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CHALLENGES OF SECRETARIES IN MODEL FINANCIAL HOUSES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The work of secretaries in an organization is very vital and there is no way an organization can function well without their aid. The fast production of efficient work is assured since they are well trained in that line. Whenever paper work, records and mostly written communication are needed in an organization the secretaries are likely to be involved. In  as much as secretaries have been undermined by the general public in many ways, the general conception is usually that any employee who sits behind a typewriter and does other forms of secretarial jobs is a secretary; therefore regarding them as typists or mere servants. It is therefore pertinent to start by knowing exactly who a secretary is, before going to the challenges facing them. 

A secretary is an employment in an office who deals with correspondence, keeps records, makes arrangement and appointments for a particular member of the staff. He/she is the one who combines or has the mastering skills of shorthand and type writing and with a sound knowledge of secretarial duties. A secretary is defined by the National Association secretaries in United States of America “as a executive assistant who posses mastery of office skills, who demonstrates ability to assume responsibilities without direct supervisor who exercises initiatives and judgment,  and who makes decision with in the scope of assigned authority”.

Office skills include typewriting, shorthand ability to operate photocopying machine, duplicating machines, cope with filings, do reception duties. Furthermore, a good secretary needs also to have accumulated enough knowledge about commercial work in general and this implications, on secretary is deemed to be genius. A secretary in other words is a person employed in an office to care of correspondence/ records and in addition keep the day to day engagement of his/her executive in line with various demands. Based on these factors, one can now say that a secretary is an indispensable factor in any office or organization.

A secretary has outstanding qualities; she understands the principles of keeping secrets, being polite to customers, callers and visitors, no matter how highly or lowly the visitors may be placed. She appreciates the aims or goals of the organization in office or business, and conscientious works towards the achievement of the goals, together with the boss and other staff. The secretary working in an industry should know all about the place. She should know the products, how they are produced, how raw materials are obtained, how the machinery works, how and where the spare parts are obtained, know managers and their individual assignments, other management staff, and indeed, the policy of the whole organization.

A good secretary is always alert, she reads newspapers, listens to News on electronic media and even to other people as they discuss. This is because, she might get useful information with minimum delay for the smooth running of the organization. Other attributes of a good secretary include tactfulness, self-control, neatness, politeness, ability to work without grumbling memory and pleasant speaking, services of a secretary are indispensable in every establishment. But, this fact notwithstanding, secretaries complain of one form of maltreatment or another from their employers in the course of carrying out their duties. In spite of the important roles which secretaries play in organizations. Nigeria secretaries are still faced with a lot challenges and this paper or research will address these challenges.