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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND HUMAN RELATIONS

PERSONAL QUALITIES Personality is the total make-up of an individual. There are essential features in measuring personal effectiveness. They are intangible substances which cannot be seen and held. An employees personal qualities can be judged by people based on the impressions he makes on them. It is therefore important for individuals to understand, develop and improve all aspects of their personal qualities to produce favourable effect on those with whom they work. The following essential points should be in building up the qualities of a good personality:i. Character: this embraces moral principles and a proper sense of values. It leads to self-confidence, self-reliance, honesty, courage and forthrightness in all dealings and contacts with other people. ii. Honesty/Sincerity: honesty is said to be the best policy. Employees must be truthful and sincere in all their dealings with fellow workers as well as visitors or customers to the organization. iii. Courtesy/Tactfulness: employees must respect all visitors or customers and fellow workers. They should serve them with much politeness. feelings. iv. Respectfulness: the ability to respect and give regard to others will create an atmosphere of tolerance and friendship. v. Co-operation/Gratitude: the ability to appreciate others assistance, kindness and co-operation and give praise or express gratitude when necessary, is another contributory factor to a sound personal development.
SIR MARTIN K. ABIEMO

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Listening/Speaking: one must be a good listener if one wants to understand the message in a speech. Good listening cannot take pale if the attentions is divided, or it there is lack of interest.

Personal and Social Habits Good Work Habits i. Punctuality: punctuality is the soul of business. Workers should always be on time for work, appointments and for completion of jobs. ii. Hardwork: this is the most important factor for success. It is the ability to rise early for work to spend extra hours in the office during a rush period of emergencies and the take up extra responsibilities without complaint. iii. Neatness and Accuracy: the primary goal of productivity is neatness and accuracy. One should therefore bear in mind that speed is in vain if the product cannot be used. iv. Loyalty: the slogan usually emphasized to employees is that keep office secrets secret. Employees are expected to do the normal work assigned faithfully and should not leak any confidential information to friends, callers or others who are not expected to have knowledge of such information. v. Initiative and Resourcefulness: workers should try to get into the habit of thinking for themselves at work. The prosperity of any

With courtesy and tact other peoples problems can

adequately be catered for without necessarily being injurious to their

business depends upon the creative ability of its workers. Suggestions and new ideas for a better and more effective control of the business could be made. vi. Care of tools and equipment: proper care must be taken during their use and when they are not in use. If there is any fault which cannot be put right, an immediate report should be made and a repair man contacted.

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SIR MARTIN K. ABIEMO

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Getting along with people: to be productive and efficient in the office, each employee should be able to get along well with others.

HUMAN RELATIONS The success of any business ultimately depends upon the efforts of human beings, hence all management also depends upon the successful management of people. Pitfield (1977) immediately suggests that this statement implies

Appearance Though appearance can sometimes be deceptive, generally, the first impression matters a lot. Once a good impression has been created, every attempt should be made to sustain it. It is important to emphasize here that, appearance is one of the factors to be considered when looking for future employment. Daily appearance, the way things are said and done in the office will also count in consideration for promotion. The following factors should be given a

building good human relationships between people in an organization. Failure to take cognizance of human behaviour and attitude will definitely make management ineffective. As management can simply be said to be getting a work done through people, it therefore means that human relations in business is a vital discipline. Without a well constructed human relations, work in an organization cannot go on smoothly and the establishment would find it difficult to achieve objectives. Managerial activities would go off track if proper human relations is not established. Human relations means the integration of people of various backgrounds and expertise or considerate knowledge and skills into a work place, in a manner that motivates them to teamly work productively and co-operatively for social satisfaction to all. Workers should be prepared to meet all sorts of people and to create goodwill in customers by being as tactful as possible. This will ensure the growth of the business, more chance of profit making and possible future expansion. In order to discharge these duties with great efficiency, workers should take note of the following steps:  When a visitor comes in, the normal greeting and brief introduction should begin. This is sometimes accompanied by a warm handshake.  Offer the visitor a seat where applicable, and listen to his message.  Take appropriate action without asking for any gratification.  Address people by surname and prefix the surname appropriately with either Mr., Miss, Mallam, Mrs., Dr., or Alhaji.

thorough consideration to be able to maintain a good/pleasing appearance:i. Good Health: a sick person will not be able to cope with the normal office work, not to speak of additional strain of rush hours or of overtime. Constant attendance to hospital will result in waste of money and paralyze the work of at the office. ii. Sleep: the body needs enough sleep and rest after each full days work. A deep undisturbed rest will refresh the body and equip it for the next days work. Every worker needs at least six undisturbed hours of rest. iii. Body Cleanliness: a good wash is needed every morning to free the body of dirt and bad odour. A smell-free, fresh and healthy body enhances the personal appearance of an employee. iv. Dressing: one should dress to suit the occasion. Good and appropriate dressing is one of the factors of a pleasing personal appearance. v. Food/Drink: a good and balance diet gives health, strength and warmth. A hungry worker tends to look pale, ruffled and lacks the stamina to carry out an efficient job.
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 If you are attending to one person while you have one or two others sitting, glance and smile at them occasionally and say sorry to keep you waiting.  After finishing with a visitor, say thank you, good bye or see you again  You must always be co-operative and give everything the necessary attention, even if it means a little extra work or extra time being spent in the office. Types of Relations There are so many types of relations in business but for our purpose, we shall consider the following: 1. Management Worker Relations: the relations that exist between management and workers usually involve disputes. This is because as management tries to beat down cost of production by offering a small wage/salary, workers on the other side try to agitate for higher wages. Any time such opposing interests do no match, then there is a sour relations between the two different groups. 2. Customer Worker Relations: every customer is considered as an asset to the business. It is therefore necessary that the relations that exist between the customer and the business are cordial. The way telephonists, receptionist, secretaries and public relations officers interact with the consumer, goes a long way to influence the activities of the business. The etiquette and general development of the above personnel are expected to be of the highest order. The use of certain words like He is polite, He is very rude, He is intolerant etc. have human relations implications. 3. Supervisor Worker Relations: the success of every business entity depends solely on the relations between these two groups of people.
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There is therefore the need for an adequate human relations training for these people. Poor relations between them can therefore be eradicated by measures like reprimanding and suspension, guidance on counseling, waste control measure etc. It is necessary that the supervisor recognizes the worker as a person like him. Human Relations Skills  Sensitive to the needs and feelings of others  Respect for the feelings of others  Ability to communicate and encourage others to communicate  Ability to learn how to help others  Ability to understand a persons attitude towards other people and to improve this attitude when they are harmful  Ability to learn how to help other people become leaders.  Ability to learn or become aware of being part of a group. Importance of Human Relations  It reduces conflicts among workers of an organization.  It enhances and promotes team spirit and co-operation among workers.  It motivates and improves morale of workers.  Subordinates are more prepared and more willing to accept delegation of authority.  It makes it easy for supervisors to direct and control subordinates.  It induces workers to obey rules and regulations. administration of discipline.  It leads to an increase in productivity.  It boosts the morale of workers to work hard. It helps in the

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PUBLIC RELATIONS Public relations is a means of personal communication that is image-directed. It is a planned effort by an organization to influence a groups attitude or opinion towards that organization. Public relations efforts include institutional advertising, publicity and personal appearances to enhance a firms image. The public relations department in an organization is the connecting link between the organization and its various publics. The department deals with the news media to reach the public. Public relations people must be especially good in communication or journalism, rather than in marketing. In essence the job of public relations is to project a positive image of the company to the public. Public relations people are responsible for telling the public about the company, its products, community activities, social programmes, environmental improvement activities, labour policies, views regarding controversial issues, and so on. The companys position must be stated in clear, understandable, and above all, in a trusted fashion. Public relations departments perform the following activities: 1) Press Release: the aim of press release is to place newsworthy information about product or service into the news to attract attention to a customer. 2) Product Publicity: involves various efforts to publicize specific products in the appropriate news media. 3) Corporate Communication: this activity covers internal and external communications regarding the corporate status of the company. 4) Lobbying involves dealing with legislators and government officials to promote or defeat legislation and regulation in the interest of the company. (Cole, 1990).
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Public Relations efforts concern the following publics (i) customers (ii) employees (iii) investors (vi) dealers or channel members (v) government authorities or agencies (vi) members of educational institutions (vii) colleagues, and (viii) the community at large. The relationship between these target markets and the public relations officer or department is a reciprocal one, with considerable give and take by both parties. While some members of these groups may be in the position to demand more from the business than they are able to contribute to it. Others may be more interested in what they can do for the company than what the company can do for them. The only way to ensure that such relationships will prove to be mutually beneficial and lasting is to consistently pursue a policy of fair dealing and open communication. 1. Channel Members: the public relations manager has a responsibility towards the channel members and the need to project a favourable image among them. The channel-relations-minded manager seeks to project and maintain a progressive and competitive posture in the supplier community so that the input required for his manufacturing or merchandising function will be available when needed and on favourable terms. Accordingly, favourable relations with distributors and other independent selling agencies are normally desirable from the standpoint of securing interest, whole-hearted co-operation and aggressive promotion of the firms product line. 2. Government: the public relations managers concern with good relations with those who represent the various agencies i.e. local, state, and federal government extends into two major areas. The first

pertains to the host of laws, rules, and regulations which constitute the legal environment in which business organizations must learn to operate. Secondly, through political action, businessmen can influence

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the legal environment, and by invoking the laws which exist, they can obtain protection form abuses that government regulation is designed to prevent. 3. Educational Institutions: the public relations manager has virtually unlimited opportunities for improving a firms image in the community through favourable relations with students and teachers of local schools. Close collaboration between educators and businessmen on matters of mutual interest can produce significant benefits for all concerned. 4. Colleagues: a business organization has many opportunities to cultivate mutual relations with its colleagues, by sharing similar beneficial experiences and problems. 5. The Community: the power of public opinion is most evident when we consider the extent to which people are concerned about anything that affects their home, there school, their church, or any other facet of community life. People expect business to fulfill its legal, social and economic responsibilities and to show a certain amount of genuine interest in the welfare of its surrounding community. They also like to be kept informed about what businessmen are thinking, planning, and doing for the locality. The businessman who fulfills his responsibilities and, in addition, makes an attempt to compile a good tract of civic participation will soon earn a well-deserved reputation for being progressive and cooperative. (Andrews and Andrews, 1988). 6. Customers: good customer relations depend on the small 8. 7.

the single most important factor in determining both company profitability and company image. Customers expect businessmen to have the technical skills and product knowledge appropriate to a given line of business, especially in the industrial market. They also expect, however, to receive courteous and personal service, to be treated and respected as individual human beings. Employees: employees expect to be kept informed about their companys market position, financial status, and the strategic plan for the future. They have a stake in the company since their jobs depend mainly on what is happening in production and sales. More importantly, however, is the feeling of trust and pride that a policy or open communication with employees can foster. If employees feel that they are sharing privileged information pertaining to their company, each worker will become public relations man for his company whether he realizes it or not. This relationship fosters an upward and downward communication, which intend aids employees desire for personal growth and development. Investors: the purpose of good investor relations is twofold. First, to maintain goodwill among those who are currently providing financial assistance toward the firms growth and survival. Second, to maintain a competitive posture in the financial community so that future efforts to secure additional funds will be successful. The means of attaining these objectives involve two types of information i.e. what investors need to know and what investors want to know.

businessmans knowledge of his markets, products and his own capabilities to match specific products or services with individual customer needs. This should be done within the limits of the firms capacity that produces customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is
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