1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of Study
From the creation, man has been a social being. He could not afford to stay alone, hence God created for him a helpmate. From then on, man has come to rely on interactions with his fellow men and his environment for survival and achievement of his aims for life to be meaningful, he has to relate to others by way of communication and be responsive as well as in order to impact his ideas and feelings. The boss is not an exception, he has to relate positively with his secretary in order to accomplish the organizational goals and objectives.
In the modern organization, the importance of the boss/secretary relationship as it affect staff management and productivity cannot be over stressed. This is so because, the two personalities are the pivot around which the functions of the organization revolves.
The boss/secretary relationship in the right perspective and context could be seen as a mutual bond, binding the boss and the secretary I their quest for effective staff management and increased productivity, aimed at accomplishing the organizational set goals. According to Hanna, Pohem and Tilton (1973) a secretary is an assistant to an executive, possessing mastery of office skills and ability to assume responsibility without direct supervision, who displays initiative, exercise judgment and makes decision within the scope of her authority her.
Secretary plays a vital role in the organization. She organizes, supervise, controls the junior cadre of workers. The secretary acts as a co-coordinator between the subordinates and the management. She makes sure that there is no gap in communication between the two. This is because, if there is a breakdown in communication, attainment of goals becomes difficult. Subordinates must be informed to enable them know who to report to.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of both the boss and the secretary to ensure that there exist cordial human relationship between them to enable staff management and increased productivity. Effective staff management according to Denger(1980) is determining the number, level, types, qualification, personal qualities and duties of the people required and ensuring that they perform their job satisfactorily and cost effectively. Managing people is of course the hardest part of management. It is relatively easy to have beautiful scheme but the implementation may result to a total failure because of poor staff management.
A cordial relationship between the boss and the secretary create the enabling environment for free flow of communication in the organization. Thus the secretary is well placed to communicates the organizational goals to the workers and at the same time convey the workers feelings and aspirations to the boss. By sustaining the upward and downward communication in an organization, the secretary maximizes the positive relationship between the boss to enhance effective staff management and increased productivity.
On the other hand, where their relationship is formed on a negative side, it will adversely affect the organization in many ways. Such as job dissatisfaction, lack of motivation, poor staff management, low productivity, just to mention but a few. The boss who sees his secretary as an ordinary typist will definitely under utilize her talents and this will result to frustration because she will not be motivated to take up challenges and her responsibilities. On the contrary, a boss who sees his secretary as a partner will always involve her in the achievement of the organizational objectives and this will bring the best out of her and will lead to efficiency. Winston (1985) in his analyses of the motivation received from his secretary started that the best thing that has ever happened to him was having a secretary who wanted to work for a president. He was not the president then, but she set out to help him make it. She had tremendous impact in hid effectiveness and indeed he made it.
A boss who creates a meaningful working relationship with her secretary will find out that the secretary as a result of his positive reaction which exist will be motivated, be actively involved in the organizational growth, under the work government, work is facilitated because workers are more actively involved and work with openness and this will definitely enhance their performance and increase output.
According to Whitehead (1981) the relationship between an executive and his secretary is the one of partnership in the office. As a partner in business, both should work towards the attainment of the set goals. Their relationship should be a cordial one based on trust, mutual understanding and empathy. Studies shown that where both the boss and the secretary are able to understand themselves, it will greatly influence the effective management of subordinates and will lead to increase in productivity and work performance. But where human relationship is lacking, it will adversely affect productivity and lead to ineffectiveness.
As potential secretary who knows the implication of boss/secretary relationship, it serves as motivating factor for his research. It has been said that behind every successful boss, there is an effective secretary who has an excellent and affable relationship with her boss Nwosu (1997). The boss and the secretary, therefore find themselves forced to wok with and depend on one another in the demands and peculiarities of his job, he has to face increased interactions with the society as well aas government agencies, private and public organizations.
The secretary, therefore has a lot of responsibility in ensuring a unified team with her boss. She ought to influence the entire business life of the boss not only positively but also profitable.
Therefore this research study is designed to analyze boss/secretary relationship. Its effect on staff management and productivity.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
High productivity and effective staff management are directly proportional to the level of cordiality between the boss and the secretary, yet programme and training aimed at enhancing cordial relationship between the boss and the secretary have not been accorded priority in the scheme of things.
Despite the high degree of specialized training of both secretary and the boss, poor relationship between them still influence productivity and staff management adversely. Recent studies have shown that most of the industrial disputes within an organization are planned on poor boss/secretary relationship. Immoral relationship between the boss and the secretary has been identified as the source of frustration and resentment among office workers with the resultant to low productivity and poor staff management.
This research study therefore, analyzes the effect of boss/secretary relationship on staff management and organizational productivity.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
This research is designed to analyze the effect of boss/secretary relationship on staff management and productivity. The study attempted to:
- Identify the role of secretary in selected establishment in Owerri Imo State.
- Access the role of boss on staff management and productivity.
- Identify the effect of negative boss/secretary relationship both staff management and productivity.
- Analyze the effects of positive boss/secretary relationship on staff control and performance.
- Identify measures aimed at improving boss/secretary relationship in selected establishment in Owerri Imo State.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The project is aimed at analyzing the positive and negative effect of boss/secretary relationship on staff management and productivity as well as the environmental and non-environmental factors that effects boss/secretary relationship.
This study therefore would be beneficial to the business organization, ministries and parastatals in restructuring future training and development programmes for their executives and secretaries towards improving and sustaining excellent relationship, which will in turn boost the morale of workers and enhance productivity.
This study would also enable the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri and other institutions of higher learning to engage in the training of future executives and secretary to enrich their course of studies towards better boss/secretary relationship. Since this relationship is a vital factor in staff management and productivity.
Furthermore, this research project would serve as a reliable references point to further research work in this vital aspect of management tool- boss/secretary relationships.
This study would help the executives and the secretaries in the organization to know the extent of their relationship, which will enhance future development in the organization. It will also enable the individuals/students outside the environment to improve their performance and remove any grievance or frustration among themselves, who will be seeking employment I the future. This will help to correct any bad impression created concerning boss/secretary relationship in the society.
1.5 Research Questions
In order to accomplish the objectives of the project the following research questions served as the frame work for this study satisfactorily answers shall be provided in the course of the research project.
- What are the negative effects of boss/secretary relationship on staff management and productivity in selected establishment in Owerri, Imo State?
- What are the positive effect of boss/secretary relationship on staff management and productivity in selected establishment in Owerri, Imo State?
- What measures are aimed at improving boss/secretary relationship in selected establishment in Owerri, Imo State?
- What is the role of secretary in selected establishment in Owerri, Imo State?
- What are the roles of Executive in selected establishment in Imo State?
1.6 Scope of the Study
No research study can afford to be limitless and this study is no exception. Therefore, this study was designed to find out the boss/secretary relationship and its effect on staff management and productivity in some selected establishment in Owerri Imo State.
