Survey of Occupational Challenges Facing Secretaries
Chapter One
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of the study is to:
- Find out if there are any aspect of the secretarial job that concern the civil service in Enugu State, if any, the occupational Challenges facing Secretaries.
- Identify if those functions conflicts with that performed by the Civil servant in Enugu State Civil Service
- Find out if there functions are useful in runing the Civil Service in Enugu State.
- Find out if the secretaries are efficient in performing those functions.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
Our focus in this chapter is to critically examine relevant literatures that would assist in explaining the research problem and furthermore recognize the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps.
Precisely, the chapter will be considered in three sub-headings:
- Conceptual Framework
- Theoretical Framework
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
CONCEPT OF SECRETARY
In the view of Ensel and Vaughn (2012), a secretary is a person who is employed to help in an office,and also help the people in charge of the office do their job. By definition, the main task of a secretary is to keep organized paper and electronic files for the business, school, hospital or government agency they work for (Neil, 2013). Clement (2010) pointed out that it is not easy to cover all the duties of a secretary which are numerous, but should be efficient at these duties; type material to be published, minutes of meeting and other document; prepare agenda and notice, convening meetings and send copies to members including co-opted members; file documents so that they can be found; answer telephone and makes outgoing calls; compose letters; keep financial records and handle impress accounts; make appointment for the boss; supervise other employees and act as office management and serve as the go between, that is between the boss and other members of staff. Greg (2012), noted that the standard of work done by a secretary in an organization is affected, to a great extent, by the way in which the executive undertakes his or her duties and makes use of the services a secretary can provide. These duties pose their challenge to women secretaries most, who have to combine them with the responsibilities as mothers, wives and nurtures; also this age of computer further complicates the duties of a secretary. Work overload is one major variable of occupational stress. Andre (2008) view work overload as total energy output of a system, particularly of a person performing strenuous task overtime. Work overload is to be considered a primary source of resource depletion and also defined as the proportion of the capacity an operator spends on tasks performance. Snow (2012) opined that work overload and meeting on deadlines in organization are demanding at all levels which invariably lead to so many mistakes, and induces stress on secretaries when there are so many service delivery with urgency that the secretaries need to comply with. Fritz (2011) averred that work overload is when the amount of work to be done exceeds what one is
humanly capable of accomplishing in a given time. And since the load increases but time is short, secretaries are sometimes forced to stay late in the office, accumulating overtime to overcome the disproportionate amount of work required. The author also stressed that work overload often leads to secretaries absenteeism due to the numerous tasks they have to carry out. Skill gap is also considered as a variable of occupational stress in this study. The fact that many secretaries occupying administrative positions in organisations are not very familiar with some of the technologies used in the offices today cannot be over emphasized. Skill gap occurs when a person lack the training, education, skills or experience to accomplish a job. Skill gap can be referred to as observable difference between the skill competencies requires for performing certain role, and the level of skill possessed and exhibited by a person employed to fill the vacancy (Baron & Greenberg,. Odu and Vito (2017) asserted that secretaries that do not have the required skills and experience to use some of the technologies are induced with stress at workplace. Hence, leads to ineffectiveness of information dissemination. Also, fast changing of new technologies and more sophisticated digital devices flowing into the market on daily basis induces stress on secretaries, which places a serious and incessant demand of adequate skills of those secretaries, as they are expected to update their skills and knowledge up to the latest technologies in used. Clark and Cooper (2013) also contended that changes in technologies has caused so many secretaries to be stressed up as lack of skills to the operation of new office machines have made secretaries sick and tired of the job. This is because secretaries are expected to use these gadgets in the production of their jobs thereby making the expectations of secretaries in organization high.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we described the research procedure for this study. A research methodology is a research process adopted or employed to systematically and scientifically present the results of a study to the research audience viz. a vis, the study beneficiaries.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Research designs are perceived to be an overall strategy adopted by the researcher whereby different components of the study are integrated in a logical manner to effectively address a research problem. In this study, the researcher employed the survey research design. This is due to the nature of the study whereby the opinion and views of people are sampled. According to Singleton & Straits, (2009), Survey research can use quantitative research strategies (e.g., using questionnaires with numerically rated items), qualitative research strategies (e.g., using open-ended questions), or both strategies (i.e., mixed methods). As it is often used to describe and explore human behaviour, surveys are therefore frequently used in social and psychological research.
POPULATION OF THE STUDY
According to Udoyen (2019), a study population is a group of elements or individuals as the case may be, who share similar characteristics. These similar features can include location, gender, age, sex or specific interest. The emphasis on study population is that it constitute of individuals or elements that are homogeneous in description.
This study was carried out to examine survey of occupational challenges facing secretaries using ministry of education and works in Enugu State as a case study. Secretaries of ministry of education and works Enugu State form the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the analysis of data derived through the questionnaire and key informant interview administered on the respondents in the study area. The analysis and interpretation were derived from the findings of the study. The data analysis depicts the simple frequency and percentage of the respondents as well as interpretation of the information gathered. A total of thirty-six (36) questionnaires were administered to respondents of which only thirty (30) were returned and validated. This was due to irregular, incomplete and inappropriate responses to some questionnaire. For this study a total of 30 was validated for the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
SUMMARY
In this study, our focus was to examine survey of occupational challenges facing secretaries using ministry of education and work as a case study. The study specifically was aimed at Finding out if there are any aspect of the secretarial job that concern the civil service in Enugu State, if any, the occupational Challenges facing Secretaries. Identify if those functions conflicts with that performed by the Civil servant in Enugu State Civil Service. Find out if there functions are useful in running the Civil Service in Enugu State. Find out if the secretaries are efficient in performing those functions. A total of 30 responses were validated from the enrolled participants where all respondent are drawn from secretaries of ministry of education and works
CONCLUSION
Based on the finding of this study, the following conclusions were made:
there are several kind of problem encountered as a secretary
- there are no job conflict with that of others in the office
- there are modern equipment with which secretaries work with in the office
- secretary are not neglected neither are theynot recognized
RECOMMENDATION
Based on the responses obtained, the researcher proffers the following recommendations:
- Secretaries should raise their hands together and form their organization just like other professional groups to protect for their rights as secretaries in their working places.
- Society perceptions towards secretarial professional should be neutralized highly in advance by educating society on real responsibilities and contributions of secretaries to the office performance
REFERENCES
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- Andres, T. (1997) How to Become a Successful Secretary: A manual Volume I-Personal Development. REX Book store, Inc Manila
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