PERCEIVED INFLUENCE OF WORK SCHEDULE ON JOB PERFORMANCE AND JOB RETENTIONOF SECRETARIES IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN NORTH-EAST

Abstract

The study examined Perceived Influence of Work Schedule on Job Performance and Job Retention of Secretaries in
Tertiary Institutions in North-East Region, Nigeria. Two research questions and null hypotheses were raised to
guide the study and were tested at 0.05 level of significance. A survey research design was used for the study. The
population of the study was 111 secretaries across Federal Polytechnics in Adamawa, Bauchi, Tarraba and Yobe
States of Nigeria. The entire population was used for the study due to its manageable size. Therefore, the study was
a census survey of all secretaries in the four Federal Polytechnics in four states in North-East. The instrument for
data collection was a structured questionnaire titled Work Schedule on Job Performance and Job Retention
Questionnaire (WSJPRQ). It was administered personally by the researcher and two research assistants adequately
briefed on the modalities for administration and retrieval of the questionnaire. All copies of questionnaire
administered were retrieved and analysed. It was an hundred percent return rate and the exercise lasted for a
period of two weeks. The questionnaire was duly validated by two experts from business education, while Cronbach
Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.82 was obtained. The demographic variables of the respondents were analysed
using frequency count and percentage. Mean and Standard Deviation techniques were used to analyse the data
collected from respondents while regression statistical analysis was used to test the two null hypotheses. Results
from the data analysed revealed that there was a high influence of work schedule on job performance and job
retention of secretaries in tertiary institutions. The two null hypotheses were retained because the p-values were
greater than the fixed value at 0.05 level of significance. Based on the findings it was concluded that inconsistency
in work schedule among secretaries, ineffective use of time management, unfriendly working environment and
inappropriate timing for tasks completion were factors that directly determine performance and job retention of
secretaries in workplace. It was therefore recommended among others that management of tertiary institutions
should allocation balanced designed workload to ensure efficiency and effective performance which will boost the
secretaries morale and make them stay longer in their work.