IN-SERVICE TRAINING NEEDS OF EXECUTIVE SECRETARIES IN PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENTS

IN-SERVICE TRAINING NEEDS OF EXECUTIVE SECRETARIES IN PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the Study

The emergence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Nigeria has posed a serious challenge to all facets of the Nigerian economy. This has necessitated executive secretaries to keep abreast of the current technology as it affects office procedures and operations. For executive secretaries to contribute effectively and efficiently to the achievement of goals and objectives of the organization they have to be retrained and be given a learning environment on continuous basis in order to acquaint themselves with new challenges in the office.

Notwithstanding, there is no doubt that advancement in technology has reshaped and transformed the way executive secretaries discharge their duties. The competent and effective executive secretaryship can be obtained through in-service training programmes. For in-service training programme to be adequate and sound it should consist of three phases, namely: pre-service training phase, on the-job experience training phase, and in-service training phase (Diraso, 1992).

In-service training is a long life process in which an employee is constantly learning and adapting to new challenges of his job. This he does through reading of books, journals and magazines in his area of specialization, through discussion with colleagues and supervisors on matters concerning his profession and attending courses and conferences relating to his profession. The aims of in-service training include: to update the employees and revamp their professional knowledge, skills, and competencies and to broaden their knowledge of the core areas of specialization (Itotoh, 1996). Itotoh maintained that such areas may include: writing, editing, production and distribution of correspondence (publications), maintains all corporate books and accounts, receives and disburses fund (finance), assists in recruiting new members by responding promptly totelephone and e-mail enquires, maintains all membership, maintain all records and files all forms (regulatory) and fluent in Hyper-Text Markup Language (computer literacy).

1.2       Statement of the Problem

Technological advancement has been extended to all spheres of human endeavours. Offices are daily modernized through the use of latest equipment and procedures. These affect the executive secretary and his profession. The challenges of new techniques and innovations demand from executive secretaries much greater responsibilities and improved performances on their jobs. The essence of providing in-service training for executive secretaries is to enable them develop professionally, keep abreast on new knowledge and technology in their office procedures and operations. However, Oldroyd (1994) and Mahapatra (2002), have observed that public establishments pay only lip service to in-service training of their employees and this automatically accounts for staff inadequacies such as poor job performance. It is in this Gbosi (1999) maintains that where in-service training exists, it is haphazardly coordinated, poorly monitored and organized. Ofordile (2007) observes that in-service training programmes have continued to experience the constraints of inadequate funds.

This is because employees’ retraining in public establishment is considered expensive in terms of time and maintenance of staff during the programme. He maintains that lack of willingness by the employees to be retrained and some staff with long experience may not show interest in in-service training programmes that do not have any weight for purpose of assessment and they hardly take retraining seriously as a means of changing behaviour of the organization. Therefore, these above inadequacies, if not properly addressed will result in poor performance, difficulty in attaining organizational goals and objectives, and lack of individual development and so on. These anomalies should urgently be corrected for the benefit of both the organizations and their staff members. It is therefore very significant to find out the in-service training needs of executive secretaries in public establishments in Kaduna State.

1.3       Purpose of the Study

The major purpose of this study was to assess the in-service training needs of executive secretaries in public establishments in Kaduna State. Specifically, the study sought:

1. To assess the Information and Communication Technology skills for in-service training needs of executive secretaries in public establishments in Kaduna State.
2. To assess the human relations skills for in-service training needs of executive secretaries in public establishments in Kaduna State.
3. To assess the Administrative/managerial skills for in-service training needs of executive secretaries in public establishments in Kaduna State.
4. To assess the reprographic technology skills for in-service training needs of executive secretaries in Public establishments in Kaduna State.
5. To assess the micrographic technology skills for in-service training needs of executive secretaries in public establishments in Kaduna State.

1.4       Research Questions

The following research questions have been formulated to guide the study:

1. What are the Information and Communication Technology skills needed for in service training of the executive secretaries in public establishments in Kaduna State?
2. What are the human relations skills needed for in-service training of the executive secretaries in public establishments in Kaduna State?
3. What are the administrative/managerial skills needed for in-service training of the executive secretaries in public establishments in Kaduna State?
4. What are the reprographic technology skills needed for in-service training of the executive secretaries in public establishments in Kaduna State?
5. What are the micrographic technology skills needed for in-service training of the executive secretaries in public establishments in Kaduna State?

Significance of the Study

It is hoped that the findings of this study will be of immense benefit to administrators, secretarial staff, researchers, secretarial education students.

Administrators (management): There is no single organization that can do without training and developing its staff. As such this study will provide adequate information to the management that will go through it to get a foreknowledge of the types of in-service training needs of their staff and the importance of in-service training and the condition that determine that. They could adopt the findings to plan and organize in-service training programmes for their staff.

Secretarial staff: The executive secretaries will be made to realize that adequate in-service training programmes enable them to possess the level of intellectuals skills with which they can perfectly and proficiently handle the demands of their daily routines and to understand that adequate training will help to ensure job satisfaction. The results of the study will hopefully stimulate further research on the in-service training needs of other cadres of the secretarial staff by opening the frontiers of information on more in-service training programmes.

Finally, secretarial education students would benefit from the findings of the study. They would understand better concepts being taught and be able to express their views about concepts encountered in classroom interactions.

1.5       Delimitation of the Study

This study was restricted to in-service training needs of executive secretaries in public establishments in Kaduna State. This study was delimited to public establishments in Kaduna State. The study did not assess other employees of public establishments in Kaduna State. The ministries represent the geographical spread of public establishments in the state.