Digital Communication Skills Required of Office Technology and Management Graduates for Effective Performance in Tertiary Institutions in Ebonyi State, Nigeria
Abstract
The study is necessitated by poor performance of Office Technology and Management (OTM) graduates, and ascertained digital communication skills required of them for effective performance in tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State. One research question guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested. The study adopted descriptive survey research design with a population of 302 administrative heads from six public tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State studied without sampling. A validated structured questionnaire was used for data collection. The reliability of the instrument was established using trial-testing and data analyzed using Cronbach Alpha which yielded a coefficient value of 0.80. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to the answer research question and to determine the homogeneity of the responses obtained. The null hypotheses were tested using ANOVA. Findings of the study revealed among others that digital communication skills such as listening attentively on digital conversation to gain understanding and communicate virtually using body language are highly required while composing correspondences in an email, format and respond to email messages and conveying information accurately on social media are required for effective performance of OTM graduates in tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State. The findings of hypotheses showed that there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of administrative heads on digital communication skills required of OTM graduates for effective performance in tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State based on years of working experience. Equally, there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of administrative heads on digital communication skills required of OTM graduates for effective performance in tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State based on type of institution. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that OTM graduates working in tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State should be constantly retrained through in-service training to enable them up-date their digital communication skills for effective performance in their offices.