| dc.description.abstract | Human relations and conceptual skills are management skills which enable managers to
interact and communicate successfully with other persons and picture the entire
organization as one and relate all parts of the organization together respectively. Middle –
level managers have most contact with the employees or subordinates while the Top –
managers or Senior Executives relate mostly with all parts of the organization and outside
world. For instance, it is a managerial skill to give praise and recognition to others and
not everybody is naturally good at giving praise and recognition hence the need to
practice frequently. A manager must be able to understand, work with, and relate to both
individuals and groups to build a team environment. As the managers rise through the
ranks to top positions and move into the international environment and function within
global enterprises, human relations and conceptual skills will become even more
important. Since every individual is unique, with different backgrounds, likes and
dislikes, expectations, and many others, there is a possibility that they have different
perceptions on how their male and female leaders or managers treat them, lead in their
organization, and interact with all other parts of the organization and outside world. This
study therefore, sought to determine the employees’ perception on the role of gender in
human relations and conceptual skills among managers. Non management staff were
targeted in this study and asked to give an extent to which they rate male and female
managers in terms of human relations and conceptual skills at the Department of
Cooperative Development and Marketing. A descriptive survey was used in this study
because of there was need to collect data from a cross-section of employees in the
department. Target population included 758 non- managerial staff from 12 divisions of
the department with a sample size of 76 respondents. The sample frame was from the
employees’ Integrated Personnel Payroll Database (IPPD) system of June 2013. It
adopted both purposive and stratified random sampling technique and a predetermined
semi-structured questionnaire with closed and open- ended questions in obtaining the
primary data .The questionnaires were administered to the respondents by personal
delivery and 39 respondents responded and returned the questionnaires for analysis which
attributed to 51.3% of the total respondents targeted. Data was collected, analyzed and
presented using descriptive statistics. A computer based Statistical Package for Social
Science (SPSS) Program was used to analyze the data. Data was then presented in the
form of tables, charts, mean, frequency, and standard deviations. The results of the study
showed that female managers have more human relations skills than male managers as
perceived by their subordinates. It was also revealed from the research findings that male
top managers (senior executives) are excellent in relating all parts of the department
together and are able to lead and coordinate all the activities at the top management level
as compared to their female counterparts. It was concluded therefore that female
managers as perceived by their subordinates are able to relate well with people (human
relations skills) and male managers are good at strategic level of management since they
possess more of the conceptual skills when compared with their female counterparts as
perceived by their subordinates. They can also relate well department’s various subunits
to fit its broader environment. | en |
