People who execute on making the firm money or saving costs don't get fired. If you DO execute it IS noticed in the numbers. Sure, some shameless self promoting can't hurt.

As for secretaries, they are usually women who add no value to the organization whatsoever other than answering phones, shuffling paper, and using Outlook. You could fire THEM and replace with Mumbai workers for a fraction of the cost. That said, you treat them as nice as you treat everyone else.

This may be a shocking revelation to some but secretaries have no say whatsoever in hiring and firing decisions. Maybe that's different at completely useless organizations like anything with the word "agency" in the name but at real corporations this is reality.

Good rundown on the common symptoms of someone on the outs but wow, "secretaries"? When was the last time you worked with any support team member who didn't cringe a little when referred to as a secretary? Other than that, great post.

As for the "Performance" comment, double wow. Again with the secretary title but beyond that, do you really think you can outsource everything local support staff do for "high producers" to Mumbai? Good luck avoiding self promoting, egotistical, idiots that you wouldn't want to sit next to you (even if they only last six months) once there aren't others outside of thier role to give some objective feedback on how they carry themselves in between formal interviews. Most smart people can talk a good game on the topic of thier work or suck up to hiring mgrs but being a well rounded professional is another game entirely. Also, have fun dealing with time zone differences, company cultural disconnects, and the extra "busy work" you'll take on as a result of it not being worth training outsourced support staff on how to do, which will happen on a regular basis since outsourced support has a much higher turnover rate.

In case your wondering, my opinion comes from more than ten years in sales, recruiting, and management. I don't think I've ever held a "secretary" role of any kind myself but I know for a fact that my performance in every position I've held has been enhanced by local support staff.

Getting pigeonholed into a specific area of work isn't a bad thing. The trick is to cultivate more interests and skills and show off on your 'off work' time. Companies these days have knowledge bases and knowledge management systems (in addition to the good ol' fashioned water cooler).

If you play your cards right you can get a reputation for knowing a lot about X due to your work with it (your pigeonhole) but you can also get cred-points for knowing about Y, and Z through these alternative streams.

If you are an asset to the company, even if your X-specific job dries up, you will be retained for something else.

I used to be a "secretary" or admin assistant as we're called around here. I certainly didn't have any hiring/firing influence. So I think it depends on who the admin works for. If she (let's be for real, it's not going to be a guy) works for somebody important who has her back, than yeah she could end up with a LOT of influence. In my case, and the people who've taken over for me, their influence in hiring/firing is beyond minimal. I would have gotten laughed out for making any recommendations on my impressions. Managers tend to think of themselves as pretty wise and don't feel they need a "secretary's" opinion and somebody who they've already met and want to make up their own mind about. On the other hand, being nice to your admin might get you other perks, but it's not a necessary for survival kind of thing unless maybe there's only ONE admin and you'd like to have a steady stream of office supplies.

Administrative assistance don't make the decisions, but they can certainly influence them. I know some managers who really take what their admins say to heart, and others who couldn't care less. I guess the point is you should be nice to them regardless, they are fellow employees and HUMANS after all.

As for not getting fired--doing great work, getting exposure, and going above and beyond will always help. If you are a great talent, the company will do whatever they can even if it means moving you to a different assignment. That doesn't always work out, but even if you do get laid off (not fired) you'll have a much better chance of getting re-hired if you leave on good terms.

Let's not forget that in a multilayer organization, you not only have to impress your boss, you have to impress your bosses boss, to the point that that worthy would question any decision by your boss to terminate you.