Office Management Skills Required by Secretaries for Effective Job Performance in the Federal Polytechnic, Bida

Abstract

The study was carried out to identify office management skills required by secretaries for effective job performance.  Descriptive survey research design was adopted by the researcher for the study. The population of the study comprised 59 respondents in The Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger State. The 59 respondents formed the sample for the study since the population was considered sizeable and manageable. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire based on modified four points Likert Rating Scale of Strongly Agreed (4), Agreed (3), Disagreed (2) and Strongly Disagreed (1). The questionnaire was validated by three experts in the Department of Office Technology and Management, The Federal Polytechnic, Bida. The researchers administered 59 copies of the questionnaire and retrieved only 51 copies from the respondents which were used for data analysis. Mean and Standard Deviation were the statistical tools used to answer the research questions while SPSS Statistic was used for data analysis.  Finding from the data analysis revealed among others that ability to initiate correspondence, ability to maintain secrets and ability to prioritize activities were the office management skills required by secretaries for effective job performance. The study concluded that secretaries needed communication skills, confidential skills and organizational skills for effective job performance. Where these skills are lacking, secretaries may remain redundant, irrelevant and may lack the skills for effective job performance. The study recommended among others that secretaries should be proficient in communication by initiating correspondences, imbibe the habit of maintaining secrets and plan the activities of the office in order to meet deadline.