Recent research from the Council for Administration (CfA) has found that training for those in often business-critical support roles is not regarded as important by two thirds of organisations with administration departments.

The National Administration Skills Survey Report, May 2003 found that 97 per cent of employers surveyed agreed that administrative function is critical to the effectiveness of the organisation, but only 28% of employers questioned believed administration training should have a high priority, with two in five organisations admitting they did not have a plan to improve the performance of administration.

The research, based on surveys of 940 respondents, examined four key areas in depth - trends in the role of the administrator, the skills required for the job, recruitment and selection and effective administration, and concluded that a great deal of work neeeds to be done in raising the profile of administrative roles and the skills required to undertake them effectively. IT was seen as the key area where skills development is needed most.

The survey also identified a lack of adequately skilled candidates for administration posts, identified skills shortages in customer service, finance, office management, organisational skills, problem solving, people management and interpersonal skills.

Over 4.7m people work in administration, representing about a sixth of the UK workforce.