1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
Secretary is said to be an important tool in any organization (Azuka and Agomuo, 1993). This statement could be confirmed form the total organization goals. The role o secretary, however, has assumed some changes over the years from traditional role to modern role. The secretary formally was known for performing the traditional role which included typing of documents, taking dictation in shorthand transcribing the dictation materials with the typewriter, and carrying out other clerical work (Austine 1974).
During that period, the training if a secretary was obtained trough commercial or vocational schools, mainly owned by private individuals such establishment had no certificate examinations, or if they pretended to have , such in house examination were not recognized by employers, rather students of such institutes went out on their own to enter for single –subject or composite subject examinations given by recognized examining bodies such as royal society of arts (RSA) the pitman faculty of secretaries, London chambers of commerce ands the like in stages J. II, III – (Amaefula, 1997). The role of secretaries presently. Has been enhanced to meet the requirement of modern business world. The work of a secretary does not end at traditional role as mentioned above but also managerial and administrative role.
Thus secretary can now sit in for the personnel manger, administrative/office manager book-keeper, correspondent, organization and methods manager, public relations manager, etc which are part of the modern role of the secretary (Maduabuachi, 1993). This has been made possible by the training she received in the institution of higher learning under secretarial administration programme.
Secretarial administration programme is one of the technical/business education programmes approved by National Board for Technical education (NBTE) to be offered in accredited universities, polytechnics and collages of education in Nigeria. This programme is introduced to ensure effective ad adequate preparation pf prospective secretarial in skills, general business and offices so that on graduation the secretary would have acquired sufficient academic and professional knowledge.
Giving strong idea to this, the NBTE curriculum and course specification on secretarial administration (1990) states only proficiency in the use of the typewriter and phonographic skills as was the cased in the previous years, but has to acquire a thorough detailed knowledge of office administration and management which can make work only not as a secretary but also as an office manager when occasion demands.
With technological advancement, most office work processes are automated; word processing facilities and computer technology have been universally acclaimed to make a significant contribution to secretarial administration.
This development in secretarial administration has brought about some negative thinking in some quarters. Some have expressed the fear that new trend in secretarial profession will translate into unemployment for those who are not adequately trained and prepared to cope with challenges secretary. This fear is however, forded to secretarial staff it may nevertheless after the duties but will not remove the secretarial functions. Marvin and Maqera (1984) stated that office automation should help to remove waste, improve productivity and create thousands of new and more challenging jobs for these willing to adapt and train themselves.
It is true that machines which listen speak, write, correct spelling errors, store and file will largely do away with need fore secretaries dictationists, stenographers and even the traditional secretary. But is also true that office automation will free those people for other tasks likely to require more training but also offering better pay and greater jobs satisfaction.
The secretary is now faced with the challenge of using electronic and computerized systems to do her work. For quite some time now, the issue of adequacy and proper implementation of secretarial administration programme for keeping pace with modern role of the secretary has remained a source of great concern to institutions running the programme, secretaries and employers. Therefore, this study is intended to examine this issue properly in order to offer objective and useful recommendations.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
In today's rapidly changing world, organizations are now much bigger and things change at an even increasing pace. Traditional management style or organization has given way to modern management style in response to environment pressures. This means that top management personnel can now delegate duties to their subordinates who now participate in decision making and policy formulation of the organization.
The secretary as an assistant to the chief executive is therefore an important member of the management team in business, industry, government education, communication, media etc (Okonye 1992). It is no longer practicable for a secretary to discharge her duties effectively by doing merely proficient in the use of the typewriting and phonographic skills as was the case some decades ago. She now has to acquire an in-depth knowledge of office administration and management, which will enable her fit into any organization and performs not only as a secretary but also as an office manager.
This was underscored by Onyemade (1993) who stated that not only has the role of the secretary changed on the use of equipment but also their administrative processes, office routines management systems are similar evolving into new forms. Unfortunately, most secretaries who passed through secretarial administration programme find it difficult to carry out administrative responsibilities properly without supervision advancement in word processing and computer technology has brought with it new challenges to the secretary. It is quite paradoxical and indeed humiliating that most secretaries in modern offices cannot operate most f the modern office machines installed to facilitate the office work.
The problem of this study is that the objective of the secretarial administration programme are not fully realized and the course contents and facilities of the programme are not adequate to meet with the challenging role of the secretary.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
This study was designed to determine the changing role of the secretary and its implication on the productivity secretary specially. To:
- Determine the traditional role of the secretary.
- Identify the changing role of the secretary.
- Evaluate how this changing role affects the training needs of the secretary.
- Determine the adequacy of the facilities for the training of students.
- To determine the relevance of these equipments to the secretary's role.
1.4 Significance of the Study
This study is significant in many ways. in the first place, it will go a long way to changing peoples attitude about secretarial profession and enlightening them on the versatility of the secretary in business world.
It will as well help employers to know the importance of the secretary in the realization of organizational goals and in national development.
The findings of this study will be beneficial to the institutions of higher learning on the need to engage qualified manpower for the training of today's secretaries and modern training facilities that are lacking or insufficient in supply in the institution etc.
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