A Study of the Causes and Effects of Stress on Secretary’s Job Performance in Business Organizations
Chapter One
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The major purpose of this study is to find out the causes and effects of stress on secretary’s job in Enugu urban business organization performance specifically, the study seeks to:
- Find out causes of stress on the secretary.
- Identify effects of stress on secretary’s job performance.
- Ascertain problems arising from secretary’s stress on the achievement of organizational goal.
- Find out measures to curb stress on the job.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
This chapter deals with the past literature on the effects of stress among the secretaries. The chapter outlines the relationship between stress and performance, highlighting how cognitive and intrinsic factors contribute to secretarial duties as well as the organizational factors. The chapter also provides the conceptual framework that the study will use to explain the effects of stress among the secretaries.
Stress and Performance
The existence of factors other than those intrinsic to secretarial duties can be demonstrated by cross-national comparisons of secretary stress. Travers & Cooper (1997) surveyed 800 secretaries in England and France about stress and found substantially different responses. 22% of sick leave in England, as opposed to 1% in France was attributed to stress. 55% of the English secretaries as opposed to 20% of the French sample reported recently considering leaving secretarial duties. Interestingly, there was substantial agreement between the English and French secretaries as to the sources of pressure, both groups citing classroom discipline, low social status and lack of parental support. However, English secretaries reported more problems emanating from long hours of work, overwork and political interference. The original idea of the present study was to study stress in secretarial duties, and the effects that it has on the performance of the secretaries. However, its profound relationship with the more generalized concept of occupational stress highlights the need to examine the incidence and characteristics of stress and burnout in the secretarial duties profession in a combined way. Stress and burnout in the context of secretarial duties (though by no means limited to this profession) are pathological syndromes suffered by secretaries. They are caused largely by the conditions (organizational and of many other types) in which secretarial duties takes place. A summary analysis of the current situation in education permits the identification of some of the social and organizational factors that constitute sources of stress and burnout: The combination of changes in society and the educational system itself has led to a growing complexity of the secretary’s role and has increased the demands of the organisation environment. Paradoxically, these growing demands are accompanied by a devaluation of, and a reduction in support for, the organisation system, which in turn leads to severe occupational dissatisfaction (working conditions) and health problems among the secretaries. In general terms, burnout in the secretarial duties profession, results from the imbalance between the demands of the profession and the rewards received, perceived self-efficacy in the achievement of this objective, observing progress in jobs, receiving recognition from others, among other factors. This profession shares a set of basic characteristics (Pines and Aronson, 1988): it is emotionally draining, focus on the client, and the people who choose to work in them have certain personality characteristics in common. The secretarial duties profession also involves some aggravating factors which contribute to exacerbating burnout problems among secretaries: there is constant personal contact and interaction with jobs; secretaries need to be experts, to display patience and sensitivity and to be useful; their work is constantly open to scrutiny and evaluation by a variety of people; they work with people who may not wish to work with them or to benefit from their efforts; salaries tend to be lower than those in comparable jobs; and secretaries’ expectations of different aspects of their work, such as its perceived value and job motivation often exceed reality.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter provided the methodology of the study. It gave the specific procedure that was followed in undertaking the study. The research design, population, sampling design, data collection methods and data analysis were described in this chapter.
Research design
This is the overall plan of conducting the study in order to answer the research questions and achieve the objective of the study. The study used descriptive survey research design to obtain information both quantitative and qualitative that was describing the existing phenomena. Mugenda and Mugenda, (1999) describes descriptive survey research design as a systematic, empirical inquiry into which the researcher did not have a direct control of independent variable as their manifestation have already occurred or because the inherently cannot be manipulated. Thus the design attempted to collect data from members of a given population so as to determine the current status of that particular population with respect to one or more variables. . Hence the design was selected to satisfy the aspect of the study where a sample population was used to get characteristics of the target population too large to observe directly (Mugenda & Mugenda 1999).
Target population
According to Ngechu (2004), a population is well defined set of people, services elements and events, group of things or households that are being investigated. Mugenda and Mugenda, (1999) defines target population as that population to which a researcher wants to generalize the results of a study. In view of Mugenda and Mugenda, the target population of this study was defined as public organisation secretaries in Kolokuma/Opukuma LGA Bayelsa State.
Sample Size Selection
Yamane (1967) formulated a sample size formula to be used scientifically to generate a sample From a given population of study. Proportionate sampling technique was used to obtain a sample of 138 respondents as indicated below:
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS, PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION.
Introduction
This chapter presents the findings of the study. The study sought to establish whether job stress among secretaries is influenced by job discipline, determine the influence of work environment on job stress among secretaries, establish the influence of job organisation attendance on secretary job stress and finally to examine the influence of career choice and training on secretary job stress in Kolokuma/Opukuma LGA, Bayelsa State.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION
Job’s attendance to organization programmes affected secretary job stress, the study revealed that Majority of secretaries were not happy with the high job absentee rate in their organisations. This interfered with targets making realization of success difficult hence the low grades in examinations which they said is a mirror of their productivity. Majority of those interviewed indicated that sports had a positive impact on job organization attendance. Many jobs enjoyed being at organisation to participate in sports and their excellent performance encouraged the secretaries and made them satisfied.
The study also established secretaries level of confidence in their work was high and this could be attributed to the training given to them, majority enjoyed their work as they exuded confidence in delivery of subject matter to the jobs. However, they were quick to mention lack of secretarial duties learning materials which accordingly impacted negatively on the job performance hence the lack of good grades in the national examination.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations were made on the basis of the findings.
Parents should be educated on the need to facilitate their children to enable them attend to organisation programmes by paying organisation fees buying uniform and offering alternative supervision when their children are at home to enhance commitment . Keeping the jobs optimally at organisation would allow for consistency in academic work as opposed to the current high rate of absenteeism.
The government should provide sufficient staff both at secretary level and quality assurance level. Added secretarial duties and quality force would ensure existing staff are able to do supervision which appear to be deficient to ensure quality education is given to jobs: organisations should give priority to provision of secretarial duties learning aids (text books and practical apparatus) so as to adequately expose jobs to enable them compete fairly in the national examinations. iii Fees in default according to the respondents are alarming. Parents have neglected their duties including paying fees in good time and strictly supervising children work at home. The negligence according to the majority affects job performance as is seen in the high level of absenteeism among jobs and their lack of commitment to assignment work given, excuses to be away from class activities most of the time. This study recommends that parents be educated on their roles in chief’s barazas, non – governmental meetings so as to help change their negative attitude towards organisations.
The government should address the issue of pay adequately by engaging secretaries to get their proposals. This is notably coming out from the findings even when it was not the main focus of study. It is also important that the government considers availing chances for skill development and improvement through proficiency organized programmes to the secretaries. This will allow them realize their hidden abilities and would come back to help the education sector.
This study recommends that the government should re-evaluate the pay packages for secretaries in comparison with employees in other sectors with similar academic qualifications and work experiences so as to reduce the margins. This could help resolve constant strikes occurrences which have robbed the country of its valuable time and workforce energy for many years.
The study recommends that sports be introduced as a subject in high organisations to expand the scope of success for jobs. The subject named rare talent education broken into disciplines as football, athletics, handball which eventually will produce professionals able to train the youth and enable them get into lucrative areas of sport so as to reduce on importation of personnel trainers.
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