard to attend.? We must remember that for the most part, EA/PA networking events are still typically running in the same way they were 20 years ago.

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We also have part of our population who consider themselves introverted and attending an EA/PA event is like walking on hot coals for them. It is simply not comfortable, no matter how many folks tell them they MUST do this to get ahead.

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Then we have the younger millennials and Gen Z, who have a different viewpoint as to how they build their careers and interact with their peer groups. ?None of which has been taken into consideration.

My other thinking is around the geographical spread of networks in the UK.? It is easy to think that there are networks all over the UK, but if you look at the map, there are huge swathes of this country where local EAs and PAs do not have any events happening.

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I left London and now live in Dorset. For example, there are no networks in Dorset, Devon, Cornwall or Somerset. There used to be an Exeter PA Network for some time, but now in most of the South West of the UK, apart from Bristol, there are no networking groups for EAs and PAs.?

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Due to the geographical spread of these counties, it would be almost impossible to run regular EA/PA networking evenings.? For these EAs/PAs to get access to meet their peers, they have considerable cost and travel to go to a major UK city.

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Are we really going to continue to look down on;

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• EAs and PAs who have childcare or caring responsibilities??
• EAs and PAs who are neurodivergent or have another disability and find it difficult to attend events in their current set up??
• Gen Z and young millennials who have a different viewpoint as to how they network with their peer group?
• Introverted folks who just don’t find it comfortable to attend an EA/PA event?
• EAs and PAs who don’t have local networks in their area and find it inaccessible cost wise to travel to a UK city to go to an event?

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Some will of course argue that all of the above now have access to online networking, which indeed they do and that has been a welcome blessing for some. That being said, the typical advice I continue to see out there, is that you must be out networking. ?Some of the above groups also will have little time or feel uncomfortable online networking as well.

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My message to any UK EAs and PAs who fall into any of the above camps, is that I believe you can still be an excellent EA/PA, providing an exceptional service. I am sorry if my career story at any point made you feel otherwise – looking back, it was far from inclusive… I cringe a little when I look at some of my past presentations.

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It doesn’t make you any less of an exceptional EA for not having the same time as others, to get out there and network – online or offline.

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Society is different and people are very time poor for a variety of reasons.

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I think less is more sometimes when it comes to networking, but making that networking fully accessible and inclusive, and good quality too.

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For those who wish to still walk around a hotel or venue with a glass of champers, and have the time to do this, then hats off to you. I continue to salute your efforts. ?I personally still love a glass of fizz myself…

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However, we are looking at a range of options within EPAA now so we can be more accommodating and inclusive of others.

One such change we are making is including a ‘sensory break room’ at all our major events. For people who have a disability, are neurodivergent or feel uncomfortable more generally - you do not have to walk around trade shows in the break times or feel forced into networking with your peer group.

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We also try to release our event programme dates at least a year in advance, to give people plenty of time to plan and book childcare/social care if you need it etc. Granted, it has been more than messy for us this year, due to the constant rail strikes.

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There is a lot more we are looking into and can implement. We are also open to any ideas you might have as well.

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Society has changed and we need to make changes in our profession to be more accommodating of this. I for one see this as entirely positive though.