National Occupational Standards

Business & Administration

The Business and Administration NOS were extensively revised in 2009/10 to ensure that they are fit for purpose and provide full coverage of all relevant administrative functions. The new NOS, aimed at administrators in all sectors of the UK economy, cover the following themes:

Business resources
Business support services
Communications
Core business and administration
Corporate decision-making
Customer service
Document production
Events and meeting
Health and safety
Innovation and change
Manage information and data
Organisational strategy
Project management

This latest version of the standards cover aspects of work which have increased in importance in recent years, such as communication and negotiation, working with others, dealing with change, solving business problems, supporting sustainability and managing risk.

Business & Administration – Specialist NOS

CfA has developed specialist business and administration standards for administrators that work in the following sectors:

Agriculture
Custodial care
Law
Casework
Parking
Education
Health
HR

These standards cover specialist sector-related functions that are carried out by administrators in the above sectors, but are not included in the main business and administration suite.

Self-Administration

Recent trends within business to work with flatter management structures, fewer hierarchical levels and increasing use of technology has meant that there is less administrative support available within teams and an expectation that people will be able to carry out their own administration.

The self-administration standards are applicable to a wide range of people who are not employed as administrators, do not have access to administrative support and are expected to carry out their own administration as part of their jobs, for example: