APP would serve as a staff association for all administrative professionals within the civil service, with free membership to all qualifying staff within the stream
Staff would have access to a wide range of resources, including access to a community of fellow professionals, specialized conferences, webinars and a career center with an in-house advisor
The most distinguishing feature of APP would be a Professional Administrative Certification, which is an accreditation that can be completed by staff at the conclusion of a comprehensive training program that would be offered
The APP would be divided across four modules:
Module 1: Filing and Organization
- Maintain paper and electronic filing systems for records, organize files, folders, and schedules so an office can run efficiently
- Schedule appointments and make travel arrangements
- Read, analyze, distribute, and answer routine incoming memos, reports, mail and email
- Understand how to stock supplies, manage stockrooms or libraries, and get data from various sources
Module 2: Communications
- Best practices for answering phones, drafting messages, writing memos and emailing
- Supporting managers through conducting research, compiling data, and preparing briefs
- Understand how fax machines, videoconferencing and phone systems, and other office equipment work
- Communicate well with others in and out of the office
- Know how to greet visitors and determine whether they should be given access to specific individuals
Module 3: Computing
- Basic Computing: Ensuring that they are well-versed in the use of Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, Outlook and calendaring applications
- Strategic Computing: Providing them with a strategic overview of the wide range of computer applications (such as project management tools) that they can draw upon to help them deploy and track initiatives
- Practical Computing: Exposing them to web technology (from basic search to eLearning) as well as mobile technologies that can enhance the way they operate
Module 4: Professional Business Linguistics
- A short course in conversational business Arabic would provide staff with the basic framework for how to communicate verbally and in writing more effectively
- A second language, predominantly English, would also be a prerequisite to completing this module—not necessarily to get staff to upgrade their speaking or writing skills, but rather to provide them with the basic building blocks on how to navigate their way through the web to access information that could be useful to them, as well as on the key basis for engaging with individuals who may contact them from other countries
The Professional Administrative Certification would be open to all APP staff, to test their skills across the four learning modules which are offered under the program
- Bronze: Upon successful completion of one of the four modules and passing one accreditation exam with distinction
- Silver: Upon successful completion of two of the four modules and passing two accreditation exam with distinction
- Gold: Upon successful completion of three of the four modules and passing three accreditation exams with distinction
- Platinum: Upon successful completion of all four modules and passing all four accreditation exams with distinction