Effects Of Good Working Condition On The Performance Of Secretaries

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Any organization that wishes to succeed in achieving it aims and objectives has to maintain a good working condition so as to achieve its goals. This is so because the intrinsic and extrinsic factors the intrinsic factor is the incentives attached to one’s job that is what influences the secretary within the job, and this include achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility promotion and possibility for personal growth, while extrinsic are the environmental condition attached to one’s work element that contribute or motivated the secretary e.g. interpersonal relationship with colleagues and subordinates. Management itself realizes that there are certain fundamental needs that must be satisfied it secretary’s due to function at their best, workers look for organization, firms, companies and institutions that offer jobs that provides satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.

Secretaries as organizations members and agent through whom organizations achieve their objectives are very complex in nature. Basely and Robinson (1964) states that the work of the secretary varies according to the kind of products or service being rendered by the firm in which he is employed. The size of the organisation, the position of the secretary’s employer in the organization, and his employer’s manner or method of work.

One of the problems of secretaries is the hierarchical structure o the profession. A secretary is ranked according to her level of education or grade. In the working system in the Nigerian economy, there are many problems and difficulties encountered by all classes of workers and which in olden days were called stenographers, typist etc. are now designated secretarial, Assistants I, II, III and IV.

Problems ranging from the environment, public relations, accommodations, transport, the boss, salary and state governments are at presents raced with the problem of running result through efficient combination of resources at their disposal. These resources are man, machines, materials and money of these, man is regarded as the most important because he controls all other resources. The failure of the enterprises can therefore be traced to a failure in the managements of the humans resources in the enterprises.

Generally, the secretary’s work can include many varied duties like research, typing, producing flyers, filing, transcription, screening telephone calls, appointments, liaising with clients and other staff members, attending meetings, composing of letters, making travel arrangement, supervising, training staff etc. The major role or tasks the secretary performs is to provide assistance to a manager or managers (Amoor, 2009).

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 indisputable fact that the secretary is backbone of any organization, many achievements have been made by the management of the workforce of which the secretary is no exception.

However, working condition plays indispensable role in employee performance, since, a favorable workplace environment minimizes the rate of accidents, stress related sicknesses, absenteeism, and employee turnover (Ali, Ali and Adan, 2013). Working condition can determine the level of employee’s motivation, subsequent performance and productivity. Organization working condition influences employees’ error rate, level of innovation collaboration with other employees, absenteeism and ultimately the time period to stay in the job. Better working conditions, such as health and safety, adequate remuneration, and work life balance, show a good perception by the employees. If bad perceptions of work conditions relate with in employees work places, unforeseen stress results regarding their work arise from employees, who further translate to poor motivation and low job satisfaction and performance. For this reason, convenient workplace conditions are requirements for improving employee’s job satisfaction, productivity and quality of outcomes (Leblebici, 2012).

Therefore, the problem of this study is to identify the working conditions of the office environment of a secretary and to evaluate how these affects her productivity.

1.2 Statement of Problem

Working conditions are critical issues in every organization regardless of its size, specifics or location. Depending on their level, work gives the employee a sense of satisfaction or causes fatigue, and in many cases even discouragement. At the same time inadequate working conditions (including excessive noise, poor lighting, temperature, poor health and safety, poor work organization) have a negative impact on the functioning of the employee. Frequently appearing harmful factors such as stress, overwork, fatigue, accidents at work place and occupational diseases impact the human body in the workplace causes many negative effects. Organizations, which value high-performance of workload, should therefore remember that it could only be provided by employees who on the one hand, have opportunities to participate in professional development, and on the other hand, are performing duties in decent working conditions that do not threaten their health and lives.

Concerning the factors affecting employee’s performance a number studies were undertaken. Working condition was identified as a critical determinant of employees’ performance in many studies for instance (Moenga, Makomere and Otiso, 2018; Berihu, 2017; Nduku, Mwenda and Wachira, 2015; Ali, Ali and Adan, 2013). However, these studies agglutinate the measurement of employee job performance since they failed to account the two employee performance behaviors i.e., task performance and contextual performance as propagated by (Kahya, 2007; Borman and Motowidlo, 1993). This study constructs a separate measure for task and contextual performance and will run a separate regression model for these employee performance measures. Also, this study will use as many as constructs of working condition such as physical condition, occupational health and safety, work load, work place reward, supervisors support, work hour, internal organizational communication as compared to the aforementioned studies.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main aim of the study is to examine the effects of good working condition on the performance of secretaries in Auchi Polytechnic. Other aims of this study are:

Ascertain whether there is a significant correlation between working condition and the performance of secretaries.

Ascertain whether there is an adequate provision of good working condition for secretaries in Auchi Polytechnic

Identify the element of good working conditions which influence work performance of secretaries in Auchi Polytechnic.

Determine whether poor working condition impedes the performance of secretaries in Auchi Polytechnic.

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions will be answered in this study:

Is there a significant correlation between working condition and the performance of secretaries?

Is there an adequate provision of good working condition for secretaries in Auchi Polytechnic?

What are the element of good working conditions which influence work performance of secretaries in Auchi Polytechnic?

Does poor working condition impedes the performance of secretaries in Auchi Polytechnic.

1.5 Research Hypotheses

Ho: There is no significant correlation between good working condition and the performance of secretaries.

Ha: There is a significant correlation between good working condition and the performance of secretaries.

1.6 Significance of the Study

Good working condition is related to organizational commitment and consequent increased productivity and organizational effectiveness/successes. The organization cannot achieve its aims and objectives without having a good working condition as this is a key factor for organizational successes.

This research will be beneficial to the management of Auchi Polytechnic to assess whether the prevailing secretary working condition within the school is favorable or not. The findings of the study also help other organizations to adapt good working conditions, to adjust and take corrective actions on their working conditions to meet standards.

In addition, the output of the study could also serve as a guide for other researchers who are interested to undertake their study on the same topic area. Policy makers and Polytechnics working towards improving the working conditions of secretaries can use the output of this study as a source of information to see areas needing further improvement.

1.7 Scope of the Study

The study generally focuses on the effects of good working condition on the performance of secretaries in Auchi Polytechnic. However the study will be delimited to Auchi Polytechnic in Edo State.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

In the course of carrying out this study, the researcher experienced some constraints, which included time constraints, financial constraints, language barriers, and the attitude of the respondents. However, the researcher were able to manage these just to ensure the success of this study. In this study we did not take into consideration the validity of vaccines as at when they were taken • Our data were collected on the premises of routine immunization, as such the study did not consider the immunization given during Supplementary Immunization Activities (SIA) • The study design is cross-sectional, so causal effect could not be established.

Moreover, the case study method utilized in the study posed some challenges to the investigator including the possibility of biases and poor judgment of issues. However, the investigator relied on respect for the general principles of procedures, justice, fairness, objectivity in observation and recording, and weighing of evidence to overcome the challenges.

1.9 Definition of Terms

Secretary:

A secretary is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication, or organizational skills. The role can be in form of an administrative assistant or personal assistant.

Working Condition:

Refers to the working environment and all existing circumstances affecting labor in the workplace’, including working hours, rest periods, work schedules, to remuneration as well as physical conditions and mental demands that exist in the work place.

1.10 Organization of the Study

The study is categorized into five chapters. The first chapter presents the background of the study, statement of the problem, objective of the study, research questions and hypothesis, the significance of the study, scope/limitations of the study, and definition of terms. The chapter two covers the review of literature with emphasis on conceptual framework, theoretical framework, and empirical review. Likewise, the chapter three which is the research methodology, specifically covers the research design, population of the study, sample size determination, sample size, abnd selection technique and procedure, research instrument and administration, method of data collection, method of data analysis, validity and reliability of the study, and ethical consideration. The second to last chapter being the chapter four presents the data presentation and analysis, while the last chapter(chapter five) contains the summary, conclusion and recommendation.