1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
Action and reaction are both governed by the society or public. Many are societal animals, who live and relate with the public as a whole. Sociologists have put it that “Man is not an island” that is, he cannot live in isolation. He cannot live in isolation. He must interact and relate with other people. With the above sociological perception, It is directly pertinent to state that man’s choice of career. His attitude to it and ultimately his performance are influenced by the public opinion or perception of his profession. Secretaries are indispensable in every organizational setup be it large or small, no organization can function effectively in the absence of an effective secretary. In the past the secretary was taken to be an employee usually a lady who sits behind a typewriter, where as this is not so. A secretary is in special position of trust and responsibility. Apart from taking diction dictation and transcribing the same on the typewriter, he handles administrative duties connect with processing, keeping and preservation of information to the more complex process of computerization and microfilming towards effective control of information for the accomplishment of the organizational. The secretaries are important officers in establishment; you hardly find an organization without a secretary. The work of the secretaries is of great importance to the organizations and the nation at large. The secretaries are found in every type of business organizations where personal services such as insurance, accounting, banking, advertising e.t.c are carried out, services to the general public, the secretaries have vital roles to play in organization like the local government, hospital, universities, colleges, social and welfare establishments and so on, the secretaries role cannot be over stressed. The secretaries operate and link the executives and the society even the other employees. Secretaries relieve their bosses of a great task of routine works and enquire by attending to callers. This is done by taking their messages, giving them the necessary information and allowing them to o about their businesses without disturbing their bosses. This may be through personal calls, telephone or through letters composed and mailed by secretaries. Having passed basic training in shorthand, good command of English and type mail able letters of a routine instructions, the secretaries arrange meetings, concisely compile minutes, record reports and logically arrange them. The secretaries are the bed rock in must executives. Their contributions and effectiveness enhance the efficiency of any organization. The secretarial profession is absolutely essential to the nation because it promotes the nation more than any other profession. It therefore means that secretaries must be people of high responsibilities, competence, dedication, morals and experience those vital duties perfectly. The society outlook regarding secretaries’ profession is diversified depending on individuals and the organization. There are few people who have positive views regarding the profession having known the effective role played by the secretaries, the qualities entailed and the attributes (business and personal) exhibited by them. Notwithstanding, there are so many people with negative perception towards the profession, they are frustrated persons, some group of people that are good for typing and shorthand alone. And so many others any employee who sits behinds a typewriter is a secretary. Gone are those days when the profession was looked down upon, when people regard it as a profession for the less fortunes, prostitutes, copy-typist and unrecognized people, a profession for medioevers, female folk and the unsuccessful.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Secretarial profession is absolutely essential and contributes immensely to humanity. But from time immemorial, the profession had encountered a lot of allegation from the society despite its indispensability and its responsibilities to the nation, people tend to have different perceptions towards the profession. Some people feel that the secretarial profession entails some rigid skills that cannot be coped with especially shorthand. Some other thinks that is dominated by dullards, the unfortunate and the unsuccessful. A lot of people believe that secretarial have an indecent affair with their bosses due to intimacy established between the secretaries and their bosses. The researcher intends to investigate some of the above allegation as well as to verify how the secretaries interact with the public to attract positive or negative attitude towards the secretarial profession.
1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study
The aim of study is to investigate the Secretarial Profession and Public Perception.
In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were set out as follows:
- To find out the kind of relationship that exists between the secretaries and their bosses as well as the public.
- To know whether the secretaries actually meet up with the required roles and qualities.
- For the secretaries to detect and correct their areas of deficiency, if any, in the performance of their duties keep the society aware of the secretaries’ responsibilities as well to acquaint the readers with the qualification required for the profession.
- For the executives to know the importance of both female and male secretaries in an organization and the need to train and equip them with modern machine so as to meet today’s challenges especially in administrative responsibilities, office system and technology and even more managerial skills which profession outstanding.
1.4 Research Questions
The following questions were laid out to investigate the Secretarial Profession and Public Perception:
- How does a secretary actually meet up with the required roles and qualities?
- Does secretarial profession facilitates customer increase in an organization?
- Is there any relationship that exists between the secretaries and their bosses as well as the public?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher;
Hypothesis One
H0: There is no importance of a female secretaries influence the public perception
H1: There is importance of a female secretaries influence the public perception
Hypothesis Two
H0: There is no relationship between secretaries and their bosses
H1: There is relationship between secretaries and their bosses
1.6 Significance of Study
This study will reveal the problems that the secretarial profession battles with and it will go away in finding ways of improving the performance of the profession which will lead to increased productivity and enhanced prospects. The study will give more light on the major causes of these problems and then highlight what the employer should do to eliminate most of them in order to motivate the secretary towards achieving the corporation’s goals.
Besides, the study will serve as reference material for subsequent researcher in the field or related topics.
1.7 Scope of Study
The study focuses on Secretarial Profession and Public Perception.
1.8 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this institution to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
