Principals’ Soft Skills and Teachers’ Job Performance in Public Secondary Schools in Ikom Local Government Area, Cross River State, Nigeria

This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between principals’ soft skills and teachers’ job performance in public secondary schools in Ikom Education Zone. Five research questions and five null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Correlational survey research design was adopted for this study. The population of this study consisted of 21 principals and 354 teachers in all 21 public secondary schools in Ikom Local Government Area, Cross River State. A sample of 199 respondents, comprising 11 principals and 188 teachers from 11 public secondary schools in Ikom Local Government Area, were selected using multi-stage sampling procedure. Principals’ Soft Skills Questionnaire (PSSQ) and Teachers’ Job Performance Questionnaire (TJPQ) were used for data collection. Cronbach’s Alpha Statistic was used for Principals’ Soft Skills Questionnaire (PSSQ) and Teachers’ Job Performance Questionnaire (TJPQ) which yielded reliability coefficient indices of 0.88 and 0.79 respectively. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used in answering the research questions as well as testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that various aspects of principals' leadership skills have significant relationships with teachers' job performance. Specifically, emotional intelligence, communication and interpersonal skills showed moderate positive relationships, conflict resolution and teamwork had a high positive relationship with teachers' job performance in public secondary schools in Ikom Local Government Area. Based on the findings, the following recommendations among other were made that school administrators should ensure a collaborative environment, encouraging teachers to work together to achieve common goals. Principals should receive training on effective conflict resolution strategies to manage disputes and promote a positive school culture.

Soft skills, Job performance, Emotional Intelligence, Communication, Interpersonal Conflict Resolution and Teamwork

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