Editor’s Note: This article on Admin Day was written as a reminder for execs—we recommend sharing the link in your email signature, dropping a printed copy on the boss’s desk during lunch, or even scheduling an appointment in their calendar to read. Just sayin’!

Be honest—could you imagine a day in the office without your executive assistant, office manager, operations guru or vibe manager there, attending to a thousand tiny details, anticipating everyone’s needs, averting disaster at every turn?

No? We didn’t think so. Or maybe you can, and it’s not pretty—it’s actually the stuff of nightmares.

With Administrative Professional’s Day right around the corner, now’s the time to recognize and show a little gratitude for your Office Ninja.

If you haven’t noticed, we’re always celebrating admin awesomeness here at OfficeNinjas HQ, so while we know why your office admin deserves a little love, you might need a few reminders.

We’ll give you five. We asked and Office Ninjas Ambassadors answered. So here, straight from the hearts of offices across the nation, is why you need to celebrate your office admin in April.

Admins Are the Building Blocks

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: there is no office without an Office Ninja. Assistant, Emily V. puts it perfectly in her analogy:

When people comment about how beautiful a house is, I doubt anyone mentions the structural pillars hidden behind the walls supporting that house. To me, that’s my job. For any business to truly be successful, you have to have solid pillars. We know what it takes to run the day-to-day operations AND we can also see the big picture of the finished product, which tells us the most efficient way to handle the day-to-day tasks to get to that big picture.

It’s no wonder high-power execs praise the office admin role—many even call a good admin the “crucial first hire” for any successful startup.

Admins Make Efficiency Look Effortless

You know that stillness and serenity you’ve felt since your office assistant came on board? Being the key to calm is one of the toughest jobs, but you’d never know it based on how your admin’s performance. Office Ninjas have the innate ability to make it look effortless, and Carolyn B. is proof:

We take a certain pride in what we do because, truly, not everyone is cut out for the job. It is more difficult than we make it seem, the way an ice skater makes a simple spin look easy. In reality, that takes continual practice to keep it so sharp.

Admins are Masters of All Things Office

A Ninja can often answer your question, on anything, while juggling multiple priorities and booking a rental car. Connecting the dots from one department to the next, your admin professional is the epicentre for a reason. Kiyomi D., Executive Assistant to high-profile CEOs, shares what makes Ninjas so important.

Not only are we the first line of communication, and to some degree, the informal face of the company, we are also the behind-the-scenes miracle workers. We handle everything from managing a team and planning 500-person events to diffusing a prickly situation.

Admins Ensure the Office Always Delivers Awesome

Vibe is the new workplace culture, and your resident Office Ninja knows what it takes to not only keep the office happy, but to also keep it productive. Facilities Coordinator, Lisa O. shares an accurate spread of typical Ninja duties:

We need to plan ahead, use our crystal ball for any potential hazards or crisis, make sure office supplies and coffee are readily accessible, unjam the printer, come in early or stay late to decorate the birthday cube, and always, ALWAYS be professional, pleasant, helpful, and knowledgeable to anyone asking for assistance.

Bottom line, your admin staff keeps you happy. Why not keep your admins happy with some thoughtful Admin Day gifts on Administrative Professionals Day?

The Admin Role Has Evolved into So Much More

Gone are the days of Mad Men-style secretaries. Office assistants do so much to run the organization so you can focus on the business. Executive Administrative Assistant, Michelle M. tells it like it is:

Sometimes you are the face of the company, sometimes you’re behind the scenes building a better office system (policies, procedures, efficiency) and sometimes you’re stuck doing errands everyone else won’t do. Your role is never really defined and constantly changes, so it can be very challenging some days. We aren’t just ‘secretaries’ anymore of the Mad Men era—we are a pillar of a successful business!

It’s no wonder the admin professional is the new power job. Office admins are to a business what Wi-Fi is to, well, everyone. Virtual Assistant Guru, Melissa S. shares:

The position deserves more recognition because we’re too busy to recognize ourselves. It’s like the Internet—you expect to have service and a high-speed connection. It doesn’t occur to you that you won’t have an Internet connection, until you don’t, and then you really miss it and realize how much your time is crippled without it. The admin role is the same.

Are you celebrating Admin Day this year? We happen to host a week-long shindig that’s all about praising the Ninjas!