If things are getting a little hectic around the office, it might be time to expand your company's administrative staff. But can you afford to add staff right now? Maybe you can and maybe you can't. Either way, determining the market rate for the kind of staff you need is the place to begin.

When determining the cost of administrative staff, it's important to make sure you know what you will be getting for your money. In other words, an administrative assistant at another company might perform a completely different role than the one you have in mind.

To help you sort things out, here are summaries of salary ranges and job descriptions of some common administrative positions provided by the International Association of Administrative Professionals.

Executive Assistant Salaries: $32,000 - $42,000

An executive assistant provides a wide range of support for executive management. Duties of an executive assistant include screening calls, preparing presentations and reports, supervising other support staff, making travel arrangements, and dealing with customers. Not surprisingly, a person qualified to do this job needs to have a broad skill set and therefore commands a slightly higher salary than a typical office assistant.

Office Manager Salaries: $31,250 - $38,000

Office managers specialize in making sure your workplace runs smoothly by coordinating support staff and overseeing the flow of work in the office. An office manager might also be responsible for other tasks such as purchasing and facility management.

Administrative Assistant Salaries: $26,000 - $31,750

Administrative assistants are the "workhorses" of office support personnel. They are expected to perform a variety of tasks including word processing, photocopying, taking phone calls, handling visitors, and nearly anything else that is needed to keep the office afloat. But don't let their broad range of responsibilities fool you. A good administrative assistant is a highly skilled professional who is conversant in an assortment of software applications and office procedures.

Customer Service Representative Salaries: $20,750 - $27,000

Most customer service reps work by phone to assist customers with question, concerns, and complaints about your products. Coordination with other departments is a must, so in addition to computer and database skills, a customer service rep also needs to possess the ability to communicate clearly with others - both in an outside of the workplace.

Receptionist Salaries: $20,000 - $25,500

A receptionist is responsible for handling the inflow of customers, callers, and others into your business. Although much of their job involves answering phone calls and greeting guests, receptionists also assist other support personnel with tasks such as word processing, document preparation, data entry, and internet research.

Determining the value of a given employee within a specified range is more of an art than a science.

Use factors such as education, experience, and anticipated workload to guide you through the process, but don't be afraid to go outside the range to find the right person for the right position in a competitive job market.