The Impact Of Human Relations Skill On The Effectiveness Of The Office Manager

Management in every endeavour of life cannot be practiced in isolation with human elements.  It is therefore pertinent that a manager, particularly an office manager be skilled in handling human elements in and outside the organisation.  The aim of this research is to ascertain the impact possession of human relations skill has on the effectiveness of an office manager.

The population was office managers and administrative managers of business organisations in Enugu metropolis.  Data were collected from office managers and staffs through the use of questionnaires, other data that are being used were observations of visits and researcher’s personal experience.

The data were carefully analyzed and interpreted.  Based on this summary, conclusions were made.  The findings revealed that possession of human relations skills makes an office manager generally more effective.

The researcher recommends that office managers and all other managers should avoid being tribalistic and nepotic for they destroy human relations and bring distrust and hatred.  Rather they should treat all with equal objectivity.  By so doing, management by objective is practiced which in turn enhances human relations.

The efficiency and effectiveness of office workers depend on the effectiveness of the office manager in relating to them as asserted by Mills et al (1981) that “the office manager is responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness of his subordinates”.  The motivation of office workers requires more human relations skill than it demands monetary and physical incentives.  This is exemplified in the statement of Afolayan (1982) that “human factors of administration have greater motivational strength on workers than monetary rewards and physical emphasized.

It is quite unfortunate that that personnel department could not undergo a uniformity of the workers, to enable the execution of reasonable and effective productivity of their desired objectives.  Each department of the organization extend on carrying out their functions or activities in a way that is not comprehensive to the public.  Due to this effect, no sharing of idea, no communication network, job design and description, job analysis and specification, job enlargement and rotation and job enrichment, that could or may ensure effective and efficient productivity for production expansion and growth.

Human et al (1990) comment in more complex view of organizational behaviour, that these three elements are concerned with what a person actually does in order to synergize the office manager, interactions, interpersonal contact and relationship that one has with others.  It is through this commendation that the human relation skills would be developed for effective business operations.  Before the invention of the personnel management principals, workers basically stagnant in their field of specialization without interfering to a relative field or go beyond that.  No circulation of skills, no maximum quantity of production, as the stoppage of one worker hinder the process of division of labour, and if the case rise for some days, production will be reluctantly improved.

These effects engulf on the opportunities of adopting change in an organization because everybody stand different that one attitude doesn’t affect the other which ordinarily entangled conflicts in the organizational environment.  All these effects subdue the strength of training and development as were defined by Denyer J. C. (1985) as the adapting of a person to increase his fitness for a specific activity and the improvement given to the technical, conceptual and human relation skill of managers.  Today, these have created a tremendous positive impacts on human relation skill which every organization tries to possibilities to adopt for an effective productivity.

Title page

Dedication

Acknowledgement

Abstract

Table of content

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

1.2 Statement of the problem

1.3 Objective of the study

1.4 Research question

1.5 Research hypothesis

1.6 Scope and limitation of the study

1.7 Significance of the study

1.8 Definition of terms

1.9 Reference

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 Management and its functions

2.2 Evolution of management theory

2.3 Office management

2.4 The office manager

2.5 Effect of human relation

2.6 Personnel manager

2.7 Information manager

2.8 Record manager

2.9 Office environment manager

2.10 Reference 

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research design

3.2 Area of the study

3.3 Population of the study

3.4 Sample and sampling procedure

3.5 Instrument for data collection

3.6 Validation of the instrument

3.7 Reliability of the instrument

3.8 Method of data collection

3.9 Method of data analysis

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

4.1 Presentation and analysis of data

4.2 Testing of hypothesis

4.3 Summary of results.

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Discussion of results / findings

5.2 Conclusion

5.3 Implication of the research findings

5.4 Suggestion for further research 

5.5 Recommendations

Bibliography

Appendix