Employability Skills as Predictor of Innovative Work Behaviour of University Secretarial Staff in South-west, Nigeria

Abstract

: those who want to develop themselves and become assets to the organization. The role of the secretarial staff as the custodian of information in the university cannot be over-emphasized. The performance of the secretarial staff depends on the knowledge, skills and abilities possessed by them. This study examined the extent to which employability skills and organizational citizenship behaviour would predict innovative work behaviour of University secretarial staff in South-West, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive research design of ex-post facto type. Nine (9) hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The sample for the study consisted of 1,209 (one thousand two hundred and nine) secretarial staff in 36 (thirty-six) universities in South-West, Nigeria selected through stratified random sampling technique. Four (4) instruments were used for data collection namely: Demographic Data Form, Graduate Employability Scale (GESS), 'r'=0.86; Organisational Citizenship Behaviour Scale (OCBS), 'r'=0.96; and Innovative Work Behaviour Scale (IWBS), 'r'=0.95. Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) were used to analyse the data at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that there was a significant composite contribution of employability skills, organisational citizenship behaviour to the innovative work behaviour of university secretarial staff (R2 = .90, F(2,1166) = 0.109). Employability skills (â= -0.004; t=0.233) and organisational citizenship behaviour (â=0.011, t=0.404) had relative contribution to innovative work behaviour, but organisational citizenship behaviour was the most potent contributor to innovative work behaviour. It was concluded that employability skills and organisational citizenship behaviour jointly predicted the innovative work behaviour of University secretarial staff in South-West, Nigeria. The study recommended, among others, that the secretarial staff should endeavour to seek for more knowledge to equip them with relevant employability skills that will make them to be assets to the organisation The University secretarial staff should be exposed to regular training programmes with emphasis on how to enhance their employability skills and further improve their creativity.