CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
The secretary
coordinates the activities of an organisation and operates the various
processes and procedures that lead to the effective management of
organisational business. These involve, inter alia, the selection of new
directors, their induction and related staff meetings, the production
of minutes and arrangements for follow-up action and communication and
liaison between the organisation and the rest of employees. But the role
has many other facets. The secretary may be responsible for the
provision of legal and procedural advice and a contributor of
information required by the organisation. The role must often balance
the managerial imperative with the transparency and accountability
required of any organisation.
Productivity is the quality
that indicates how well labour, capital, material and energy are
utilized it is the output resulting from a given resources input at a
given time. It is the concept that guides the management of a production
system and then measure its success and that it is the measure of
production efficiency, a ratio between input and output, input is
frequently limited to input of labour. Low productivity when applied to
secretarial in selected modern business organizations measure in the
degree of quantitative and qualitative inadequacies in the output of
workers. It can be seen as inadequate production. Low productivity is
the way by which productivity can fall short of the high standards that
are less than perfect in the working situation are not identified, the
result is low productivity.
Secretaries are needed in every type of
office, be it advertising and public education, law and medicine,
manufacturing and industries, publishing and schools, insurance and bank
etc they also work for politicians, writers and judges. It is an
unarguable fact that the secretary is stronghold of any organization.
Many achievements have been made by the management of the workforce of
which the secretary is no exception. Secretary is derived from the Latin
word secretary meaning something know to one or few and kept secret or
hidden from the view or knowledge of others, simply puts, a secretary is
a keeper of secrets. He or she is a person who works in an office,
working for another person, dealing with letters and telephone calls,
typing, keeping records, and arranging meeting with people secretary
cannot be efficient and effective if he or she is working under poor
condition.
However, there are certain factors which
affect secretaries while on job and these factors positively or
negatively affect their performances in the organisation where they
belong to. It sometimes determines their longevity in the organisation.
Some of these factors are technological factors poor language structure,
sociological factors environment factors, and economic factors.
Presently, the need for exposing secretaries to the use of modern office
equipment has risen due to challenges they face in the modern word. The
effect of language structure that secretaries in institute of
management and Technology received during training cannot be over
emphasized as in labour market and available jobs are meant for those
who have good command use of word or good spoken English.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Some secretaries failed to avail themselves of the opportunities
given to them. This has created a gap between most executives and their
secretaries. Most of the secretaries complain that fringe benefits,
inadequate modern machines, environmental factor, lack of training and
poor relationship with others are factors that affect the productivity
of secretary in public organisations. Also, the inability of employers
in modern business organizations to remunerate and motivate their
secretaries accurately in line with exportations of the present changing
work environments in another pain or problem. This has led to low
morale, poor standard of living, lateness and absenteeism on the part of
the secretary.
This study investigated factors
affecting the performance of secretary in public organisation. The
working condition of any organization plays an important role on the
workers because the productivity of an organization depends mainly on
them, lack of good working condition in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic
values can lead to a great decline in productivity. It has been
observed that many organizations fail to realize the importance of good
working condition and this is seriously affecting their employees
particularly the realization of this fact that brought the researchers
investigate the factors affecting the performance of secretary in public
organisation.
1.3 Research Questions
These are some of the questions the study is designed to answer:
i) what are the roles of secretaries in public organisations?
ii) What are the factors that affect the performance of secretaries in public organisations?
iii) what are the office
equipment needed by the secretaries of public institutions for better
performance at work?
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The objective of this study was to
investigate the factors affecting the performance of secretaries in
public organisation. The specific objectives were:
i) to find out the roles of secretaries in public organisations
ii) to assess the factors that affect the performance of secretaries in public organisations
iii) to determine the
office equipment needed by the secretaries of public institutions for
better performance at work
1.5 Significance of the Study
This study would help to identify the
factors that contribute to low and high productivity of secretaries in
public organisations. It will also reveal to prospective secretarial in
the career what they should expect from the profession as regards people
misconception and misunderstanding of the career. It will as well serve
as a foundation upon which further academic research can be made.
1.6 Scope of the Study
This study investigated the
factors affecting the performance of secretaries in public organisation.
It therefore limited to secretaries in the public organisations like
the Nigeria Port Authority (NPA), National Television Authority (NTA),
Water Corporation and the likes.
1.7 Limitation of the study
The researcher was faced
with insufficient fund which tended to impede the efficiency of the
researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or
information and in the process of data collection (internet,
questionnaire and interview).
1.8 Definitions of Terms
The following terms were used in the course of this study:
Office: A place where the administrative work are done
Performance: the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function.
Productivity: This is the ratio between output and all the resources used in production.
Public Organisation:
Secretary: employee in the office who deals with correspondence, keep records, makes arrangement of a particular member of staff.