ADMINISTRATIVE SUPERVISORS' ASSESSMENT OF WORD PROCESSINGAND SPREADSHEET COMPETENCIES POSSESSED BY OFFICE TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT GRADUATE WORKERS IN NORTH-WEST NIGERIA POLYTECHNICS

Abstract

Persistent complaints by employers of labour regarding ineffective work performance by graduates of Office Technology and Management (OTM) from Nigerian polytechnics in the current technology-driven era necessitated this study to determine administrative supervisors' assessment of word processing and spreadsheet competencies possessed by graduates of the programme who work inNorth-West Nigeria Polytechnics. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. Two research questions guided the study and four null hypotheses were tested. Population of 378 administrative supervisors in all public polytechnics in the area was studied without sampling. A structured 5-point rating scale questionnaire containing 35 items in two clusters which was validated by experts was used for data collection. Split half method was used to establish the reliability of the instrument with Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient and a co-efficient value of 0.86 was obtained. Mean and standard deviation were employed to answer the research questions and determine the homogeneity of the respondents' views while t-test was used to test thenull hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that the OTM graduate workers very much possessed competencies in the two applications. Gender and institution ownership influenced the respondents' views. Based on the findings, it was concluded that OTM graduate workers in polytechnics in North-West Nigeria possess relevant competencies in the two mostly used modern office applications for effective work performance. It was, therefore, recommended among others that these graduate workers should apply their skills suitably in their duty performance in order to enhance their relevance as well as discover other applications where they have lapses for upgrade. Management of the polytechnics and other employers of OTM graduates should ensure the availability of functional computers and regular power supply to facilitate effective use of computer applications by their employees.