When you join ACPAI division at Alantra as an “Executive Assistant”, you quickly realise that the job title does not reflect the nature of the work. Instead of supporting management at high level, as you would have naturally expected, at Alantra be prepared to be the receptionist, the office manager, the team secretary, to be in charge of facilities all whilst supporting a demanding team of eight senior management members of staff including partners, managing directors and directors. Also be prepared to not report to the most senior member of staff you support (a partner), but instead be prepared to attend a weekly call with someone in operations where you are each time asked what you are doing that week (feels like micro managing), as the partner (the most senior person of the team you support) has no time to have catch ups with you and/or is not interested in being part of your career development or in forming any kind of relationship with you. This distance between the partner that the EA supports and the EA is an uncomfortable set up when you are used to (in previous companies) being able to freely communicate with the most senior person that you support. As Alantra ACPAI management refuse to hire any other support staff, EAs find it impossible to do their job to the basic acceptable standard that they would like and so days are therefore stressful and lacking any sense of real achievement (more a case of struggling to keep your head above water). When the EAs come together to advise management of the problems they are facing, management takes no action whatsoever. Working at Alantra is a huge eye opener on how important it is to work for a management team that listen and understand the value and importance in making sure that the admin headcount is sufficient to deal with the demands of the team that admin are expected to support. Alantra ACPAI has been growing its MD and Director headcount over many years but has not grown the support side. The whole set up lacks logic and it’s surprising how unwilling management is to make any changes when all of their EAs tell them the same thing. EAs are not valued at this company. You definitely get the sense that you are disposable and should just be quiet and get on with it. The London secretarial market is thriving as it always has been and there is no reason for secretaries to work under such understaffed conditions. Terrible morale. EAs at Alantra are to be seen and not heard.
