Why the right assistant is your biggest untapped growth lever

What if there was a secret business hack that could save you up to 20 per cent of your time? It’s a valuable currency, especially in a scaling business, but it’s so easy to let it slip through your fingers. 

Yet if you could double your effectiveness, calm the chaos and unlock exponential value without adding another executive to your business, wouldn’t you want to do so. That’s the power of the right personal or executive assistant.

Fast-growing businesses can easily look at these positions as a luxury, but there isn’t a sweet spot company size where rewards can be reaped, according to Marianne Whitlock from Strategic PA Recruitment. “It's very much down to the organisational needs,” she says. “We come across founders in a start-up who see the value in having an assistant, all the way up to global CEOs.”

To better understand how the right assistant can transform a business, we spoke with Whitlock and Sarah Howson, both of whom set up the boutique recruitment agency providing search services to businesses across the UK. With experience placing senior-level assistants with high-growth leaders, they’ve seen firsthand the difference that the right hire can make.

The biggest misconception, according to the pair, is that assistants are merely task-doers. In reality, a top-level EA is a strategic partner. 

“The work that a leader can get done if they have the right person on their side is exponential,” says Howson, whose company has placed assistants in well-known brands ranging from food and beverage companies to wealth management organisations. “It’s almost one person operating with two strands to them.”

Studies suggest that, by freeing leaders from being trapped in reactive cycles and allowing them to focus on strategic decisions, a skilled EA can boost executive productivity by up to 40 per cent. “If 90 per cent of your day is reactive as a leader,” says Whitlock, “you need someone to help you operate strategically. A high-performing EA gives you back that time and mental clarity.”

While many hiring processes focus on technical skills, Howson and Whitlock insist that emotional intelligence is the make-or-break factor. “Chemistry is everything,” says Howson. “You need someone who knows you as a leader, someone proactive, who can read you and adapt.”

Matching services go through a significant, rigorous process upfront with both the business leader and candidates to ensure compatibility. “A job description only goes so far,” Whitlock explains. “You’re looking for someone who shows up on good days and bad. Work ethic, clarity of communication and confidence without ego are essential.”

With EA, PA, assistant, chief of staff, ops manager or any of the 130-odd title variations, it can get confusing to know what would be best for your business requirements. So how do you know what you need?

“An EA is generally part of the leadership team,” says Howson. “They manage projects, attend high-level meetings, essentially acting as a right-hand. A PA is typically more focused on personal logistics and lower-level admin. A chief of staff is a step up, often managing cross-functional initiatives or internal comms.”

“The chief of staff role has been around for thousands of years,” explains Dora Nagy, an executive coach to CEOs and chiefs of staff. “It originally came from the military; they were the person who made sure that the soldiers had what they needed, they knew the strategies for attack etc. The position made its way into politics, and then into business and start-ups.”

One of the most common misconceptions about the difference between the roles is that a scaling organisation must pick between an EA/PA and a chief of staff. “The EA/PA and chief of staff roles coexist beautifully,” says Howson. “I think a chief of staff is great for businesses that are experiencing high or exponential growth. The CEO is only one person and only has a finite number of hours in the day. The chief of staff is there to partner and maximise efficiencies.”

However, as Whitlock says, there are no fixed rules when it comes to hiring an assistant: “It’s subjective to the needs of the organisation. We’ve placed top-tier EAs in start-ups with two employees and in multinationals. It’s about the value they bring, not the job title.”

One of the biggest errors leaders make is hiring an assistant based on a checklist of skills. “It has to be more than a skills match,” Whitlock says. “It’s about honesty, transparency and chemistry. The leader and assistant must want to work with each other. Otherwise, it doesn’t work.”

This fit isn’t just about getting along, it’s about enabling high trust and performance. “When an assistant can challenge a leader, ask if a meeting is really worth it, help prioritise and even push back, this shows maturity and confidence,” Howson says. “That’s when you know you have someone strategic on board.”

It goes without saying that great relationships like the one required between a business leader and their assistant aren’t built overnight, but your onboarding process can lay the groundwork for a successful one. 

“The onboarding process should start well before they join the team,” says Howson. “We encourage assistants to shadow, sit in on meetings, listen to how the leader talks and get to know how they think. It’s about immersing yourself in their world.”

Whitlock concurs, adding that they tell leaders to be open and honest early on about how they work and how they like to communicate. “Trust is built gradually,” she says, “but with a solid foundation, everything else becomes possible.”

While the impact of a great EA is often intangible, there are ways to track it. Howson recommends identifying ‘north star’ goals early: “Is it replying to emails in your voice? Is it increasing the amount of uninterrupted time you have for strategic work? These need to be agreed on upfront.”

Regular performance reviews can keep things on track too. “EAs are often the ones who schedule reviews, so theirs get postponed,” Whitlock says. “Make space to reflect on what’s working and what’s not.”

Other useful KPIs include:

• Time saved weekly by the leader
• Number of strategic projects the EA has advanced
• Reduction in meeting overload or email volume
• Uplift in team communication or morale

For leaders of medium-sized businesses, the decision to hire a PA or EA can be transformational, but only if you approach it strategically. The right assistant is more than an organiser of meetings or a gatekeeper of time. They can be your second brain, your pressure valve and your leadership amplifier.

As Howson put it: “You’re turning chaos into calm.”

In today’s environment, that’s not a luxury, it has the potential to be a competitive advantage.