Qualities and Qualifications of a Good Secretary

Whatever the type of office held, every secretary is entrusted with information, correspondence and relationships that the appointing body cannot afford to have handled carelessly. Std 11 Secretarial Practice therefore treats the qualities of a good secretary under two heads — personal qualities and academic or professional qualifications — because competence in the job depends on both character and training.

Personal qualities

• Integrity and trustworthiness — a secretary routinely handles confidential correspondence, financial information, and matters not yet placed before the general body; without personal integrity none of the rest of the job can be trusted.
• Tact and courtesy — dealing with members, directors, clients and the public requires the ability to say the right thing diplomatically, especially when refusing a request or conveying an unwelcome decision.
• Accuracy and method — minutes, registers, and correspondence must be precise; a single wrongly recorded resolution or missed deadline can have legal consequences.
• Initiative and organising ability — a secretary is expected to anticipate what a meeting or a correspondence thread will need next, not merely to wait for instructions.
• Patience and an even temperament — committee work in particular involves disagreement among members; a secretary who loses composure under pressure cannot hold the office together.
• A pleasing personality and good general knowledge — since a secretary is frequently the first point of contact for outsiders dealing with the organisation.

Academic and professional qualifications

• A sound general education, with strong command of language, both spoken and written, since drafting correspondence, notices, agendas and minutes is central to the job.
• Working knowledge of office and secretarial procedure — filing, indexing, correspondence handling and, traditionally, shorthand and typewriting; today, competence in word-processing, spreadsheets and email or communication software.
• Familiarity with basic accounts and office records, since most secretarial posts, from a club's treasurer-cum-secretary role to a company secretary certifying financial filings, touch financial record-keeping at some point.
• Where the office is a company secretary, the Companies Act, 2013 and the Company Secretaries Act, 1980 require formal membership of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India — a professional qualification obtained through the ICSI's own Foundation, Executive and Professional level examinations plus mandatory practical training, not merely a general degree. …