Personal assistants (PAs) from various organisations in the country were at the weekend trained in leadership skills at the inaugural Ultimate Personal Assistants Conference in Mangochi.
The conference, which attracted 16 personal assistants, marked the start of a 30-week programme facilitated by Quintessentials aimed at equipping participants with skills that can help to upgrade them to junior managers and ultimately to leadership positions.
In an interview on the sidelines of the conference, Quintessentials Malawi leader Dumisani Ngulube said the Ultimate Personal Assistants programme is a continuous professional development programme with headquarters in South Africa.
He said: “Largely, the programme targets personal assistants who, based on research that was conducted in 2010 in South Africa, do not have a structured way up on the corporate ladder. We designed this 30-week programme to run for two years starting April next year to ensure personal assistants have a more defined route to their career desires.”
During the programme, participants will be empowered with knowledge and skills to ensure that they achieve their goals.
“As Quintessentials, we would like to see PAs that grow into managing directors, finance managers and so on. We are looking at a PA not as an assistant within an organisation but as a manager within the organisation,” said Ngulube.
A participant, Naomi Kanzangaza, hailed Quintessentials for organising the conference, saying she has learnt some new things about her position.
According to Ngulube, another conference will be held in Lilongwe in three weeks time before Quintessentials calls for applications for the two-year programme end of this month.
