INFLUENCE OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS ON JOB PERFORMANCE OF LIBRARIANS IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN SOUTH SOUTH, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigates the influence of communication skills on job performance of librarians in federal university libraries in South-South, Nigeria. The area of studies is the federal university libraries in South-South region. A descriptive survey method was adopted for the study. Two research questions were formulated to guide the study. The population of the study consists of 112 librarians in all the federal universities libraries in South- South Nigeria. A total of 112 copies of the questionnaire were distributed and 98 copies of the questionnaire were retrieved using descriptive statistics mean and percentage mean score of 2.5 and above and percentage score of 50% were considered as acceptable. The study revealed the following communication skills used by librarians in the university libraries under study. They are: verbal communication, written communication, oral communication, visual communication, non-verbal communication and listening skills. The study further affirmed that organization commitment, rapid growth, job satisfaction, and increase efficiency as they influences job performance. The study recommends that sponsoring librarians on seminars, developing subordinates for effective communication skills, additional academic qualifications on English language and literary studies, would assist to spur librarians and other supporting staff to build on their communication skills in order to enhance job performance. This seems to be the first study of its kind to explore the influence of communication skills on job performance of university librarians in South South, Nigeria. Hence, it will contribute to knowledge.