ABSTRACT
This study stresses the relevance of
public relations to secretarial practice in an organization. It also tell us
how the secretary Public Relations can enhance the success of an organization. It
also analysis the secretaries performances on the job in relation to their ages
educational qualification and experience, It discusses how secretaries should possess
a good image of their organization and secretaries general behaviour to the
public or callers, coworkers and the boss. However, it analysis how a
secretary’s attitude to the public can determine the success of the
organization and whether there is need for public relation offer where there is
a secretary. The population for the study was ninety seven (97) employees in
selected department of The Polytechnic, Ibadan
and twenty (20) callers. The method use
is sampling method which is made of four (4) criteria namely the Bosses,
Secretaries, Co-workers and the external publics. The major instrument use in
collecting data was questionnaires and persona interviews.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title
page i
Certification
ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract v
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
Introduction 1
1.1 Background Information 1
1.2 Statement of the Problems 3
1.3 Purpose of the Study 4
1.4 Significance of the study 4
1.5 Limitations of the study 4
1.6 Research questions 5
1.7 Definitions of terms 5
CHAPTER TWO
2.0
Literature
Review 6
2.1 The nature of organization 6
2.2 A secretary Relationship within an
organization 8
2.3 Relationship with the public 10
2.4 Listening 11
2.5 Speaking 11
2.6 Perception 12
2.7 Persuasion 12
CHAPTER THREE
3.0
Research
Methodology 13
3.1 Population 13
3.2 Sampling method 13
3.3 Instrumentation 14
3.4 Methods of Data analysis 14
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0
Presentation
and Analysis of Data 15
4.1.1 Research Question 1 15
4.1.2 Research question 2 17
4.1.3 Research question 3 18
4.1.4 Research question 4 19
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0
Summary,
conclusion and recommendation 20
5.1 Summary 20
5.2 Conclusion 21
5.3 Recommendation 22
Bibliography 23
Appendix 24
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Information
A Secretary, according to Webster’s dictionary
is “a person responsible for dealing with the correspondence and records of an
organization or individual employer”.
Apparently, a secretary is a person who
posses special office and other skills that can enhance the efficiency of any
organization.
The position or grade of secretary
varies from junior stenographer to administrative assistant. Their work ranges
from taking shorthand notes, transcribing verbatim on the typewriter, to
handling all administrative duties of a large modern organization. Secretaries
assist executives. They are found in all organization of the world, ranging
from small to large commercial centre in major cities.
It is generally acknowledged that the
secretary is an indispensable contributor to the successful conduct of day to
day running of organization. The secretary is the major communication link
between the Executives, the office staffs and the public.
Secretary duties depend to a large
extent on the type of organization, it objectives and its understanding or
evaluation of a secretary. Some organizations do not actually know the
particular areas in which the secretary has to function. Under such
circumstances, clerical and secretarial duties are all combined and assigned.
However, some of the well – known duties
of a secretary include the following: taking down dictation in shorthand and
transcribing them on the typewriter, typing of documents, reception duties and
of course public relations which form the subject matter of the study.
The word “Secretary” has different meanings
or connotations to different people in some organizations, the Chief Executive
is addressed as the “Executive Secretary” while in others, the Public Relation
Officer (PRO) are known and addressed as company secretaries.
The art of secretaryship is a
specialized one which requires a high level of performances. The secretary is an
ambassador who links his/her organization with the outside world and
contributes greatly to the accomplishment of the organizational objectives.
A secretary is also a good supervisor
and a first line manager, and one that liaises effectively between the top
executives and other staffs. A secretary act as a good receptionist and as a
competent public relations officer, projecting positively the image of the
organization.
The word “Public Relation” could be
stated or explained as the way a secretary interact with the public in an
organization,
Public Relation in an organization is
undoubtedly one of the most important aspects of promoting cordial relationship
with the public.
A secretary should possess the following
qualities to be able to perform her functions creditably. She should be polite,
courteous, tolerant, honest, humble, respectful, good understanding of English
language and should have the ability of interacting successfully with public.
It is essential that a secretary should maintain a very cordial relationship
with the public and be willing to assist them at any point in time.
A secretary should be well trained to be
able to perform the roles of a public relation officer successfully because
she/he will come across situations that call for tact, integrity, initiative,
organization and good judgment. He/She will also come across different types of
callers/visitor, there would be some on appointment and there are some
difficult caller and they should all be treated with courtesy and accorded due
recognition.
A secretary should always endeavor to
curtail his/her anger when dealing with the public, even when they prove to be
difficult because not all visitor that the secretary come in contact with will
necessary be in the right mood or sound frame of mind and the first impression
of a caller about an organization is influenced by the way and manner he/she
was treated on his/her first visit to the organization. This is based on an
adage that says “first impression last longer”.
The secretary’s manner and appearance is
very important in creating the right impression of the organization. A good
secretary should be neat in appearance, well dressed, cheerful and look smart
always. This can be supported by advice given to secretaries by Garand (1986)
which states “practice good manner at home, then you will be sure of yourself
elsewhere” A good secretary need to have good public relation in order to be
successful and useful in an organization. He/She should create a good will for
his/her organization and avoid anything that will create bad impression in the
mind of the public.
The secretary requires a comprehensive
knowledge of the organization to be able to perform the role of public relation
officer successfully. It is now obvious that it is very important that every
organization should have an image-maker that will portray the image of the
organization to its best advantage.
In other word, a secretary should
demonstrate good relationship with the public.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
In our society now, the secretarial
profession has been largely held disgust i.e. dislike because most secretaries
are regarded as public relation nuisance to their respective organizations.
Many people have a myopic view of who a secretary is i.e. some think a
secretary is, next to nothing except that she is a typist and shorthand writer.
In some organizations nowadays,
secretaries are counted as dropped out people who only learn how to type for
the benefit of their living. This impression makes some company managers to regard
their secretary as office cleaner or as their messenger.
Secretary without public relations
knowledge i.e. ways of interacting with public, like co-workers, the company
customers even his/her boss will surely face many problems and people will have
bad impression about him/her.
The feeling of people about the
profession has informed the writing of this project. In other words, this project
will be researched to clear some issues that might have been bothering the
minds of people as to whether or not a secretary could have a successful career
without good public relations attribute.
1.3 Purpose of Study
This study will analyze in details the
relevance of public relation to secretarial practice, the problems encountered
in the course of carrying out these duties, likely prospect anticipated and
suggestions on some possible solution to the problems. The researcher will
attempt to find out the qualities and training required of a secretary relating
to public relations and highlight how a secretary could contribute to the image
and objectives of an organization through his/her role as a public relations
officer.
1.4 Significance of Study
The researcher believes that this study
will be of great benefit to all practicing secretaries, student secretaries’
employers, other professional as well as the general public. This study will
enlighten employers on the duties of secretaries as public relation officer. It
will also portray secretaries in better light in the estimation of the public.
Moreover, it will encourage students
that are aspiring to become secretaries in future to know how to interact or
deal with different people in an organization.
1.5 Limitation of the Study
Funds available to the researcher is
limited, hence it had to be judiciously managed in order to get the best
possible result.
The study also focused on a specific institution;
hence findings and generalization relate specifically to this institution (The
Polytechnic Ibadan) and may not apply to other institution or establishment. It
is possible for people to connect It is
possible for people to conceal their attitude about a particular situation;
hence this study was limited to the opinion so expressed in the questionnaire.
Also time constraint and other logistics
still limited this research work to an extent.
1.6 Research Questions
1 To
what extent can a secretary be regarded as a public relations officer?
2 To what extent does the level of
education enhance a secretary’s public relations functions?
3 Is there any need for a public
relation unit in an organization when the secretarial department can public
relations functions?
4 To what extent can a secretary succeed
in his/her career without good public relation?
1.7 Definition
of Terms
1 Organization: - Means the same thing as company. It is
an arrangement
of systems into a coherent unit. An
organization is being created to make profit (Oxford advanced dictionary)
2 Secretary: - Is an assistant to an executive possessing
mastery of office skills and ability to resume duties without direct supervision.
Also, they take shorthand from their boss and transcribe it on the typewriter.
They act as a public relation officer in an organization.
(Webster’s seventh New Collegiate
dictionary)
3 Public:
- Means people in
general but there are special public which have something in common with each
other in an organizations such as employees, customer etc.
4 Relations: - The act relating between one another
e.g. ideas, opinion etc.
5 Function: - It base on the duties i.e. what to do
for the organization
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