THE EFFECT OF JOB DESIGN ON SECRETARIES PERFORMANCE (A CASE STUDY OF ETHIOPE WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL)

THE EFFECT OF JOB DESIGN ON SECRETARIES PERFORMANCE (A CASE STUDY OF ETHIOPE WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Background of the Study 

When responsibilities are clear, workers are more likely to enjoy coming to work each day. Enhanced efficiency and output are the end outcomes. When employees aren’t happy with their jobs because they don’t seem engaging or compelling, it’s time to restructure the job according to what workers have to say.

Expanding one’s employment responsibilities can help one acquire new skills, boost one’s earning potential, and expose one to more varied and exciting experiences. Enhanced skill set—Job expansion benefits both the company and the employee by allowing them to work on a wider range of projects.

A person’s earning potential is boosted because, with all the new skills they acquire through job expansion, they are better equipped to negotiate a higher compensation when they seek employment elsewhere. Diverse Workloads: When workers acquire new skills, businesses can cut costs by lowering the number of workers needed to do the same amount of work.

The downside is that this process might lose some of its lustre after a while, when the expanded job responsibilities start to feel routine. This, in turn, can cause a comparable decline in motivation and job satisfaction, all while increasing the expenses and levels of training. ‘Job creep,’ the gradual expansion of a task over time, is another name for an uncontrollable increase in work.

Companies form with the express purpose of achieving certain objectives. Organisational aims are accomplished by means of its members. Indeed, a company’s people are its most valuable asset. Their work was the deciding factor in whether a company succeeded or failed. Having employees do a good job is a top priority for management.

Consequently, setting a goal and effectively managing the human element are both necessary for a favourable effect on production. Structure, design, or tailoring of jobs to achieve organisational goals is known as job design. Job designs that boost performance and self-esteem are essential for organisations.

An organization’s performance is directly and significantly affected by the job design in terms of how jobs are structured, designed, or coordinated. In order to achieve organisational goals and meet the requirements of those who work there, job design considers the content, functions, and relationships of occupations.

It was also demonstrated that in order for a secretary to reach her full potential and contribute to the organization’s objectives, she requires a well-designed work.

An essential official in every organisation is the secretary, as mentioned by Onasanya (1990). An organization’s efficiency might be boosted or lowered depending on the secretary’s performance and contributions.

According to him, a secretary might be someone who is responsible for planning and documenting a meeting’s activities, or it can be the head administrator of an organisation.

Many companies don’t even bother to consider a secretary’s qualifications, let alone create a job description that benefits them, even though a secretary’s responsibilities are similar to those of an executive’s because the secretary knows about the executive’s almost every move.

The traditional secretarial functions of a confidential nature at different levels, as well as the preparation, preservation, and transmission of all forms of communication, are responsibilities of the personnel known as secretaries, according to Stanwell and Shaw (1978).

According to Eni (1989), a secretary is someone on the clerical staff whose primary responsibility is to ensure that all forms of communication, both internal and external to the company, are properly prepared. The preceding explanations make it clear that a secretary is a crucial member of any management team, both inside and outside of an organisation.

Taking into account the nature of a secretary’s work, an organisation should provide them with an inspiring work environment. Organisations require people who give their all, and people need more than just a job, according to Durcker (1978).

He should look for a position that allows him to use all of his skills and talents to their full potential, where he may advance professionally and achieve outstanding results.

Size, number of employees, industry, and individual traits all play a role in determining the secretary’s specific responsibilities and duties. The secretary’s employment has also been rendered obsolete by computerisation; the modern technological design has made their task more difficult than ever before.

Mentioning motivation is an essential part of any study on work design. Inspiring others to take action is what we call motivation. Therefore, when reimagining the role of secretary, it is essential to take into account not just the essential job attributes, aspects of contents function and relationships, and design outcomes, but also the significance of human diversity.

According to Birdchall (1975), it is crucial for the job designer to have knowledge of human motivation. Involvement and collaboration from the job holder determine whether the position he creates is technical or not.

In order to better engineer a fit between human needs and technical requirements of the task, he must be cognisant of the significant role that work plays in a man’s life.

One of the things that ties a guy to his community and determines his social standing is his job. A person’s inability to satisfy his or her psychological and social demands at work could lead to dissatisfaction. Inadequacy of compensation, rewards, or recognition for his contributions to the organisation.

The scientific management approach’s promotion of high levels of job specialisation gave rise to several issues revolving around the ethics and conduct of individual workers.

The poor satisfaction, high absenteeism, and low turnover rates were partly explained by the fact that employees’ work was extremely repetitive and specialised, which led to boredom and monotony.

The secretarial job performance will be enhanced with the implementation of an effective job design. These shifts occur as a result of job feedback, content function, and relationships.

1.2 Statement Of The Problem

At the end of the investigation, the researcher hoped to have found solutions to these challenges. The job design that most secretaries are given prevents them from performing better. On occasion, the job descriptions provided make people feel like their efforts are underappreciated, unappreciated, or unneeded by the company.

When employees see that their job lacks a clear routine or sequence, it can be discouraging. They are unable to meet their emotional and social requirements due to the humiliation and demoralisation they experience from their bosses’ constant nagging. These are just a few of the many issues that the researcher hopes to address with their study.

1.3 The Purpose Of The Study

This study aims to accomplish the following:

In order to learn how secretarial performance is impacted by poorly designed jobs

In order to take a look at a few of the job design tactics used by most companies.

To find out if there is a specific job description for a secretary

Determine whether secretaries’ emotional and social needs are met.

1.4 Research Questions

For this study, we will be using the following research questions:

1. Is there a correlation between job design and effective secretarial performance?

Is there a strategy behind job design that is used by different companies?

Is there a certain blueprint for a secretary’s day? 3.

Do secretaries get the emotional and social support they need?

1.5 Hypotheses

Working theory

i Hi: When it comes to secretarial duties, there is no correlation between work design and effective performance on the job.

Hypothesis: A well-designed job correlates positively with effective secretarial performance.

1.6 Scope of the Study

This merely refers to the study’s location and focus. This research focusses solely on secretarial performance in the Ethiope West Local Government Council and how job design affects it.

1.7 The significance Of The Study

The findings of this study will shed light on the topic of job design and how it relates to secretaries’ productivity in the workplace. In addition to serving as a resource for future students and instructors, this will assist organisations in determining which aspects of secretarial job design are most important for determining an employee’s performance.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

Aside from the difficulty in gathering adequate data for this study, the allotted time for the project was ridiculously short. As a student who relies on the generosity of others for financial support, undertaking research of this kind costs a substantial amount of money. Since the necessary funding for this project was not easily accessible, the researcher did her best to maximise the use of the few resources at her disposal.