Abstract:

Service delivery in administrative contexts entails the timely, accurate, and professional execution of support functions that facilitate organisational efficiency and stakeholder satisfaction. Secretaries, as custodians of organisational records and key administrative actors, play a pivotal role in ensuring smooth operational processes. A descriptive survey research design was used for the population of 47 secretaries in The Polytechnic, Ibadan which is the total enumeration of the study population. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, validated, pretested for reliability, and analysed using descriptive statistics and linear regression. Findings revealed that secretaries’ service delivery is very high across the dimensions of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles, with particular strength in reliability and responsiveness. Records management practices were generally rated high, with creation, maintenance, and retention well managed, while distribution, use, and retrieval exhibited notable weaknesses. Regression analysis indicated a strong positive relationship between records management practices and service delivery, with approximately 80% of the variation in service delivery explained by records management practices (R = 0.895; R² = 0.801; p < 0.05). This underscores the critical influence of systematic and effective records management on secretaries’ performance. The study concludes that well-structured records management systems are essential for sustaining high levels of administrative effectiveness and recommends targeted interventions, including modern recordkeeping technologies, continuous professional training, and process optimisation, to strengthen weaker areas and further enhance service delivery outcomes in tertiary institutions.