Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Bbpb2103 Bi
Bbpb2103 Bi
BBPB2103
Human Resource Management
Hj Yaakob Ibrahim
Dr Ho Jo Ann
Universiti Putra Malaysia
Topic 5 Selection 91
5.1 Selection Process 92
5.2 Information Reliability and Validity 93
5.2.1 Information Reliability 93
5.2.2 Information Validity 94
5.3 Selection Methods 96
5.3.1 Information Sources 97
5.3.2 Employment Test 99
5.3.3 Job Interview 101
5.3.4 Reaching Selection Decision 105
Summary 110
Key Terms 111
Answers 241
References 270
INTRODUCTION
BBPB2103 Human Resource Management is one of the courses offered by the
Faculty of Business and Management at Open University Malaysia (OUM). This
course is worth three credit hours and should be covered over 8 to 15 weeks.
COURSE AUDIENCE
This is a core subject for students of the Bachelor of Management and Bachelor of
Business Administration programmes. It is also a fundamental major course for
students taking the Bachelor of Hospitality Management programme. For
students taking the Bachelor of Human Resource Management programme, this
course is a core major subject.
As an open and distance learner, you should be able to learn independently and
optimise the learning modes and environment available to you. Before you begin
this course, please confirm the course material, the course requirements and how
the course is conducted.
STUDY SCHEDULE
It is a standard OUM practice that learners accumulate 40 study hours for every
credit hour. As such, for a three-credit hour course, you are expected to spend
120 study hours. Table 1 gives an estimation of how the 120 study hours can be
accumulated.
Study
Study Activities
Hours
Briefly go through the course content and participate in initial discussion 3
Study the module 60
Attend 3 to 5 tutorial sessions 10
Online participation 12
Revision 15
Assignment(s), test(s) and examination(s) 20
TOTAL STUDY HOURS 120
COURSE OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
1. Elaborate on the definition of human resource management and its
functions in an organisation;
2. Explain the roles of the human resource manager in designing the course of
an organisation; and
3. Discuss the effects of change and development during human resource
management in an organisation.
COURSE SYNOPSIS
This course is divided into 11 topics. The synopsis for each topic is presented
below:
Topic 3 explains job analysis and job design. In job analysis, the aim and methods
of analysis will be discussed. The results of the process are job description and
specification. The second part of this topic discusses how an organisation designs
jobs to cater to its establishment and employees.
Topic 9 discusses two main topics which are employeeÊs rights and discipline.
Discussion begins with the rights of employees and employers. Next, students
will be exposed to issues related to employee discipline such as recognising
problematic workers and the types of misconduct which exist in an organisation,
as well as looking at some disciplinary approaches that can be practised. Apart
from that, students are exposed to misconduct outside of an organisation and the
techniques used to solve them. Disciplinary issues, alternative conflict resolution
procedure and the procedure for termination of contract due to misconduct will
also be explained. The end of the topic gives some guidelines in carrying out a
fair disciplinary action.
After understanding employeeÊs rights and discipline, the next discussion will
touch on the dynamics of employee relations.
Topic 10 talks about workersÊ union in Malaysia and why employees participate
in unions, as well as the functions and structure of a union. The discussion ends
by looking at the bargaining process, which is usually carried out when issues
arise in trade.
Topic 11 ends this course by discussing work safety and health. In this topic,
students are exposed to the laws and hazards related to safety and health at the
workplace. Also discussed are related issues. At the end of the topic, students are
given some ideas on how to create a safe and healthy work environment.
Learning Outcomes: This section refers to what you should achieve after you
have completely covered a topic. As you go through each topic, you should
frequently refer to these learning outcomes. By doing this, you can continuously
gauge your understanding of the topic.
Summary: You will find this component at the end of each topic. This component
helps you to recap the whole topic. By going through the summary, you should
be able to gauge your knowledge retention level. Should you find points in the
summary that you do not fully understand, it would be a good idea for you to
revisit the details in the module.
Key Terms: This component can be found at the end of each topic. You should go
through this component to remind yourself of important terms or jargon used
throughout the module. Should you find terms here that you are not able to
explain, you should look for the terms in the module.
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
There is no prerequisite requirement for learners prior taking this subject.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Please refer to myINSPIRE.
REFERENCES
Alex K. B. Yong. (1996). Malaysian human resource management. Malaysian
Institute of Management.
Decenzo, D. A., & Robbins, S. P. (1999). Human resource management (6th ed.).
New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Mondy, R. W., & Mondy, J. B. (2013). Human resource management (13th ed.).
England: Pearson Education Limited.
INTRODUCTION
„From the amazing economic experience two decades ago, among countries
that before had limited ‰natural resources„, it is clear that the most important
resources to a country are talent, skills, creativity and the effort of its people.
Brain power is a source that is much more valuable than natural resources.
People are our main resources. Without doubt, in the 1990s and beyond,
Malaysia must give its utmost attention towards the growth of this very
crucial resource.‰
Vision 2020 - Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad,
Former Prime Minister of Malaysia
At one time, many observers were of the opinion that machines would take over
the functions and roles of employees in an organisation. However, the opposite
happened. Like what Tun Dr Mahathir said, human resources are becoming
more important in todayÊs organisations, especially in knowledge-based
industries such as software and information services.
However, there are other groups who think that personnel management and
human resource management differ in terms of the roles they play, their scope
and their actions. Human resource management portrays a much wider
perspective, which includes:
(a) Issues pertaining to employee safety and health;
(b) Industrial relations;
(c) Stress in the workplace; and
(d) Employee satisfaction in increasing an organisationÊs effectiveness.
EXERCISE 1.1
Apart from that, it is able to influence and increase employeesÊ commitment, and
motivate them at the same time. This, in hand, will increase the organisationÊs
performance through an increase of employeesÊ productivity.
Human resource management is also responsible for managing any changes that
happen in an organisation due to merging activities, business downsizing and
various workforce cultures. Figure 1.1 shows a few of the main roles of the
human resource management department.
(c) Coordinator
Coordinates matters related to employee health and safety, amenities and
benefit.
(d) Auditor
Oversees employee performance and controls compensation offers such as
rewards and benefits to employees and evaluates accident and injury reports.
(e) Mediator
Human resource management division acts as the middleman in matters
pertaining to employee disciplinary issues, consultation with workerÊs
union, conflict handling and employee dissatisfaction.
ACTIVITY 1.1
If you are the Head of the Human Resource Department in your
organisation, what do you think are the important roles of your
department?
In order to achieve Vision 2020 and ensure that Malaysia become a developed
country by 2020, various efforts have been planned to develop the human capital
resources. Among them are:
(a) Rearranging the education system;
(b) Allocating the Human Resource Development Fund under the Human
Resource Development Act 1992;
(c) Encouraging the involvement of public and private sectors in contributing
to education and training; and
(d) Encouraging continuous learning.
There are a few more Acts that influence human resource management practices
in Malaysia. Among them are Employment Act 1955, Industrial Relations Act
1967 and Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994. All the Acts related to the
human resource management environment in Malaysia will be discussed further
in Topic 2.
On the other hand, a larger organisation will have its own human resource
management department which is responsible for carrying out all the functions
of human resources. Each human resource function is managed by human
resource experts specialising in a field.
Human resource management functions are not only about record keeping and
updating files. They involve a holistic and integrated approach that includes
various activities designed to contribute to the effectiveness of an organisation.
Figure 1.2 shows the main functions of human resource management in an
organisation.
(a) Staffing
Staffing involves human resource planning process, job analysis,
recruitment and selection of manpower.
(i) Human Resource Planning
Human resource planning is a forecasting process or a requirement
needed by an organisation to achieve its objectives, aside from
developing and implementing activities to fulfil organisation needs.
EXERCISE 1.2
List five main roles of human resource management. Elaborate
briefly on each function based on your working environment.
(a) Globalisation
Mergers, takeovers and competition among international industries and
businesses are expanding. To remain and compete in the market, more
firms are starting to explore the global market. Indirectly, this causes them
to face issues such as culture, legal and business practice differences.
ACTIVITY 1.2
Aside from that, the use of human resource information technology has
influenced a lot of todayÊs human resource management practices, such as:
(i) Providing up-to-date information to aid the human resource management
department in forecasting, overseeing and making decisions.
(ii) Changing the method of information gathering on employment;
speeding up the processing of information and increasing internal and
external communication processes.
Most of the time, these actions cause employee surplus, which then forces
the management to reduce the number of employees through the process of
„laying off‰ staff. This issue needs to be handled wisely and fairly by the
human resource management team to avoid problems and employee
dissatisfaction that might affect the organisationÊs performance.
In the event of economic growth, demand for labour force will increase due
to an increase in production. In these circumstances, organisations will
experience a situation whereby the labour market is limited.
ACTIVITY 1.3
Choose one of the eight human resource management challenges.
Obtain information from the human resource manager in your
workplace about the challenge you have chosen.
the number of employees (aged 55 and above) that are supposed to retire is
increasing and is believed to reach 23.9% in 2018. On the other hand, in the
same year, the number of younger workforce (16 to 24) is expected to slip to
12.7%. This will cause a gap in the labour force for that particular year. An
unbalanced employee age distribution in the labour market will complicate
human resource management processes, especially human resource
planning, recruitment, training and career development.
(c) Women and Dual Income Families
Women's involvement in the working world has shown a drastic increase.
Statistics have shown that two-thirds of married couples come from dual
income groups. This phenomenon gives a big implication to working
couples and employers in aspects of recruitment and placement. In other
words, one party's career change will affect the other party's career. For
example, if the husband is transferred to another place due to promotion,
the wife has to decide whether to follow the spouse or remain in her
workplace, thus resulting in them living apart.
In addition, most working women have toddlers and they need the services
of a nursery. Employers, especially the human resource management
department, may need to prepare suitable amenities to fulfil the needs of
the women workers as well as arrange certain programmes such as:
(i) Flexible working hours;
(ii) Handling sexual harassment issues; and
(iii) Equal pay without gender discrimination.
(d) Increase in Education Level
The education level of the labour force has shown a drastic increase with
the presence of an improved education system. Highly educated employees
often have high hopes on employment and opt for careers that are
challenging and interesting. Therefore, the management team has to carry
out continuous evaluation to ensure employees' talents and abilities are
fully utilised, and jobs offered are challenging and employees are given the
opportunity to develop their careers.
ACTIVITY 1.4
If you are a human resource manager and most of your employees
are women, which issue would be important for you to consider?
Why?
EXERCISE 1.3
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In order to enable an organisation to compete in the 21st
century, human resource management needs to focus on
_____________.
A. Developing production planning
B. Rationalising scientific management principles
C. Using the Howthorne test
D. Developing a skilful and flexible workforce
Essay Questions
1. List six challenges often faced by the human resource
management department in achieving competitive advantage.
2. List four programmes that can be introduced by an
organisation to its employees to help them reduce the conflict
between career and family.
3. Employees nowadays have shown an attitude change towards
employment. Briefly discuss this issue.
4. Human resource management activities are important to
ensure the effectiveness of an organisation. List five human
resource management contributions in helping to achieve an
organisation's effectiveness.
INTRODUCTION
The passage shows the Employment Act (Amendment) 2000, which was
announced by Tan Sri Dr Fong Chan Onn, former Minister of Human Resources.
The laws and regulations concerning employment and work relations enacted by
the authorities are regularly amended to fulfil current needs.
These laws and regulations influence policies, activities and human resource
management programmes formed by an organisation. The organisationÊs
management team, especially the human resource management unit, needs to
create policies and procedures which abide by the law, so that all actions taken
will be according to the law.
Among the Acts related to human resource management in Malaysia are the:
(a) Employment Act 2000
(b) Industrial Relations Act 1967
(c) Trade Unions Act 1959
(d) Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994
(e) Employees' Social Security Act 1969
(f) Human Resource Development Act 2001
(g) Employees Provident Fund Act 1991
(h) WorkmenÊs Compensation Act 1952
ACTIVITY 2.1
Before you explore the legal aspects related to work relations, try to
think about what will happen to the work relations between
management and employees if there is no legal system enacted to
protect the rights of both parties.
The Employment Act 1955 was enacted with the purpose of protecting
employees from being exploited by employers, and became the legal
foundation in highlighting the minimum conditions and terms related to
work that need to be followed by management.
A few amendments have been made to the Act since it was enforced and the
latest amendments were made in the year 2011. This act is referred to as the
Employement (Amendment) Act 2012. Some of the amendments found in this act
included:
The Employment Act 1955 also allocates a few prohibitions towards the contract
of service such as:
(a) Barring employees from participating in any trade union activities and
associations; and
(b) Setting conditions on how employees spend their fee.
Apart from that, the end of a contract of service notice needs to be stated in the
contract of service. If the notice period is not set in the contract of service, the
minimum period of notice that is allocated under the Employment Act 1955 is as
shown in Table 2.1.
ACTIVITY 2.2
Even though a contract of service can be made verbally or in
writing, what are the terms that need to be given to an employee in
writing or before he or she starts working?
It is the right of employers to stop making any payments to the employees if the
employees are not present at work due to imprisonment or attending court
unless their attendance in court is as witness to the employers.
ACTIVITY 2.3
If your payment period is from the 14th to the 13th of the next month,
according to the Employment Act 1955, what is the last day that your
employer needs to pay your fee?
Study the Employment Act 1955: Part VIII and find the protections that need to
be given by employers to female employees.
However, female employees who have five or more living children are not
eligible to maternity allowance. Apart from that, female employees have the right
to take 30 days of maternity leave prior to or right after the delivery.
Previously, a female employee who is not within the scope of the Employment
Act 1955 was not entitled to maternity coverage unless the contract of service
stipulates otherwise. However, with the Employment (Amendment) Act 2012
under Section 44A, the scope of maternity coverage has been extended to all
female employees who are employed under a contract of servise irrespective of
wages.
Figure 2.2: Normal Hours of work according to the Employment Act 1955 (Section 60A)
Apart from that, the employees should not be required under their contract of
service to work more than eight hours a day (not including rest period). If an
employeeÊs work hours are from 9am to 6pm (nine hours), he needs a rest from
1pm to 2pm (one hour).
The total working hours in one week should not be more than 48 hours.
However, employees are allowed to work overtime. The maximum number of
overtime allowed for an employee is 104 hours in one month, unless exempted
by the Minister under section 2B.
ACTIVITY 2.4
Go online and find out three types of eligible unused sabbatical
leave during employment.
(iii) For work done exceeding normal hours of rest day in (i) or (ii), he
shall be paid no less than 2 times his hourly rate of pay.
(iv) For these employed on piece rates who works on rest day, he shall be
paid 2 times his ordinary rate per piece.
condition that the employers ask for permission from the Minister of
Human Resources.
Employees who are absent from work without permission from employers
and without any appropriate reason, and whose absence exceeds 10% of
working days for 12 months continuously are not eligible to get annual
leave for the duration concerned.
Employees also have the right to enjoy 60 days of medical leave if they are
hospitalised. However, this 60-day eligibility will be reduced to follow the
number of standard medical leave that has already been utilised. For example, if
an employee who is hospitalised has taken 10 days of medical leave earlier, then
his right to medical leave due to hospitalisation is only 50 days.
Find out online what actions can be taken against employees who often take sick
leave and emergency leave which exceed the limit.
EXERCISE 2.1
1. When does wage need to be made by employers to their
employees?
2. How long a period must a resignation/end of contract of
service notice be given if an employee has serviced for two
years and five months?
3. If an employee experiences a critical illness that requires him
or her to be hospitalised, how many medical leave is he or she
entitled to under the Employment Act 1955?
4. Can a contract of service put any conditions on how its
employees should spend their earnings? Explain.
This Act is also intended to prevent any differences or disputes that arise from
this relationship, as well as to deal with any trade disputes and related matters.
The purpose is to creat industrial harmony. Among the aspects covered in the
Act include protection for all parties, recognition and trade union scope, and
collective bargaining and agreements. Figure 2.3 shows the items contained in
the Industrial Relations Act 1967.
EXERCISE 2.2
The Act also covers the membership criteria as well as the rights, powers and
responsibilities of a trade union and its managerial prepogatives for any
collective bargaining.
A trade union must be registered within one month from its establishment date.
However, a period of registration of not more than six months is allowed if it is
deemed appropriate.
Among the membership conditions which are allocated in this Act are:
(a) Anyone planning to be the member of a union must be above 16 years old.
(b) Members under 18 years old are not eligible to vote in these matters:
Organising strikes;
Dissolving the union;
Amendment concerning member liabilities and benefits.
(c) Members under 21 years old are not allowed to hold any post in the union.
EXERCISE 2.3
This Act requires the management to establish a safety and health committee if it
has 40 or more employees in the workplace or if directed by the Director General.
Further discussion concerning the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 will
be provided in Topic 11.
EXERCISE 2.4
1. State the objectives of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.
2. What are the employers requirement on safety and health
committee at the workplace as stipulated under OSHA (1994)?
The Social Security Scheme aims to protect employees from any unexpected
occurrences such as disasters, accidents and death at the workplace. This scheme
ensures benefits payment to employees and their dependants through two
protection schemes as shown in Figure 2.4.
EXERCISE 2.5
1. The Social Security Act 1969 protects all employees that are
employed under one contract of service with a salary of not
more than RM___________.
2. The amount of contribution that needs to be made by both the
employer and the employee under the Invalidity Pension
Scheme is _____________.
Every employer registered with the Human Resource Development Council will
have to pay a human resource development levy for every employee based on
their wages. Registered employers that have made the payment are entitled to
apply for financial aid or the services allocated in this Act for the purpose of
encouraging employee training. Table 2.5 shows the levy rate imposed according
to the set criteria in the Human Resource Development Act 2001.
Under this Act, the Human Resource Development Fund must be spent on:
(a) Encouraging development and growth of employeesÊ skills by designing,
developing, increasing or monitoring training amenities;
(b) Preparing financial aid through loans or subsidies to employers to train or
re-train their employees;
(c) Organising or implementing activities or programmes aimed at re-training
employees who have been or will be laid off due to downsizing;
(d) Bearing the cost of managing the Human Resource Development Council
including payment and allowances for council officers; and
(e) Bearing any administration costs for the Fund as well as the cost of
implementing the Act.
Apart from that, the Human Resource Development Act 2001 also allots aspects
on the functions of the Human Resource Development Council:
(a) Evaluates and determines the types or levels of training that is in line with
the industryÊs human resource needs;
(b) Increases manpower training; and
(c) Establishes the conditions for loans or financial aid.
EXERCISE 2.6
1. Describe the purposes of the Human Resource Development
Fund under the Human Resource Development Act 2003.
2. State the functions of the Human Resource Development Council
as set under the Human Resource Development Act 2003.
All employers must register their employees with the Employees Provident Fund
immediately upon employment.
(a) A worker aged less than 60 years. Full contribution is 24% (13% employers,
11% employee) for employee paid RM 5,000 and below. 23% (12%
employees and 11%) for employee paid exceeding RM 5,000 a month.
Effective 1 January 2007, the contributorÊs account is divided into two types
Account 1 and Account 2. All contributions are divided into the two accounts
according to fixed percentages, namely, 70 percent into Account 1 and 30 percent
into Account 2.
These accounts are created for different purposes and different types of
withdrawals are applicable to each account:
(a) Account 1
The savings here are for the purposes of retirement and cannot be fully
withdrawn before the age of 55 or passed away, or loses his capacity and
intends to leave Malaysia permanently.
(b) Account 2
The savings in this account are meant to help you to make early
preparations for a comfortable retirement. Withdrawals are allowed for the
purposes of:
(i) Attaining the age of 50 years;
(ii) Owning a house or making the downpayment for your first house;
(iii) Settling the balance of your housing loan for your first house;
(iv) Financing education for yourself and that of your children; and
(v) Medical expenses for yourself and that of your children.
ACTIVITY 2.5
EXERCISE 2.7
This Act aims to compensate employees who are injured or contract illnesses
caused by their work.
In the early stages, this Act covered all manual workers in the private sector, and
non-manual workers in the private sector with a salary of not more than RM500 a
month. In 1977, the scope of the Act was extended to include non-manual workers
in the public sector with a salary of not more than RM400 a month.
The next amendment was made in 1993 where it gave protection to all foreign
workers in the private sector, whereas all local workers in the private sector were
covered under the EmployeesÊ Social Security Act 1969. However, in 1996, this
Act was amended so that it only gives protection to non-manual workers in the
public sector with a salary of not more than RM400, while foreign workers are
protected under the Foreign Workers Compensation Scheme 1952.
EXERCISE 2.8
Fill in the Blanks
To test your knowledge of the legal environment in human resource
management, answer the questions below:
1. Halim has worked with CBA Company for four years.
Therefore, the number of annual leave he is eligible to under
the Employment Act 1955 is ___________ days.
2. Employers are prohibited to ask or demand an employee to
work more than ___________ hours a week.
Essay Questions
INTRODUCTION
Job analysis and job design are two important elements that form the foundation
for effective human resource planning. Job analysis determines the requirements
in a job. Job design helps employees achieve organisation objectives and at the
same time gives satisfaction to employees performing their jobs.
The main purpose for an organisation to conduct job analysis is to improve its
performance and productivity. It is necessary to identify the skills, knowledge,
experience and other requirements necessary to do a job. Job analysis helps
organisations to fulfil the legal needs and regulations set by the government.
Usually, the human resource department is responsible for conducting job
analysis.
The outcome of the analysis is used to develop job description and specification.
Before carrying out a job analysis, the requirements for a particular job must be
determined.Questions such as the following should be asked so that a more
accurate job requirement can be determined:
(a) What kind of work will be done by the employee?
Figure 3.2 briefly explains how a job analysis can be used to produce job
description and specification.
The outcomes of the job analysis will be the job description and the job
specification.
Term Description
Job A number of activities and duties that are inter-related.
Position Different duties and responsibilities performed by an
employee.
Job group A group of different jobs with similar characteristics.
Duties A group of job elements coordinated and combined to produce
results.
Element The smallest unit of a job or task.
Job specification Statement on the knowledge, skills and capabilities needed by
an employee to perform a job.
Job description Statement on the duties, obligations and responsibilities
needed to perform a job.
ACTIVITY 3.1
Working with a group of three or four students, collect at least three
different job descriptions from organisations of your choice. Compare
the descriptions, highlight similarities and differences.
(iii) Observation
A job analyst can obtain information on jobs by observing employees
of particular positions while they are performing their tasks.
Observation is based on standard work activities. The result of the
observation will be recorded in an observation form.
(iv) Journal and Record
The employer will be requested by the analyst to record all activities
in a journal throughout the employeeÊs work cycle. Usually, the notes
are made in 30 minutes or one hour intervals for each cycle or work
shift, and the time frame is usually between two and four weeks.
Apart from the methods above, there are other methods or approaches in
data collecting that are quantitative in nature.
Each function has a difficulty level that has been relatively set. The
total value of difficulty level will determine a jobÊs content and help to
prepare the job description and specification. Table 3.2 shows an
example of a FJA application.
The lower the score of the difficulty level, the higher the difficulty
level function. Therefore, jobs that have the same score are grouped
together and paid the same salary rate.
(ii) Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
Mental process
Mental process refers to the process of reasoning, decision making
and planning applied to perform a job.
Work result
Work result refers to the types of equipment and physical
activities utilised to perform a job.
Relationship with others
Relationship with others refers to the types of relationship
expected in order to perform a job.
Work contexts
Work contexts refer to the physical and social contexts where the
job is performed.
Other work characteristics
Other work characteristics refer to activities, occurrences or other
characteristics aside from the five characteristics listed above.
EXERCISE 3.1
TRUE (T) or FALSE (F) Statements
1. Job analysis is the process of obtaining information on a job
by determining the obligations, duties or activities of the job.
2. The responsibility of carrying out a job analysis is the main
responsibility of a line manager.
3. The usual methods of gathering information for a job analysis
are interviews, questionnaires, observations and journals.
4. The functional job analysis approach is an inventory of a jobÊs
various functions and work activities.
5. The main objective of the critical incident method approach
when performing a job analysis is to identify the 194 items in
the position analysis questionnaire list.
Most job descriptions contain at least three parts, namely, position, work
introduction and work duties and obligations. Table 3.3 presents the
important areas of a job description.
Job Description
Description
Term
Position Name Represents the duties and level of the post in an organisation.
Psychologically, the position name can represent a jobÊs status.
The position name should also explain the duties that need to be
performed in a job.
ACTIVITY 3.2
Based on your experience in the workplace, what are the problems
that may be faced by the management and employees in the
process of preparing a job description report?
EXERCISE 3.2
Job enrichment is only effective for certain jobs. There are employees who
are unhappy when their job descriptions are changed, but there are also
others who see it as a challenge and something stimulating.
(b) Job Characteristics
A job characteristics model states that there are three psychological states
where an employee shows an improvement in his or her work performance,
internal motivation, decrease in absenteeism and turnover.
According to Hackman and Oldham (1976), there are five job characteristics
that influence these three psychological circumstances. They are skill
variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback.
(i) Skill Variety
Explains the range of skills and activities necessary to complete the
job. The more an employee is challenged to use a wide variety of
skills, the more satisfying the job is likely to be.
ACTIVITY 3.3
In your opinion, what will happen if an employeeÊs duties and
responsibilities are increased but he or she is not psychologically
ready to accept the job enrichment?
Through industrial engineering, the standard work duration for each work
element is merged and matched by taking into account employeeÊs skills and
efforts when performing the particular job. The time duration on matters that
interrupt employees when working is also considered. Therefore, the total time
that has been changed is considered the standard time to perform a work cycle.
ACTIVITY 3.4
The overall system is suited to the characteristics that are present in humans.
Factors such as job types, work environment, machines, equipment and
processes must be suitable for the employees that are performing the particular
job. Briefly, we try to fit machine to man, and not fit the man to the machine.
ACTIVITY 3.5
In this developing era, females are able to perform tasks that were formerly
monopolised by men. However, there are parties who feel that jobs such as
labourers are only suitable for men. Give your views. If you agree, do you
think you are discriminating against female employees?
EXERCISE 3.3
Employee teams will change the way the management and employees
communicate with each other. The manager faces problems in acting as a
head whereby traditionally managers have always acted as supervisors. The
manager will feel threatened by the empowerment given to employee teams,
which indirectly lessens the managementÊs power.
SELF-CHECK 3.1
What are the similar characteristics present in the techniques to
increase employee contribution in an organisation?
Among the usual work timetable options are compressed workweek, flexi time,
job sharing, and telecommuting.
(a) Compressed Workweek
In compressed workweek, the total work days a week are reduced but the
total work hours a day are increased. This maintains the total work hours
per week.
(b) Flexi Time
Flexi time enables employees to choose the start and end of work time that
is suitable for them, as long as the total work time per day or per week is
maintained. However, it is compulsory for all employees to be at the
workplace at a certain period of time, such as between 10am and 3.30pm.
(c) Job Sharing
Job sharing refers to two temporary workers performing one job which is
supposedly manned by one full-time employee. They acquire a fee equal to
the total number of hours they work.
(d) Telecommuting
Telecommuting is the utilisation of micro computers, networks, and other
communication technologies such as facsimile machines when working at
home, whereby these tasks were previously done in the office or at the
workplace.
EXERCISE 3.4
TRUE (T) or FALSE (F) Statements
1. Cooperation and standardisation techniques are among the
techniques in job design that aim at increasing group or
employee productivity.
2. Permanent groups that consist of five to ten employees who
perform the same task and often meet to identify, analyse, and
propose solutions for problems are known as task force teams.
3. Employee teams can operate in different organisational
structures, each with a specific strategy and goal.
4. Flexi time allows employees to choose their own start and
end of work time as long as they work for a certain total
number of hours per day or per week.
5. Telecommuting utilises micro computers, networks and
different communication technologies such as facsimile
machines to work at home, instead of doing it at the workplace.
2. Human resource management uses the data from the job analysis
to develop ____________________.
A. An attitude and behaviour survey
B. A job description and specification
C. A job analysis function and ergonomic issues
D. Employee agreement and workersÊ union
Essay Questions
Job analysis and job design play an important role in the development of an
organisation.
In relation to that, organisations give specific importance to both aspects.
Through job analysis, job description and specification are developed. A
wrong analysis will produce an inaccurate description and specification.
This in turn gives a bad effect to the organisationÊs performance.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Identify the advantages of combining human resource planning
with the organisation's strategic planning;
2. Describe basic approaches to human resource planning;
3. Discuss strengths and weaknesses of employee recruitment from
within an organisation; and
4. Examine the source of the external recruitment process.
INTRODUCTION
Organisations compete with one another based on the skills and abilities of their
manpower. Therefore, manpower or human resource planning becomes very
important so that present and future employees will be a competitive workforce.
the basis for staffing in an organisation, whereas recruitment initiates the action
process in fulfilling whatever has been planned by the organisation.
(a) Recruitment
Changes in the employee environment and composition require the
manager to be more involved in human resource planning. The manager
must plan a more effective recruitment method so that the aim to hire
capable employees will be achieved.
SELF-CHECK 4.1
Figure 4.2: Relationship between human resource planning and strategic planning
Figure 4.3 shows the relationship between the human resource planning
process and the strategic planning process.
Figure 4.3: The relationship between the human resource planning process and the
strategic planning process
ACTIVITY 4.1
Based on Figure 4.3, between strategic planning and human
resource planning, which should come first? Discuss with your
coursemates.
(iv) Affiliates
Affiliates have unique skills but are not related to the organisationÊs
basic strategies. An organisation tries to promote a good relationship
with their affiliates and invests in the exchange of information and
knowledge. Examples of affiliates are lawyers, consultants and lab
researchers.
(c) Ensures the Suitability and Flexibility of the Human Resource Planning
Practices
Another way of relating human resource planning and strategic planning is
by suiting the policies, programmes and practices of human resource
planning to the organisationÊs strategic requirements.
Human resource planning policies and practices must achieve two types of
adaptation, i.e. external adaptability and internal adaptability.
(i) External adaptability focuses on the relationship between business
objectives and the main human resource efforts. For example, to
achieve a low operational cost, the human resource planning policies
and practices must support the direction of low operational costs.
(ii) Internal adaptability is a human resource planning practice that is
suited between one another to produce a symbiosis relationship. For
example, job design and training focus on the same behavioural
target, such as efficiency and creativity in work.
EXERCISE 4.1
TRUE (T) or FALSE (F) Statements
Table 4.1: Predicting Human Resource Needs with the Trend Analysis Method
Labour Human
Business Factors
Productivity Resource Needs
Year (Sales in RM
(Sales/ (Number of
Â000)
Employees) Employees)
1995 2351 14.33 164
1996 2613 11.12 235
1997 2935 08.34 352
1998 3306 10.02 330
1999 3613 11.12 325
2000 3748 11.12 337
2001 3880 12.52 310
2002* 4095 12.52 327
2003* 4283 12.52 342
2004* 4446 12.52 355
* forecasted
figures
Source: Adapted from Bohlander, Snell & Sherman. (2009). Managing human
resources (15th ed.). Ohio: South-western College Publishing
In Table 4.1, the business factor that is taken into account in predicting
human resource needs is the total annual sales for each year. Labour
productivity is obtained by calculating the average number of sales of
an employee in the financial year. The total number of employees can
be predicted by dividing the value of business factor with labour
productivity.
Apart from total sales, other business factors that can be used to
predict human resource needs are interest rates, Gross National
Income and income expenditure.
ACTIVITY 4.2
Refer to Table 4.1. If the sales result in 2005 was RM4,546,000 and
the labour productivity maintained as in 2004, what would be the
human resource needs in 2005?
ACTIVITY 4.3
Look at the human resource planning in your workplace. Are the
management predictions and Delphi Technique used? If yes, give
an example on how the planning is implemented.
There are various methods to detect and predict the total number of
internal employees. Among these methods are:
(i) Staffing Schedule
A staffing schedule gives a graphic display on all jobs in an
organisation, including existing number of employees involved in the
jobs. It also contains employees' needs for the future.
(ii) Markov Analysis
This analysis detects the pattern of employee movement through
various types of jobs. It shows the percentage and actual figure of
employees who still remain in a particular job, and employees who
are promoted, demoted, transferred or removed from the
organisation. Through the Markov Analysis, an employee movement
matrix can be developed and the supply of internal human resources
can be predicted. For example, refer to Table 4.2.
Table 4.2: Example of the Use of Markov Analysis to Predict Internal Human Resource
Supply
(a) Transition Probability Matrix
Year 2003 (expected)
Categories
A1 A2 B1 B2 Out
and job levels
Year A1 .60 .10 .20 .00 .10
2002 A2 .05 .60 .00 .00 .35
B1 .05 .00 .60 .05 .30
B2 .00 .00 .00 .80 .20
from the total number of employees that are maintained in level A1 divided
by the total number of employees in that level from the previous year.
Then, the total number of promotions to A2 in the current year is divided
by the total number of employees in level A1 from the previous year. The
same goes for the total number of employees that have moved to B1,
promoted to B2, and was removed from the organisation. The total of all
percentages must add up to 1 (or 100%). For example, at level A1= 0.60 +
0.10 + 0.20 + 0.00 + 0.10 = 1.00.
In part b (predicting supply), in the year 2002, the total number of salespeople
(A1) is 100. It is expected that in 2003, 60 people will remain as salespeople (A1),
10 people will be promoted to sales manager (A2), 20 people will be moved to
the position of customer service agent (B1), there will not be any promotion to
customer service manager (B2), and 10 people will be removed from the
company. In the year 2003, the company is expected to supply 71 salespeople, 22
sales managers, 140 customer service agents and 22 customer service managers.
ACTIVITY 4.4
Refer to Table 4.2. Say in 2002, the number of customer service
agents (B1) was 280. How many of them would be promoted to
customer service managers?
There are a few external factors that influence the labour market. Among
them are demographic changes, economy, manpower level of education,
requirements for certain skills, population movement and government
policies. The unemployment rate at the national and state levels often
becomes the benchmark to detect the labour force or employee supply.
SELF-CHECK 4.2
Based on the human resource planning definition in subtopic 4.1
and your experiences in the workplace, what are the steps involved
in human resource planning?
EXERCISE 4.2
4.2 RECRUITMENT
In the recruitment process, effort is put into informing applicants about the
qualification requirements in performing a job, as well as job opportunities that
are offered by an organisation to its workers.
The existing data can also be used to forecast employeesÊ career path and
predict when and where the opportunity for promotion will be announced.
However, the data has to be updated and there has to be a systematic
method to update the data.
(a) Advertising
Advertising is the most popular source of attracting applicants. The
advertising mediums that are often used by organisations are newspapers,
radio and television commercials, posters, billboards and business journals.
Some of the steps that can be taken to increase the effectiveness of external
recruitment are:
SC/H= (AC+AF+RB+NC)/H
Whereby:
(b) External recruitment is done for the purpose of injecting new influence into
an organisation so that the existing work culture can be stimulated.
ACTIVITY 4.5
From research, it is found that employees hired through referrals and
self applications stay on longer in an organisation and show better
performance compared to employees hired through normal methods,
such as advertising. Based on your work experience, do you agree?
Discuss.
EXERCISE 4.3
Essay Question
INTRODUCTION
We are often exposed to news on deviation, misuse of power and sexual
harassment in the workplace. Therefore, the selection of suitable candidates is
very important to ensure the success of an organisation.
The selection process is an ongoing process and involves a few steps. Among the
steps in the selection processes are as follows:
(a) Completing the application form.
(b) Preliminary interview at the human resource department.
(c) Employment test (cognitive aptitude test, achievement test).
(d) Investigating the candidateÊs background.
(e) Preliminary selection at the human resource department.
(f) Team/supervisor interview.
(g) Medical check-up/drug test.
(h) Recruitment result.
From the steps above, we can see that an organisation uses various ways to
obtain information about applicants. Among the methods used are application
forms, interviews, employment tests, medical check-up and background checks
on applicants/candidates.
ACTIVITY 5.1
In your opinion, why are some applicants exempted from certain
steps in the selection process while other applicants have to go
through the whole selection process?
Reliability means the level where an interview, test and other selection
procedures show consistent data every time, even when using other
methods of measurement.
Reliability, thus, means how far a selection tool is able to give consistent data.
Table 5.1 and Table 5.2 are examples of stable and consistent reliabilities.
A. High Reliability
Applicant Test score Re-test score
Ahmad 90 93
Chin 65 62
Rama 110 105
Kuntum 80 78
B. Low Reliability
Applicant Test score Re-test score
Ahmad 90 72
Chin 65 88
Rama 110 67
Kuntum 80 111
Source: Adapted from Bohlander, Snell & Sherman. (2009). Managing human resources
(15th ed.). Ohio: South-western College Publishing.
A. High Reliability
Applicant Evaluator 1 Evaluator 2 Evaluator 3
Ahmad 9 8 8
Chin 5 6 5
Rama 4 5 5
Kuntum 8 8 8
B. Low Reliability
Applicant Evaluator 1 Evaluator 2 Evaluator 3
Ahmad 9 5 6
Chin 5 9 4
Rama 4 2 7
Kuntum 8 4 2
Source: Adapted from Bohlander, Snell & Sherman. (2009). Managing human resources
(15th ed.). Ohio: South-western College Publishing.
Figure 5.1 shows how a test score is validated by applying the criteria evaluation
(one type of information validity).
ACTIVITY 5.2
Refer to Table 5.2. How does Table 5.2 relate the three validity
concepts?
There are a few methods which are trusted and valid in order to obtain
information about candidates. Figure 5.2 shows a few techniques of obtaining
information in the selection process and its effectiveness.
(f) Graphology
Graphology refers to a system that analyses handwriting. Through a
candidateÊs handwriting, a graphologist makes an assumption of the nature
of his or her intelligence, energy level, organisational abilities and emotions.
ACTIVITY 5.3
EXERCISE 5.1
TRUE (T) or FALSE (F) Statements
1. The selection procedure does not have to be validated before it is used.
2. The more related the contents of a selection tool with the actual
work sample, the higher the value of content validity.
3. Construct validity is a level where a certain selection tool is able to
measure characteristics or constructs theoretically.
4. Most organisations require application forms to be filled because
application forms provide fast and systematic information about
the applicants.
5. To filter and select applicants as well as predict their performance,
organisations have to go through applicantsÊ information through
their source of reference.
ACTIVITY 5.4
In the personality and interest inventory, there are five personality
dimensions. Which one reflects your personality, and based on
your personality, what type of job would be suitable for you?
ACTIVITY 5.5
Classify these job tests according to their categories (aptitude test
or achievement test).
ACTIVITY 5.6
EXERCISE 5.2
There are a few models in the statistical approach. They are as follows:
Compensatory model
Through the compensatory model, the high score that a candidate
obtains in one particular part of a test will be able to assist a lower score
obtained in another part.
Multiple cut-off model
Through the multiple cut-off model, a candidate must reach a particular
level or a minimum score for all selection dimensions.
Multiple hurdle model
Through the multiple hurdle model, candidates who obtain high scores
in the entry test will be allowed to go to the next stage. This can save
cost if the selection cost is high.
ACTIVITY 5.7
EXERCISE 5.3
Fill in the Blanks
(a) Selection (c) Aptitude test
(b) Multiple hurdle model (d) Validity
Essay Question
The selection process is supposed to give reliable and valid information about
an applicant. An interview is one of the methods used to obtain information
about an applicant.
The interview method can be used together with application form,
biographical information blanks, references, background check, cognitive test
and job sample test.
A job test is more objective than an interview and is able to give a wider
behaviour sample.
Each type of test has a specific purpose, such as the work knowledge and
work sample tests which are designed to determine whether a person
requires training or not.
A variety of methods can be used in the interview process. An interview can
be performed structurally or non-structurally, as well as on a one-on-one
basis or with a panel.
In the process of deciding whether a candidate will be offered a post, factors
that are taken into account are what the candidate can do, and what he or she
will be able to do. The recruitment section may use a clinical or statistical
approach.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Explain the roles of performance evaluation;
2. Describe the processes of performance evaluation;
3. Discuss the main sources to evaluate employee performance;
4. Compare the main methods to evaluate employee performance; and
5. Examine the effective performance evaluation system
characteristics.
INTRODUCTION
The previous topics focused more on how an organisation can attract and
develop productive, flexible and motivated human resources. This topic will
focus on the aspects of maintaining human resource productivity in an
organisation. Although, initially, all supervisors or managers will observe their
employeesÊ work behaviour, and evaluate their performance at the end of the
year, they must also focus on the non-cost value increase to the organisation. The
unconcerned attitude of supervisors and managers is a challenge to the human
resource department to develop supervisors and managers who are able to
motivate employees to improve their performance. Supervisors and employeesÊ
acceptance of and commitment to performance improvement are critical in order
to determine the productivity increase in the organisation. Due to this problem,
performance evaluation is seen as a complicated activity but is important to the
organisationÊs competitiveness in the market.
Many terms can be used to refer to performance evaluation. Some of the more
often used are performance rating, performance study and merit rating.
SELF-CHECK 6.1
(a) Development
Determines which employees need training. This will enhance employee-
supervisor relationship and encourage the supervisor to contribute to the
reinforcement process of employee behaviour.
(b) Motivation
Encourages attempts, develops responsibilities and propels efforts towards
improving performance.
(d) Communication
Acts as a basis for discussion between the supervisor and employees
regarding work matters through daily interaction.
Apart from general and specific purposes listed above, performance evaluation
can also be used for administrative and employee development purposes
(Bohlander, 2001). From the administrative aspect, performance evaluation is an
input that can be used in human resource management activities while the
development aspect focuses on feedback of employeesÊ strengths and
weaknesses, and stresses on performance improvement. Among the uses of
performance evaluation for administrative and development purposes are as
follows:
ACTIVITY 6.1
Based on your experience, has performance evaluation helped in
your career? Explain.
employeesÊ annual salary movement. The disagreement that exists and the
misunderstanding of performance evaluation have caused the performance
evaluation process to fail. Therefore, support from the top management is
important in order for performance evaluation to succeed so that the
organisation will be able to compete in the market.
SELF-CHECK 6.1
EXERCISE 6.1
(iii) Reliability
Reliability refers to the consistency of the standards that are
developed. Consistency means how far an employee is able to
maintain a level of performance in a particular timeline. For example,
the evaluation comparison done by two managers on an employee,
ACTIVITY 6.2
EXERCISE 6.2
1. State the main elements in developing an effective
performance standard.
2. Explain the key steps involved in the performance
evaluation process.
(c) Subordinates
The most suitable people to evaluate a manager are his or her subordinates.
This method is effective because the subordinates are the best source to
observe the effectiveness of the manager. Moreover, the subordinates are
always in contact with the manager. This type of evaluation is more for the
managerÊs self-development so that he or she is able to rectify his/her
weaknesses. The negative aspect of this evaluation is that the subordinate
may either give a good evaluation of his or her manager if they have a good
working relationship, or evaluate the manager poorly if they are at odds
with each other.
(d) Peers
Peers can be an effective evaluation approach as peers often interact and are
able to identify their colleaguesÊ strengths and weaknesses. Peer evaluation
can also give an accurate and valid input.
SELF-CHECK 6.2
EXERCISE 6.3
SUITABILITY OF PROMOTION
(b) Essay
This method is the easiest method because supervisors only have to write
statements depicting employeesÊ performances. Supervisors will talk about
the strengths and weaknesses of employeesÊ behaviours and give
recommendations to improve on the weaknesses. Even though this method
is easy, it takes a long time, and is too subjective as the supervisor needs to
illustrate employeesÊ overall yearly performance.
1 Good
4 Not good
ACTIVITY 6.3
During the evaluation period, the supervisor will use the records together
with other information to evaluate employeesÊ performance. The advantage
of this method is that it illustrates the employeesÊ overall real performance
whereas the disadvantage of this method is that the supervisor has to
observe the critical work behaviour of all of his or her employees. If there
are too many employees in the supervisorÊs department, the observation
will require a long time. Examples of the critical incident method which are
positive and negative in nature are as follows:
Supervisors can also weigh each work behaviour demonstrated. Then, each
mark is totalled. An example of the weighted checklist is as shown in
Figure 6.5.
Weight
_____ Makes decisions quickly 10.0
_____ Understands explanations fast 8.7
_____ Seldom wastes time 6.5
_____ Always meets deadline 8.8
Figure 6.8 shows the performance evaluation cycle based on the MBO
method. After the setting of objectives is agreed upon by the supervisor and
employee, duties are carried out and the supervisor needs to observe the
employeeÊs work behaviour. An interim study has to be carried out, usually
in the middle of the year, to make sure the objectives formed are suitable
and achievable.
If the objectives are not clear and difficult to achieve, the supervisor and
employee will formulate other objectives which are more realistic and
achievable. At the end of the year, performance will be evaluated based on
the set objectives. After that, the organisationÊs performance will be
reviewed based on the overall employee performance. If the performance
shows no improvement, then the organisationÊs goals need to be studied
and changed in order to be more realistic.
EXERCISE 6.4
In order to ensure a manager or supervisor does not make the same mistakes, he
or she has to be given training on how to evaluate their employees effectively
and fairly, as well as focusing only on the employeesÊ work performance. This
training aims to increase the appraiserÊs skills in observing and giving feedback
to employees. Employees also need to give support by giving information which
is needed by the appraiser in order to ensure that the evaluation is done justly.
SELF-CHECK 6.3
What are the factors which cause errors in performance
evaluation?
ACTIVITY 6.4
EXERCISE 6.5
An effective interview has to be planned and structured well in order for the
supervisor and employees to view the interview as a problem-solving session
and not as a „fault finding‰ session (Mondy, 1999). A supervisor has to ensure
that these three elements are considered when planning a performance interview,
i.e. the discussion must:
(a) Be based on the employeesÊ performance and not their personality.
(b) Help employees set work objectives and career development plan.
(c) Give suggestions and help to achieve objectives which have been set as well
as gain support from top management.
Apart from that, Stone (1998) stated that an effective performance interview
needs to consider these three factors:
(a) A supervisor needs to possess information about employeesÊ performance
and work.
(b) A supervisor needs to give support and assistance to employees at all times.
(c) A supervisor needs to involve employees during performance discussions.
The supervisor must realise that there are differences among individuals. The
supervisor must also know how to criticise an employeeÊs weakness and praise
when necessary so that there is no dissatisfaction between the supervisor and
employee. By this, a fair and transparent performance evaluation can be
presented to the employee who is being evaluated. Performance improvement
can then occur after the interview session.
The performance evaluation process does not end after the performance
interview session. In fact, a supervisor needs to ensure that all the alternatives
which were proposed are carried out effectively and monitor employeesÊ
performance from time to time by giving feedback.
ACTIVITY 6.5
Visit http://www.performance-appraisal.com/intro.htm for
information on four performance evaluation methods which are listed.
Then, visit http://www.opm.gov/perform/articles/pdf8.htm and
elaborate on the methods used in evaluating group performance.
EXERCISE 6.6
Multiple Choice Questions
1. All the following are administrative roles in evaluating
performance EXCEPT:
A. Compensation
B. Termination
C. Career planning
D. Promotion
Essay Questions
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Explain the types of rewards which exist in the compensation
administration system;
2. Describe the compensation administration objectives;
3. Discuss the factors which influence wage setting; and
4. Assess the issues related to compensation administration.
INTRODUCTION
Compensation administration is one of the most important functions in human
resource management. Even though it is the most difficult and challenging
activity, it helps strengthen the culture and the important values of an
organisation. Policies and practices in an organisation which emphasise on
rewards based on results are able to strengthen employeesÊ behaviour so that
they are more dedicated to increasing their productivity (Stone, 1998). Indirectly,
compensation administration is an important tool to increase employee
motivation in improving work performance so that the organisationÊs strategic
objectives are achieved. Compensation administration policies should not only be
able to motivate employees, but they should also attract and retain competitive
employees. Therefore, employees expect that the compensation system of an
organisation is just and fair in providing a reward system that is at par with the
skills and performance demonstrated.
Monetary rewards can be in the form of cash such as wages, salary, commission
and bonus; or benefits such as insurance, annual leave, medical leave and flexible
working hours.
Non-monetary rewards, on the other hand, can be the satisfaction the employee feels
as a result of his or her position or from the work environment mentioned (Mondy,
1999).
Direct monetary rewards are in the form of cash, such as wages, salary,
commission and bonus, whereas indirect monetary rewards are in the form of
benefits and others.
Non-monetary rewards from the work aspects are interesting jobs, challenging
job responsibilities, acknowledgement and career development.
Non-monetary rewards from the work environment aspects are good policies
and practices, competent supervisors, congenial colleagues and a safe and
healthy work environment.
(a) Organisation
(i) Attract and retain quality and the desired employee participation.
(ii) Motivate employees to improve their work performance in the effort
to achieve the organisationÊs strategic objectives.
(iii) Strengthen the main values and culture desired by the organisation.
(iv) Encourage and strengthen work behaviour as desired by the
organisation.
(v) Ensure that compensation is maintained at a competitive level.
(vi) Control compensational cost.
(vii) Ensure optimum returns on each ringgit spent.
(viii) Abide by legal requirements.
(b) Employee
(i) Prepare fair and just rewards.
(ii) Give out rewards equivalent to the performance as demonstrated.
ACTIVITY 7.1
State your view on whether you agree or disagree on the following
issues and give a valid reason for your answer.
1. All employees are eligible for annual salary increment
without taking into account their performance.
(a) Agree
(b) Disagree
2. An unattractive salary and benefit package decreases
employee motivation to excel in their work.
(a) Agree
(b) Disagree
EXERCISE 7.1
ACTIVITY 7.2
Figure 7.4 shows the steps in setting the salary system. The steps in each level are
related to one another.
There are four steps involved in determining internal equity, which are:
starting from high to low. The job hierarchy is arranged according to types
of task in the same group. For example, the position of a secretary, senior
clerk, clerk, typist, receptionist and computer operator can be categorised
into one group, which is clerical position.
Comparison Scope
Comparison Basis
Qualitative Method Quantitative Method
Job Classification
Job vs Scale Score System
Method
Source: Nankervis, Compton & McCarthy (1999). Strategic human resources management
(3rd ed.). Australia: Nelsom-Thompson Learning.
Order Job
1 General Manager
2 Marketing Manager
3 Operations Manager
4 Accounts Manager
5 Engineer
6 Accountant
7 Sales representative
8 Supervisor
Source: Adapted from Stone, R. S. (1998). Human resources management (3rd ed.).
Brisbane: John Wiley & Sons Australia.
The restriction in the factor comparison method is the difficulty in using the pre-
determined criteria to compare all jobs against the chosen benchmark.
Selection Method
Each job evaluation method has its strengths and weaknesses. According to Stone
(1998), since there is no one method that can be said as being the best, human
resource managers have to evaluate a few factors prior to selecting. These factors are:
Visit http://www.hr-guide.com/ for the definition of job evaluation and the four
importance of the job evaluation process. Next, visit http://www.job-
analysis.net/ for the four steps involved in the job analysis process.
The methods that can be utilised to obtain information from outside are
wage survey, wage curve and salary grade range.
(i) Wage Survey
Wage survey is a set of facts related to practices in wage structure
which are obtained from other organisations in the same labour
ACTIVITY 7.3
Elaborate on the components involved in the formation of a salary
system.
EXERCISE 7.2
that need to be increased from time to time such as housing allowance. The
wage rate developed also has to be revised so that an increase in basic
salary follows the increase in living costs.
ACTIVITY 7.4
EXERCISE 7.3
Multiple Choice Questions
Essay Questions
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Discuss the advantages of the incentive payment programme;
2. Compare between the individual, group and industrial incentive
programmes;
3. Explain the characteristics of an effective benefit programme; and
4. Differentiate between mandated benefits and non-mandated
benefits.
INTRODUCTION
The major factors that determine the reward payment rate of a certain job are
workload and job importance. However, wage payment that is only based on
these factors often fails to motivate employees to reach their full potential. In
other words, an equitable salary is not an assurance that employees will produce
high productivity. In this case, incentives and benefits are believed to be a major
influence that can help increase productivity, encourage employees to fully
utilise their skills and knowledge in carrying out their jobs, as well as encourage
them to work as a team.
8.1 INCENTIVES
ACTIVITY 8.1
In your opinion, should employers give incentives to their
employees? Imagine what would happen if employers did not
award any incentives to their employees.
Among the main reasons an organisation carries out an incentive plan is so that it
focuses on „payment for performance‰ and is able to connect rewards to the
organisationÊs goals. Therefore, an employee will be more loyal and faithful to
his or her job and thus able to increase his or her overall effort and job
performance.
Apart from that, it is said that incentives can also encourage employees to work
harder in completing their tasks. Therefore, monetary incentives are offered to
employees with the hope that productivity and quality can be sustained or
improved, thus enabling an organisation to compete globally.
EXERCISE 8.1
Give two reasons why the management carries out incentive plans.
Example:
Say that an employee is being paid RM500 for making hats.
Besides, the employee is also offered an incentive of RM0.20 for
each unit produced. If the employee is able to produce 100 units of
hats in a monthÊs time, what is the reward the employee should
receive for that particular month?
Differential piece-rate
Through this, employees are given a higher incentive payment
rate for their overall work if their production surpasses the
standard production level which has been set by the management
as compared to the rate paid to them when they do not surpass the
standard level.
Example:
Say the standard level which has been set by the company is 1,000
units per month. The incentive payment rate for production which
surpasses the standard level is RM0.30 per unit. On the other
hand, the incentive rate for production that does not surpass the
standard level is RM0.10 per unit. If Ali and Chandra both manage
to produce 1,200 and 900 units in a particular month, how much is
the incentive that they will receive?
Example:
The standard time set to finish a painting job is 10 hours with the
incentive payment rate of RM10.00 per-hour. If worker A used 9 hours
to complete the work, then the incentive payment that the worker will
receive is:
On the other hand, if worker A has used more time to complete the
task, say 20 hours, worker A will be paid an incentive of RM100 only.
(iii) Bonus
Bonus is one of the payment incentives given to the employee as an
addition to their basic salary. Bonus can be awarded based on cost
saving, increase in performance quality or criteria that are identified
by the organisation. Besides, organisations can utilise „spot bonus‰
which is bonus given „on the spot‰ in acknowledging employeesÊ
efforts or contributions which are indirectly related to the standard
performance set. For example, an employee is given „spot bonus‰ for
his or her effort in working extra hours to entertain a lot of customers.
Example:
Earning-at-risk
Earning-at-risk is an incentive plan which places risk on part of an
employeeÊs basic salary. Nevertheless, employees are given the
opportunity to obtain a higher pay if they are able to achieve the
goals set by management. The purpose of this programme is to
make the employees realise that they are facing a risk due to their
poor performance, while at the same time expecting a generous
reward.
Example:
Say the basic salary of worker A is RM1,200. RM200 from the basic
salary is being held back and put as a risk wage. If worker A is
unable to achieve the set goals, then he or she is not eligible to
receive a salary of RM1,000; but if worker A is able to achieve the
goal, he or she may be paid an additional incentive aside from his
or her basic salary of RM1,200.
SELF-CHECK 8.1
Try to think of the factors that may influence the development of
an incentive plan offered by an organisation.
ACTIVITY 8.2
We have discussed the three types of incentive plan, which are
individual, group incentive and industrial incentives that can be
offered by an organisation to its employees. What are the
differences between the three incentive plans?
EXERCISE 8.2
1. State the type of individual incentive plan which is used by
an organisation to give salary increment to its professional
employees based on their experience and performance.
2. Explain briefly the standard hour incentive plan.
8.2 BENEFITS
In general, most organisations provide various benefits to their employees as an
addition to their salary or as wages paid to the employees. An employee benefit
programme is a form of indirect reward with the purpose of improving work
quality and employeesÊ personal lifestyle. By this, the management hopes that
employees will be more productive and loyal to the organisation.
Aside from that, the objective of the benefit programme is to consider the
issue of cost restrictions.
ACTIVITY 8.3
EXERCISE 8.3
List five characteristics of an effective benefit programme.
Public holiday
According to section 60D(1) Employment Act, 1955, employees are
eligible for 10 days of public holiday in a year and will still be paid
the basic salary rate. The 10 days allocated need to include the
following four days:
Independence day
Birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Birthdays of Sultans or Yang di-Pertua Negeri or Federal
Territory day
Labour day
Annual Leave
Under Section 60E of the Employment Act (1955), an employee is
eligible to enjoy a number of minimum annual leave according to
his or her service period as shown in Table 8.1:
Sick Leave
Under Section 60F of Employment Act (1955), an employee is
eligible to enjoy a number of minimum medical leave according to
his or her service period as shown in Table 8.2:
(ii) Healthcare
This is a benefit package that has gained serious attention from
employers since healthcare cost is becoming very high. In addition,
employees nowadays emphasise more on healthcare as compared to
employees before. The benefit package usually consists of medical
expenses, surgery and oral expenses.
SELF-CHECK 8.2
What is the importance of benefits to an employee? What are the
forms of benefits that are usually given by employers to their
employees?
ACTIVITY 8.4
What are the differences between mandated benefits and non-
mandated benefits?
EXERCISE 8.4
Essay Questions
INTRODUCTION
If we look at the job scenario these days, we will find many employers who have
taken the steps to terminate the services of their employees as a way to reduce
the operation cost. Through mergers and restructuring, many organisations offer
voluntary separation scheme (VSS) as a means to reduce the number of
employees they already have. Nevertheless, there are also employees who have
been terminated without receiving any compensation and valid reasons. Apart
from using the economic crisis as an excuse, employers also use excuses like
indiscipline and work performance to sack employees. There are employees who
are given hard punishment for a small mistake and there are some who are not
given the chance to defend themselves after they have been accused. However,
not many are brave enough to come forward and lodge a report for they do not
know their rights as employees.
Thus, in this topic, we will discuss two main issues which are rights and
discipline. Both issues relate to one another especially in increasing the quality
relationship between an employer and a worker.
In Malaysia, there are many rights of employees that have been listed out in
various Acts such as WorkmenÊs Compensation Act 1952, Employment Act 1955,
Employees Provident Fund Act 1991, Human Resource Development Act 2001
and Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994. It is proposed that employees need
to study a little bit about the Acts related to them so that they are not easily
oppressed by employers. All of these Acts have been discussed in Topic 2.
From the aspect of the management or employer, they have the right to handle
business and to maintain the profits gained. Shareholders and the company
owner usually control their company by giving out power to the company
managers.
However, the rights that are directly related to the employees will usually be
aligned according to the employeesÊ rights. The employerÊs rights are usually
influenced by the rights of the important teams with vested interests in making
decision at the workplace. For example, an employer has the right to decide on
the employeesÊ salary scale, but with the presence of the trade union, the
employer must pay according to what have been agreed in the contract between
the employer and the trade unions.
SELF-CHECK 9.1
Effective discipline management will not only increase the job performance of the
employees but also reduce the number of disciplinary problems in the future.
Nonetheless, any disciplinary action cannot be carried out simply. For those
employees who are undergoing the process of training or learning how to do
work, it is not reasonable for them to be suggested for disciplinary action.
Disciplinary actions also cannot be carried out on the problems which are out of
Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
TOPIC 9 EMPLOYEE RIGHTS AND DISCIPLINE 181
the employeesÊ control like punishing the employees for not doing their work
because of lack of raw materials or shortage of electricity. In brief, discipline can
only be taken if the manager can prove that the problem which arises has been
caused by the employee himself/herself.
The above classification makes it easier for the employer to take suitable actions
or list appropriate training programmes that can help the employees to improve
their work performance.
Due to unknown causes with problematic employees, many take the easy route
of sacking those deemed problematic.
In reality, there are many factors that can cause misconduct among the
employees such as the attitude of the employee or the interaction between the
two parties. Miner (Ivancevich, 2001) had devised a method to analyse the
deficient behaviours of employees by way of producing a checklist of suspected
causes of the problems. Among the causes are:
(a) Problems relating to the employeeÊs knowledge of the occupation
(b) Emotional problems
(c) Motivational problems
(d) Physical problems
(e) Family problems
Major misconduct meanwhile are those along the lines of intentionally violating
company codes, aggressive behaviour, sleeping during work hours, consumption
of alcohol, gambling or disturbing others, possession of drugs, sabotaging
company operations and absent with no valid reasons.
This Act is the base in maintaining the efficiency of the disciplinary system and is
used to control the actions of the employees in accordance to company
regulations. Failure of the employer to penalise employees will result in frequent
misconduct in future. It would paint an image of employeesÊ misdemeanours as
being tolerable. Among the causes identified as reasons for supervisors not
punishing employeesÊ misconduct are:
(a) Supervisors not making any records on employeesÊ misconduct.
(b) Supervisors believing that their actions will not have the backing of the
upper management.
(c) Supervisors being unsure of whether the misconduct needs to be punished.
(d) Supervisors wanting to maintain consistency because employees were not
punished previously.
(e) Supervisors wanting to main a good relationship with their subordinates.
ACTIVITY 9.1
In your opinion, what attributes to the rising of offences within
organisations nowadays?
EXERCISE 9.1
1. If employees are found to have not been doing their work due
to insufficient funds, disciplinary action can be taken against
them.
2. Ahmad is frequently found out to be making mistakes when
asked to submit financial reports. Hence, it is justified to
categorise him as a problematic employee.
3. Offences can be caused by physical problems.
4. Violation of regulations and dress code can be deemed as
major offences.
5. When devising regulations relating to discipline, employers
are not advised to refer to the Employment Act 1955.
However, to carry out this approach requires huge financial cost in training
managers and supervisors to be effective counsellors. Furthermore, the
counselling sessions involve a longer period of time and in stages. This
deters the employers and supervisors from applying this approach.
Firstly, employees may bring that label upon themselves to the point
of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Employees will be demotivated
due to the supervisorÊs lack of efficacy. Another problem is the label is
tagged to the employee itself and not to the attitude when in reality, it
is the attitude that needs to be changed.
(vi) Misplaced Responsibility
Supervisors have to be aware that at times the problems happened
because of themselves. When the responsibility to change the attitude
is in the hands of the employee, and they fail to change, they are
charged with disciplinary actions. However, we need to remember
that employees will not change their attitude if the supervisors fail to
change and this will create problems.
ACTIVITY 9.2
If you were the supervisor making the incorrect disciplinary action,
what would you do?
Should the employee be arrested and jailed, employers can suspend the
employee until the investigation has completed. However, if the employee is not
jailed, the employee is entitled to continue working until the issue is solved.
Nevertheless, if the offence is assault, child abuse, rape or other instances of
similar crimes, the employee is to be suspended without pay until the case has
been settled.
According to Carrell, Elbert and Hatfield (1995), when the case is settled,
employers need to consider the following factors before taking disciplinary
action or terminating the employee.
Whatever the solution, employers should make sure that the actions taken
are consistent with the actions taken previously so that the disciplinary
actions are not questionable.
ACTIVITY 9.3
With close reference to your working experience, can you
differentiate the approaches taken at your workplace with those
learnt in this topic?
EXERCISE 9.2
(iii) There is no certainties that the decision made is consistent among all
the managers.
(iv) The management committee will usually favour the supervisors for
fear of losing authority and this policy has no credibility in the eyes of
the employees.
(e) Ombudsman System
The ombudsman system is a system that elects a group of representatives to
handle all complaints. The ombudsman will usually listen to the complaints
and mediates fair settlement between the employer and employee. Since
this system does not have the authority to pass a judgement or a solution,
cooperation and compromise between the two parties is essential.
(f) Arbitration
Arbitration is usually used to solve the problems relating to discrimination
such as sex, age, sexual harassment and even racial prejudices. This will be
specifically discussed in the next topic.
If employers intend to terminate the employees, the following are a few tips
provided by Bohlander, Snell and Sherman (2001):
EXERCISE 9.3
Essay Questions
It is the responsibility of all employees to know their rights in order for them
to know certain things that should not be done by the management and
organisation that they are working with.
In Malaysia, the employeesÊ rights are presented in various Acts such as the
Employment Act 1955, the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994, the
WorkmenÊs Compensation Act 1952, etc.
However, the employer has the right to elect employees, promote and
discipline them, as well as terminate them from their respective post.
Other than employeesÊ and manager rights, discipline is also another
important issue in an organisation.
Unfortunately, it is not the most favourite aspect that is focused by the
employers even though it is crucial to motivate employees to follow the
existing performance pace.
INTRODUCTION
Industrial relationship is also known as the relationship between employer and
his employees in a working field. For most of the local organisation, the rapport
or relationship that exists is based on the workersÊ welfare management.
Generally, the industrial relation system involves three respective parties which
are the employer, workers and the government. This situation is being practised
in Malaysia even though there are a few foreign organisations that influence the
industrial relationship system such as the International Labour Organisation
(ILO). Apart from that, several other Acts are also responsible for influencing the
system as well.
For workers, the trade union is utilised as the base to highlight their rights. It is
important to know that industrial relation will not exist without the trade unions.
Thus, in the next section, we will be discussing the scenario in trade unions as
well as the procedure in handling disputes.
The first trade union in Malaysia was identified in the 1920s, during the
development of the agricultural and tin mining era. Even though the trade union
development in Malaysia was slightly slower compared to the Western countries,
we must understand the employeesÊ conditions at that point in time. The
majority of employees working in Malaysia at that particular time were here on a
temporary basis, as most of their family members were in China or India. Half of
their salaries would be sent home to their families and they would return to their
motherland when they had successfully saved a certain amount of money. As
they were really in need of employment, they decided not to join any trade union
which at that time was strongly opposed by employers. Interestingly, history
seems to repeat itself around the 1990s when we saw many illegal immigrants
coming to work in Malaysia.
These laws are designed to prevent the Communist Party from intervening in the
trade union, to limit the unionÊs size and power as well as to control their
movement by making it compulsory for them to register with the newly elected
trade union Registry officer. As a result, there were more than 100 trade unions
that were revoked and cancelled at that time. Currently, the number of trade
union has shown an increase. In 1998 alone, 531 trade unions were registered as
compared to only 386 unions in 1984.
ACTIVITY 10.1
SELF-CHECK 10.1
Do you know why employees choose to become members of a
trade union?
Some employers feel that trade unions disrupt the decision making and
processes of management in the organisation, thus contributing to the
organisationÊs inability to reach the set objectives. Whatever reasons given,
employers need to accept the fact that employees will continue to join a trade
union as they are more aware of its functions. Some of the functions of a trade
union are:
(a) Encouraging industrial relations, and improving work conditions,
economic status, and social or increasing productivity;
(b) Outlining the relationship between employees among employees or
employers among employers;
(c) Becoming representatives in industrial disputes;
(d) Managing issues related to disputes; and
(e) Encouraging, organising and funding strikes or „lockouts‰ in any trade or
industry as well as allocating resources or other benefits to members during
strikes or „lockouts‰.
ACTIVITY 10.2
A trade union can be established if there are seven or more employees working
in the similar trade, occupation, or industry, and employees must either all be in
the private sector or all of them are in the public sector. For those who plan to
establish a trade union, they must first send their registration application to the
Director General of Trade Union in order to get an approval to operate legally in
the period of one month. If the period is insufficient, they can request from the
Director General of Trade Union (DGTU) that the period be extended to six
months.
The application form that needs to be sent must be enclosed with a fee and a
printed copy of the rules and regulations for the union that is being established.
The application also has to have details such as the union's name as well as its
address, the names, addresses and positions of all its members, and the name,
age, address and position of the elected union officer.
In processing the application form, the DGTU has the authority to reject any
trade union registration which in his or her opinion may be used for illegal
purposes. Registration is usually rejected if the managing director finds that:
(a) Some of the establishmentÊs objectives are illegal;
(b) A part of the trade unionÊs regulations clashes with the Trade Union Act;
(c) The name of the trade union that is being established may bring problems
in the future, or is similar to another existing union, or the name given is
found to be suspicious; or
(d) The trade union that is being established will be used for illegal purposes.
If there are two or more registered trade unions and they represent a group of
employees in the same trade, occupation, industry or workplace, the DGTU has
the authority to revoke any unions that have a small number of members or
order the union to not register the membership of the employee involved.
aged between 16 and 21 years old have a limited opportunity in some trade
union activities such as competing in the election for the post of union executive
or participating in a strike until they reach the age of 18.
Employees in the public sector can only become a member of the trade union that
is formed by employees within the same occupation, department, or ministry.
However, management level staff in public service who are interested in joining
trade unions have to obtain permission from the Government Chief Secretary.
However, the police, the army and prison officers are not allowed to join any
trade union.
SELF-CHECK 10.2
For example:
National Union for Plantation Workers (NUPW) 75,000
members.
National Union for Teaching Professionals (NUTP) 30,000
members.
National Union for Bank Employees (NUBE) 20,000 members.
National Union for Telecom Employees (NUTE) 19,000
members.
Transportation Trade Union (TWU) 8,000 members.
Some trade unions have members who are limited to one district only.
For example, employees in Sabah and Sarawak are not allowed to join
unions in Peninsular Malaysia. In addition, there are trade unions that
only enrol members from certain areas such as the Perak Textile and
Garment Industry Trade Union which limits the intake of members to
employees from the Perak state only (Maimunah, 2000).
Even though this type of union is opposed by the national and district
unions, in-house unions have shown an increase and are predicted to
keep on increasing in the future. Some of the examples of trade unions
that have existed for more than 20 years are the Cold Storage
Employees National Trade Union and Rothmans Employees Trade
Union.
There are 221 trade unions in the public sector in 1997 and this figure
includes several of MalaysiaÊs biggest unions such as the Malayan Union
for Teaching Professionals, Malayan Nursing Union, and Malayan
Technical Service Union as well as smaller unions such as the Dentistry
Technician Union with 242 members and the Pulau Pinang Port Senior
Commissioner Officers Union with a total number of 116 members.
Recently, the number of union members seemed to have decreased and this
is not caused by loss of interest but due to the governmentÊs privatisation
policy which has caused bigger unions to become private sector unions.
EXERCISE 10.1
TRUE (T) or FALSE (F) Statements
4. The trade union fund can be used for purposes such as reports
and news printing, compensation to members during trade
disputes and also for office related expenses.
ACTIVITY 10.3
In your opinion, who determines the wages and benefits for each
employee or work group in an organisation?
The decision on wages and benefits can be made either one-way or two-way. In
both public and private sectors which do not have trade unions, decision is made
one-way which is set by employers. But in the private sectors that have trade
union, the collective bargaining process is used by both employers and trade
union in determining wage and other work terms.
For employees, collective bargaining can be seen as a good method for them to
increase wages and benefits as well as to reduce the total working hours. Even
though the main objective of collective bargaining is to agree upon the accepted
work contract by both employees and employers, trade union has two other
objectives, which are to protect employeesÊ rights through allocation
development which will monitor the use of power or any actions which are
unfair towards employees and secondly to enable employees to be involved in
the decision making on matters which involve them.
Only when the recognition is received, then the employees can only use the
union to voice out any dissatisfaction or to solve any disputes. In other words,
this can be seen as a policy for trade unions to improve any employee service
terms with employers. For employees who are not members of a trade union,
they will not be discriminated because the trade union not only negotiates for its
members but for all employees in the company.
In many cases, the bargaining process carried out is between employers and
trade unions. However, for employers who have their own associations such as
banks, the bargaining process carried out is between the employerÊs association
and the trade union. This is to ensure that all benefits are standardised for all
employees in that industry and also to reduce the number of employees who like
to job hop from one company to another. All bargaining processes carried out are
controlled by the Industrial Relations Act 1967.
The bargaining process begins when one of the parties, whether the employer or
the trade union, recommends a set of proposals for mutual agreement and
requests for negotiation to begin. The response on whether the invitation to
negotiate is accepted or not has to be sent within 14 days. If the employer refuses
to begin the process, a trade dispute will occur. However, it is important to
remember that employers who have recognised the establishment of the trade
union have to be involved in this process.
an agreement is still not achieved, the matter will be reported to the Industrial
Relations Department and if necessary, they will be trialed by the Industrial Court.
If an agreement is reached between the employer and trade union, the next
process is to bind the mutual agreement as a valid contract. For this, it needs to
be done in writing and signed by both parties involved.
The validity date of the agreement must also be stated and normally it does not
exceed three years. After the period ends, a new bargaining process has to be
carried out. Meanwhile, all agreements reached have to be sent to the Industrial
Court within one month from the date they were signed. The court will then
examine the agreement made to ensure that it follows the legal requirements
before accepting it as a valid contract.
ACTIVITY 10.4
Visit http://202.190.197.23:8080/documents/10179/58539/2012-07-
27%20Relevant%20Acts%20The%20Industrial%20Relations%20Act
%201967_v3.pdf and list ten important parts included in the
Industrial Relations Act.
(a) Picket/Protest
According to Maimunah (2000), employees who are members of trade
unions and have trade disputes with their employers can hold a picket in or
near their workplace in the condition that:
(i) They do not obstruct the entrance and exit doors;
(ii) They do not threaten anyone; and
(iii) Their activities are carried out peacefully.
Employees protest for the purpose of giving publicity about the dispute to
employees who are not directly involved and to the public. By protesting
peacefully, they hope to convince their employers to approve of their
claims. Picketing is a great tactic if employers are conscious of the
organisationÊs public image.
(b) Strikes
In Malaysia, strikes are only allowed for employees from registered trade
unions if trade disputes are still unsolved. Political strikes and sympathy
strikes are prohibited. Before employees go on a strike, those involved in
the dispute must first have a secret ballot to determine the percentage of
those who agree and disagree to the strike.
A strike is only valid to be held after seven days, which is after the calm
period. During the calm period, validity confirmation can be done to enable
the parties involved to change their minds as well as to give an opportunity
for the government to intervene.
Apart from that, it must be reminded that the result of the ballot is only
valid for 90 days. Therefore, a strike must be organised within the 90-day
period from the voting date and if not, voting must be done again.
(c) Lock-out
Lock-out is a way for employers to force employees to accept their
demands. Through this, employers will not allow employees to work until
the dispute between them is solved. This includes taking actions such as
closing the workplace, stopping work or refusing to give wage to any
employee until they agree to the work conditions imposed. Similar to a
strike, the requirements to a lock-out are also subject to the law.
ACTIVITY 10.5
(b) Conciliation
When the process of solving the arguments through direct negotiation is a
failure, employers and trade union can report the matter to DGTU. He will
suggest them to hold a meeting of peace to solve the arguments. It is a
process whereby the Industrial Relations Department will help to solve the
arguments between both sides (Maimunah, 2000).
(c) Mediation
This method has similarity with arbitration but the mediator who is being
appointed is not from the government or Industrial Relations Department.
The mediator is the outsider who is appointed and agreed by both sides.
(d) Arbitration
Arbitration is used after the previous three methods have been a failure.
Similar to the method of using mediation, the arbitration method uses the
third party which is the Industrial Court. Under the Industrial Relations Act
1967, the Industrial Court is empowered to solve trade disputes.
The decision which is made by the Industrial Court cannot be altered unless
there is a matter related to law.
EXERCISE 10.2
Essay Questions
In this section, we have discussed the aspects of industrial relations and trade
union.
Thus, we should have understood what is industrial relationship and trade
union, why employees should join trade union, the roles, terms and
conditions of the formation, who can be the member, how and the purpose of
the unionÊs fund as well as the types of union available in Malaysia.
Arbitration Mediation
Collective bargaining Negotiation
Conciliation Picket
Direct negotiation Strikes
Industrial actions Trade unions
Lock-out
INTRODUCTION
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), it is estimated that
more than 1.2 million workers do not enjoy their right to work in a secure and
safe environment because of accidents and diseases which are related to their
jobs. Based on the statistics gained from the ILO at the 16th APOSHO
Convention in Mauritius (April 2000), it was found that:
(a) Employers from all over the world suffered because of more than 250
million accidents every year;
(b) More than 160 million employees suffered illnesses as a result of exposure
to dangerous chemicals at the workplace;
(c) More than 1.2 million deaths happened every year because of accidents and
diseases related to jobs and the total is higher than the total caused by road
accidents every year from all over the world;
(d) More than 10 million employers suffered due to injuries and diseases
resulting in permanent disabilities and the loss of the source of income.
ACTIVITY 11.1
We always hear the words „safety and health‰ but what do they
mean if applied in our workplace?
Safety:
An issue that has to do with protecting workers from injuries or accidents while
they are working. Injuries related to job include wound, fracture, sprain and
amputation caused by work accidents or caused by exposure that involves an
incident in the workplace (Bernardin and Russel, 1998).
Health:
A condition that gives protection to workers from emotional disturbance and any
types of physical illness caused by their job. Disease caused by work, such as
exposure to occupational surrounding factors, can bring all types of unusual
circumstances or disturbance. This condition includes chronic acute illness such
as stress, burnout, heart problem and death which may be caused by breathing
and absorbing or being exposed directly to toxics or harmful means (Bernardin
and Russel, 1998).
ACTIVITY 11.2
Why are laws related to safety and health of workers important?
What would happen to workers if there were no laws like this in
our country?
Even though this Act had been used for a long time in Malaysia, it received a lot
of criticisms regarding the effectiveness of its provisions and implementation.
Among the criticisms were that it:
(a) Only protected workers who worked in factories and this only accounted to
about 25 to 30% of the entire workforce in Malaysia;
(b) Had a limited scope;
(c) Failed to take note of technology development; and
(d) Emphasised on the responsibilities to overcome issues related with safety
and health from the government side and not involving employers and
employees.
ACTIVITY 11.3
1. The construction sector was the sector that reported the highest
amount of accidents in 1998, that is, 38,718 (43.8%) compared to
other sectors such as commerce (14.7%), services (10.4%) and the
shipping sector (4.6%). In your opinion, why did the construction
sector contribute to the increasing number of accidents in 1998?
2. Visit http://www.dosh.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content
&view=article&id=531&Itemid=360&lang and list six important
parts in the Factories and Machinery Act 1967.
The following industries are protected by this Act, namely, the manufacturing
sector; mining and quarry; construction, agriculture, forestry and fishery; utilities
such as electric, gas, water and sanitary services; transportation, storage and
communication; retail trading; hotel and restaurant; financial, insurance,
property and business services; public services and authority statute.
The main aim of this Act is to increase awareness and to promote safety and
health culture among all workers in Malaysia. The objectives of this Act are:
(a) To ensure the safety, health and welfare of workers in the workplace.
(b) To protect other individuals, apart from workers, in the workplace who are
exposed to risks from the work activities.
(c) To encourage a conducive work environment that meets the physiological
and physical needs of the workers.
(d) To ensure that the organisation maintain or fix the standards of safety and
health by implementing rules and industry practices that have been
approved and in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
Some of the provisions in this Act include the needs of forming the National
Council for Occupational Safety and Health and provisions that set the duties of
the employer and the self-employed, designer, manufacturer, supplier and
workers.
Visit http://www.dosh.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&
id=531&Itemid=360&lang=en and find the four main aims of setting the
Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.
In sum, council members need to meet from time to time to discuss and
make suggestions on issues related to:
(i) Changes that are relevant to the Occupational Safety and Health Act;
(ii) Ways to improve administration and enforce the Act;
(iii) Ways to foster cooperation between employers and employees
regarding the safety, health and welfare of employees in the
workplace;
(iv) Safety, health and welfare problems encountered by women,
handicapped persons and other groups in society;
(v) Formulating suitable methods to control the use of chemicals in the
workplace;
(vi) Analysing statistics regarding deaths and accidents;
(vii) Resources for health facilities in the workplace;
(viii) Ways to encourage forming codes of practice in relation to the safety,
health and welfare of employees; and
(ix) Reviving plans and facilities to assist individuals injured while
working.
Visit http://www.dosh.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&view
=article&id=531&Itemid=360&lang=en for information about the
functions of the National Council and Occupational Safety and Health at .
(v) Maintaining the workplace areas so that they are safe without risking
health by providing sufficient facilities for employeesÊ welfare.
Any employer who fails to follow these instructions will be fined not more
than RM50,000 or jailed for not more than two years or both.
Apart from that, employers are also responsible for formulating policies on
occupational safety and health in written form and informing all workers
about them. These policies are looked into frequently to ensure that they
are suitable for current conditions. However, there are a few weaknesses in
the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994. It does not set out what is
important in the occupational safety and health policy and it also does not
state by which manner the policy need to be conveyed to the workers. This
may cause the organisation to be unable to carry out these responsibilities
properly.
For employers who have more than 40 employees, they need to form an
Occupational Safety and Health Committee in their own organisation. The
functions of the committee is to help implement a safe and healthy
environment in the workplace, explore the effectiveness of the
programmes, give suggestions on any changes in order to improve the
situation and carry out inspections once every three months.
Visit http://www.dosh.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&view
=article&id=531&Itemid=360&lang=en for information about the four
duties of each worker and punishment if the duties are not carried out.
ACTIVITY 11.4
(ii) Arrange or carry out appropriate tests and examinations on the plant
or materials;
(iii) Provide sufficient information regarding the use of the plant or
materials so that it is safe without any risks to health if used properly;
(iv) Carry out research to prevent or minimise risks to safety or health that
might exist from the design of the plant; and
(v) Ensure the plant that has been built is safe for use.
Failure to obey these rules can cause the designer, manufacturer and
supplier to be fined not more than RM20,000 or jailed not more than two
years or both.
Employees who fail to obey these rules will be fined not more than
RM1,000 or jailed not more than three months or both.
Thus far, there are six regulations that have been established under the
Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994:
(i) Occupational Safety and Health (Control of Industrial Major Accident
Hazards) Regulations 1996;
(ii) Occupational Safety and Health (Safety and Health Committee)
Regulations 1996;
(iii) Occupational Safety and Health (Classification, Packaging and
Labelling of HazardousÊ Chemicals) Regulations 1997;
(iv) Occupational Safety and Health (Safety and Health Officer) 1997;
(v) Occupational Safety and Health (Use and Standards of Exposure of
Chemicals Hazardous to Health) Regulations 2000; and
(vi) Occupational Safety and Health (Notification of Accident Dangerous
Occurance, Occupational Poisoning and Occupational Disease)
Regulations 2004.
EXERCISE 11.1
TRUE (T) or FALSE (F) Statements
ACTIVITY 11.5
Have you ever had a headache as a result of staring at the computer screen for
too long? Or have you seen your friend injured because he was crushed by heavy
things? All of these are examples of accidents that can happen while we work,
according to Aini Hayati (Faizuniah, et al., 2002)
Safety towards danger is an occupational aspect that has the potential to cause
injuries (such as sudden loss of sight, loss of fingers or hands, fall from a
building) or death to workers at a fast rate. Usually, safety towards danger is
related to tools or machines that are not safe to be used, unsafe work
environments, and exposure to dangerous chemicals.
Health towards danger refers to occupational aspects that can give negative
effects to employeesÊ health gradually. Continuous stress caused by workloads,
becoming deaf because of exposure to noisy work environment, having chest
pain and the eyes becoming blur because of exposure to chemicals are among
some of the examples of emotional and physical illnesses caused by work.
Next, we will look at a few safety and health categories regarding the danger in
workplace such as accidents in the workplace, the danger of chemicals, air
quality in the building, video screen terminal and repetitive injuries.
ACTIVITY 11.6
These problems can be overcome if every person plays their own roles. The
objective to ensure zero accident cannot be achieved if workers did not make use
of safety gadgets provided by the employer or the employer did not take any
action even though the employees had lodged complaints regarding the damage
of the safety gadgets provided.
Table 11.2 shows a few examples of roles that can be played by the employer,
employees, trade unions and the Occupational Safety and Health Committee in
minimising accidents in the workplace.
Table 11.2: The Role of the Responsible Agent to Decrease Accidents in the Workplace
Responsible
Role
Agent
Health and The Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994, Section 30 (a) states
Safety that it is compulsory for a company which has 40 or more employees
Committee to form a health and safety work committee. This committee is to
study all the steps to ensure the safety of workers at the workplace.
Source: Adapted from Faizuniah Panggil et al., (2002). Pengurusan sumber manusia.
Malaysia: McGraw Hill.
The negative effect from the chemicals will not immediately be visible. The effect
will be visible when the disease has become chronic. Refer to Table 11.3 to
understand how serious the effect can be on some people.
Sources: Adapted from Byars, L. L. & Rue, L. W.(2000). Human resource management
(6th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Other than that, the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 also contains the
rules to classify, package and label chemical substances and determine the use
and exposure of dangerous chemical substances.
Find out more information about the Occupational Safety and Health Act (The
Prohibition of Chemical) 1999 at http://www.dosh.gov.my/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=531&Itemid=360&lang=en. Are you
exposed to these restricted materials?
ACTIVITY 11.7
Is the air in your work area good? If not, what are the factors that
contribute to air quality in your workplace?
Moreover, workers in closed buildings are easily exposed to air pollution due to
bad air flowing system. According to research by the National Institute of
Occupational Safety and Health in the United States, air pollution in the building
is due to cigarette smoke and emission from office equipment such as ozone,
hydrocarbon from computers, photocopy machines, laser printers and fax
machines. Dust from carpets, papers and wood are among the contributors too
(O Connell and Motavalli, 1995 and Bohlander, Snell and Sherman, 2004).
To overcome the lack of fresh air in the building, the American Lung Association
has provided four recommendations: remove cigarette smoke with good air
flowing, prevent workers from smoking in air conditioned rooms, supervise the
air flowing system frequently and remove the sources of pollution from the
building (Bohlander, Snell and Sherman, 2004).
ACTIVITY 11.8
Is it safe to use computers in our daily work? In your opinion, what is
the problem caused by using the computer for a long time?
Dr James Sheddy (Bohlander, Snell and Sherman, 2004) gave some advice to
minimise the negative effect of the computer:
(a) Put the computer screen between four and nine inches from the userÊs eye
vision level.
(b) Put the monitor in line with the vision.
(c) Sit on an adjustable chair, adjust the height according to the preferences of
the user and use a copyholder to attach to the computer or desk.
(d) Use suitable screen light which is not harmful to the eyes.
(e) Use screen-shades to decrease the light from the window to the screen.
One of the injuries is the carpal tunnel. The carpal tunnel refers to the hand bone
known as the carpal. These bones form a tunnel full of flexible tendons
(Ivancevich, 2001). According to research by NIOSH, the carpal tunnel syndrome
is related to the industrial sectors involved in cutting, forming, sewing and
cleaning.
One of the ways to avoid the injuries is by providing a good work environment
in line with the physical needs of the workers or known as ergonomics. This
word originated from Greek which is divided into „ergon‰ or work and „omics‰
which means „management of something‰ (Mathis and Jackson, 2000).The job of
the ergonomist is to study the aspects of work physiology, psychology and
engineering such as fatigue, lighting, equipment and control.
EXERCISE 11.2
TRUE (T) or FALSE (F) Statement
Security guards or those who are involved in money exchange and valuable assets
such as bank tellers and cashiers are exposed to violence. Other than that, those
who work until late at night or in isolated places are also exposed to this type of
risk.
Other than visible threatening risks, workers also have to face hidden threats
such as bullying by other workmates which may progress to a more serious stage
such as murder.
Some steps can be taken to overcome violence at the workplace such as vetting
the workersÊ applications, and forming a basic procedure related to safety at the
workplace. It includes prohibiting bringing in any weapons and banning any
practices that can be a threat to the work environment.
(c) Eustress or positive stress refers to the moderate level of worry that will
work as a drive to do something.
A few steps can be taken to reduce the negative effects of pressure. They are as
follows:
(a) Have a good relationship among the employees;
(b) Openly voice out your feeling or problem to the supervisor or workmates;
(c) Get ready to face any changes in the future;
(d) Do not perform something that is beyond your ability;
(e) Put a realistic deadline which is easy to reach;
(f) Quick action in solving problems before it becomes worse; and
(g) Stop for a while or rest before proceeding the work to avoid boredom.
SELF-CHECK 11.1
Have you ever felt stressed? What are the factors leading to stress?
Whatever action you take, the important question is: do you understand what
HIV/AIDS is and its implications on workers, the job and the surrounding?
Most of the AIDS patients like to isolate themselves from the society because of
embarrassment and fear of being discriminated by family and society. What is
important is that they do not want to lose their jobs. This is because awareness of
this disease among employers is still low. According to research by the
Department of Safety and Health (DOSH) carried out in 154 factories, most of the
employers stated that:
(a) HIV/AIDS would not have a great impact on the business, productivity,
expenses, health care and absence in the workplace.
(b) HIV/AIDS still has not affected the work field.
(c) HIV/AIDS was only infected by non-expert workers and low educated
employees.
(d) HIV/AIDS was not an organisationÊs issue but the countryÊs issue.
Although there is no specific provision in the Occupational Health and Safety Act
1994 with regard to AIDS, Section 15(1) stated, „It can be assured that the
employer is responsible to take care of the workersÊ welfare from any HIV
infection and at the same time responsible to take care of them no matter what
health condition they are in.‰
Visit http://www.dosh.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&view
=article&id=531&Itemid=360&lang=en for information about the steps to
protect workers from AIDS.
understood as the programme that provides direct services to workers who have
many personal problems or problems related to work.
With this programme, employees who have problems such as alcoholic and drug
addictions, stress, human relationship problem (usually between the worker and
the supervisor), family and marriage problem, and financial problem will be
given counselling.
The EAP also provides services like career counselling, education regarding
AIDS and health, counselling on mental stress, counselling for employees who
are going to be retired and those to be terminated. (Mathis and Jackson, 2000).
In promoting a safe work culture, there are many things an employer can do,
such as:
(a) Creating the work as interesting as possible. Uninteresting work will make
the workers feel bored, tired easily which will lead to accidents.
(b) Forming a safety committee that includes the representatives from the
employees and the employer. The responsibility of this committee is to
check, supervise the working, investigate the accident and underline a few
recommendations to overcome the problem.
(c) Displaying the safety statistics such as the monthly report on the notice
board or in the monthly bulletin for the workers to remind the employees
of the importance of safety at the workplace.
(d) Using the notice board in the organisation to promote safe work culture.
Gomez-Mejia, Balkin and Cardy (2001) supports this matter as they believe that
an effective safety programme usually possesses the following characteristics:
(a) Form a safety committee which comprises every department in the
organisation. Employees are encouraged to take part in decision making
regarding safety issues and the employer needs to consider ideas
contributed by the employees in order to improve the safety in the
workplace;
(b) Convey safety messages to employees through different media such as
lectures, films, posters and brochures;
(c) Train the supervisors on how to convey safety messages to employees and
manners of handling safety tools so that supervisors can provide training to
their subordinates;
(d) Use incentives, rewards and positive reinforcement to encourage the
employees to practise working safety. The employer should offer rewards
to those employees who provide feedback or to those who can give
suggestions regarding safety. Besides, employees who maintain a good
safety record should be rewarded;
(e) Enforcing safety rules. For employees who break or do not follow safety
rules, action can be taken against them;
(f) Deploy the Safety Director or the Safety Committee to investigate and
recognise places in the workplace that are not safe and find out why
accidents can happen and try to find solutions to overcome these problems.
ACTIVITY 11.9
Visit http://www.dosh.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content
&view=article&id=531&Itemid=360&lang=en and explain the aims
and objectives of the establishment for each of the following
sector/department:
1. Department of Safety and Industry
2. Department of Health and Industry
3. Department of coordination and planning
4. Department of serious danger
5. Department of administration
ACTIVITY 11.10
Certain organisations are so concerned about their employeesÊ health that they
organise various programmes such as exercises, healthy diet campaigns, football
tournaments, netball, badminton and so on, monitor weight problems and avoid
things that are harmful to health. This kind of organisation will provide facilities
such as gymnasium and aerobic classes. For organisations that wish to organise
health programmes, they can start their programme with the following:
(a) Organise health assessment sessions for high risk employees;
(b) Identify illnesses that incur large medical expenses;
(c) Include family members and those who had retired into the health
programme;
(d) Seek advice from food technologists regarding healthy ways of eating;
(e) Prohibit smoking in the workplace;
(f) Obtain discount prices from health clubs to encourage employees to join
and enjoy the facilities; and
(g) Start a health bulletin.
EXERCISE 11.3
Essay Questions
Exercise 1.1
1. Human resource management consists of philosophies, policies,
programmes, practices and decisions related to employee management in
an organisation.
2.
Human Resource Management Personnel Management
Proactive Reactive
Exercise 1.2
Five roles of human resource management are:
Planner
Facilitator
Coordinator
Auditor
Mediator
Exercise 1.3
Multiple Choice Questions
1. D
2. A
3. D
4. C
5. C
Essay Questions
1. Globalisation
Challenges in technology
Managing change
Human resource development
Market reaction
Cost reduction
Economic climate
Legal system
(Any six of the above)
2. Part-time job
Work sharing
Maternity leave
Flexible working hours
Child nursing leave
Telecommunication services
(Any four of the above)
5.
Helping the organisation achieve its targets.
Fully utilising the skills and ability of the workforce.
Providing the organisation with trained and motivated employees.
Increasing employeesÊ job satisfaction.
Developing and maintaining the quality of employee work
environment.
Delivering human resource management policy to every employee.
Helping to maintain social responsibility and ethical conducts.
Managing changes to benefit employees and the organisation.
(Any five of the above)
Exercise 2.1
1. The payment fee cannot be later than the seventh day after the last day of
payment period.
2. 6 weeks
3. 60 days
4. No. The Employment Act 1955 prohibits employers from setting conditions
on how employees spend their fee.
Exercise 2.2
1. After receiving the application, the management must take these actions
within 21 days:
Give recognition; or
Reject the application and present the reasons in writing; or
Apply to the Director General to verify employeesÊ membership in the
union and to give a written notice to the workersÊ union.
2. 14 days
Exercise 2.3
1. True
2. True
3. False
4. False
Exercise 2.4
1. Among the objectives of this Act are to:
Ensure the safety, health and welfare of employees at the workplace;
Protect others that are present at the workplace from any accidents that
might be triggered by workersÊ activities;
Ensure that the work environment is conducive; and
Enable related legalities be replaced in stages by industrial rules and
regulations which are approved and practised by all in order to
maintain and increase the standard of safety and health at the
workplace.
Exercise 2.5
1. RM2,000
2. 0.5% of the employeeÊs salary
Exercise 2.6
1. Under this Act, the Human Resource Development Fund must be spent on:
Encouraging development and growth of employeesÊ skills by
designing, developing, increasing or monitoring training amenities;
Preparing financial aid through loans or subsidies to employers to train
or re-train their employees;
Organising or implementing activities or programmes aimed at re-
training employees who have been or will be laid off due to
downsizing;
Bearing the cost of managing the Human Resource Development
Council including payment and allowances for council officers; and
Bearing any administration costs for the Fund as well as the cost of
implementing the Act.
Exercise 2.7
Effective 1 January 2007, the contributorÊs account is divided into two types
Account 1 and Account 2. All contributions are divided into the two accounts
according to fixed percentages, namely, 70 percent into Account 1 and 30 percent
into Account 2.
These accounts are created for different purposes and different types of
withdrawals are applicable to each account:
(a) Account 1
The savings here are for the purposes of retirement and cannot be fully
withdrawn before the age of 55 or passed away, or loses his capacity and
intends to leave Malaysia permanently.
(b) Account 2
The savings in this account are meant to help you to make early
preparations for a comfortable retirement. Withdrawals are allowed for the
purposes of:
(i) Attaining the age of 50 years;
(ii) Owning a house or making the downpayment for your first house;
(iii) Settling the balance of your housing loan for your first house;
(iv) Financing education for yourself and that of your children; and
(v) Medical expenses for yourself and that of your children.
Exercise 2.8
Fill in the Blanks
1. 12 days
2. 48 hours
Essay Questions
1. Amin is not entitled to normal medical leave because he has used up all the
sick leave which has been given to him.
2. National Day
Birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Birthdays of the Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan Negeri or Federal Territory
Day
Labour Day
3. Weekly leave
Medical leave
Annual leave
Public holidays
Exercise 3.1
1. True
2. False
3. True
4. True
5. False
Exercise 3.2
1. True
2. False
3. True
4. False
5. False
Exercise 3.3
1. True
2. True
3. True
4. False
Exercise 3.4
True (T) or False (F) Statement
1. True
2. False
3. True
4. True
5. True
Essay Questions
1. Job requirements that are formally written help managers in almost every
aspect of employee management.
Exercise 4.1
1. True
2. True
3. True
4. True
5. True
Exercise 4.2
1. True
2. True
3. False
4. True
5. True
Exercise 4.3
True (T) or False (F) Statements
1. False
2. True
3. False
4. False
5. True
Essay Questions
TOPIC 5: SELECTION
Exercise 5.1
1. False
2. True
3. True
4. True
5. False
Exercise 5.2
1. True
2. False
3. True
4. False
Exercise 5.3
Fill in the Blanks
1. A
2. B
3. C
4. D
Essay Question
1. „Criterion‰ refers to the level of which the selection tools chosen and able to
forecast or correlate with the main elements in work behaviour.
Examples are: in sales job will be sales figures and in production job will be
the quality, quantity of output.
Exercise 6.1
1. Performance evaluation is the process of identifying, observing, measuring
and developing employeesÊ performance in an organisation or any
definitions such as those provided in subtopic 6.1.
Exercise 6.2
1. The four key elements in creating a performance standard are:
(a) Strategic Relevance: The standard developed must be related to the
organisationÊs strategic objectives.
Exercise 6.3
The six sources to evaluate employeesÊ performance are:
(a) Immediate supervisor: A traditional method which stresses that
performance evaluation must be done by an employeeÊs immediate
supervisor. A supervisor is the most eligible person to observe and evaluate
his or her employeesÊ work performance, and he or she is also responsible
for the management of the unit or department.
(b) Self evaluation: If an employee understands the objectives that must be
achieved and is involved in the development of performance standards,
then he or she is qualified to evaluate himself or herself. This is because the
employee knows what has to be done and how to carry out the task
effectively.
(c) Subordinates: The most suitable people to evaluate a manager are his or her
subordinates. This method is effective because the subordinates are the best
source to observe the effectiveness of the manager. Moreover, the
subordinates are always in contact with the manager. This type of
evaluation is more for the managerÊs self-development so that he or she is
able to work on their weaknesses.
(d) Peers: Peers can be an effective evaluation approach as peers often interact
and are able to identify their colleaguesÊ strengths and weaknesses. Peer
evaluation can also give an accurate and valid input. However, peer
evaluation will also create problems if it is used as a basis to give favours or
seek revenge.
Exercise 6.4
Three main methods to evaluate employeeÊs performance are:
(a) Trait Method: Trait is designed to measure how far an employee is able to
acquire certain characteristics such as creativity, innovation, leadership and
dependency that are seen as important in carrying out oneÊs work. Some of
the methods that fall under this category are the graphic rating scale, essay
method and the forced choice scale.
(b) Behaviour Method: This method focuses on behaviour aspects based on a
scale that illustrates certain behavioural descriptions. These descriptions
enable appraisers to identify employee performance based on certain
behaviours from weak to excellent. Some of the methods that fall under this
group are critical incident method, behavioural checklist and weighted
checklist, behaviourally anchored rating scale and behaviour observation
scale.
(c) Result Method: This method enables supervisors to evaluate the results
achieved by employees. Therefore, it is more quantitative in nature,
objective and empowerment can be present. This in turn will lessen bias.
This technique also stresses that employees be responsible for all results
achieved. There are two types of techniques that can be categorised in this
group, namely, productivity measures and management by objectives.
Exercise 6.5
Three common mistakes made by the evaluator are:
(a) Halo Effect: This effect happens when an appraiser conducts a total
evaluation based on only one aspect of performance. An appraiser sees the
employee as being efficient in all his or her work aspects when he or she is
able to meet the quantity required by the organisation.
(b) Central Tendency: Central tendency happens when an appraiser awards
the same evaluation to all evaluated employees. The appraiser is inclined to
give an average evaluation to all employees with the reason of maintaining
good working relationship with everyone so that friction does not occur.
(c) Recency Error: An appraiser often focuses on work performance that is
close to the evaluation period as it is difficult to remember work
performance in the beginning of the year.
(d) Contrast Error: This error happens when a manager compares an
employeeÊs performance with another colleague who has already been
evaluated, and not based on set standards.
(e) Leniency/Strictness Error: Leniency error is an error made by an appraiser
when he or she gives a high value to the employee being evaluated because
the appraiser does not have the heart to give a low rating. Strictness error
happens when an appraiser awards a low rating to the employee being
evaluated because he or she feels that none of the employees deserve a high
rating.
(f) Similar-to-me Error: This error happens when an appraiser gives a high
rating because the employee who is being evaluated has similar personal
characteristics with the appraiser.
Exercise 6.6
Multiple Choice Questions
1. C
2. D
3. B
4. D
5. B
Essay Questions
1. Six roles of performance evaluation:
(a) Development: Determines which employees need training. This will
enhance employee-supervisor relationship and encourage the
supervisor to contribute to the reinforcement process of employee
behaviour.
(b) Motivation: Encourages attempts, develops responsibilities and
propels efforts towards improving performance.
(c) Human Resource Planning: Functions as a valuable input to human
resource planning activities.
(d) Communication: Acts as a basis for discussion between the supervisor
and employees regarding work matters through daily interaction.
(e) Law Abiding: Acts as a valid foundation for promotions, transfers,
rewards and employee terminations.
(f) Human Resource Management Research: Verify methods or
techniques used in human resource management activities. For
example, during the selection activity, improving or selecting the
effective selection test.
2. Meaning of terms:
(a) Strategic Relevance: The standard developed must be related to the
organisationÊs strategic objectives
(b) Criteria Contamination: Criteria contamination happens when there
are uncontrollable external factors which affect employeesÊ
performance.
(c) Criteria Deficiency: The development of a performance standard has
to consider all of an employeeÊs responsibilities. If the standard
developed only considers one aspect of a jobÊs responsibilities, criteria
deficiency occurs.
Exercise 7.1
Two types of compensation that can be offered by the organisation to its employees:
(a) Monetary Rewards
A direct monetary reward is in the form of cash, salary, commission and
bonus
An indirect monetary reward is in the form of benefits such as
insurance, annual leave, medical leave, flexible working hours and
others.
(b) Non-monetary Rewards
Non-monetary rewards from the work aspects are interesting job scopes,
challenging work responsibilities, acknowledgement and career
development.
Non-monetary rewards from the work environment aspects are good
policies and practices, competent supervisors, congenial colleagues and a
safe and healthy work environment.
Exercise 7.2
The goal of work evaluation is to achieve internal equity during the salary
system formation. Work evaluation is a systematic method to determine the
relative value of a certain job compared to other jobs to ensure different jobs are
given a different wage rate.
Exercise 7.3
Multiple Choice Questions
1. B
2. D
3. B
4. A
Essay Questions
1. The two challenges that need to be faced by the human resource manager in
developing an effective salary structure are:
(a) The influence of equity on wage rate - External factors take into
account the similarities between an established wage rate and other
organisationsÊ wage rate to attract and retain capable employees. On
the other hand, internal factors stress on fair wage where an employee
compares his or her wage with the wage rate of a colleague in the
organisation.
(b) Wage assurance - Various compensation plans have to be developed
to create wage payment assurance including basic salary assurance,
service allowance or living expenses, and other financial benefits that
need to be increased from time to time such as housing allowance.
The wage rate developed also has to be revised so that an increase in
basic salary follows the increase in living costs.
Insurance
or others as shown in Table 7.1
Exercise 8.1
Two reasons the management carries out incentive plans are:
(a) It is able to increase or maintain the productivity level or employeesÊ work
quality.
(b) It is able to relate rewards to the organisationÊs goals.
Exercise 8.2
1. Maturity curve
2. Through this plan, the incentive rate paid is based on the standard time set
by the organisation to complete a certain task without taking into account
the actual time taken by the employee to complete the task. If the employee
is able to complete the task less than the standard time, the employee is still
paid an incentive based on the standard time. This plan is suitable for jobs
or operations that take time or need a lot of time to be completed.
Exercise 8.3
The five characteristic of an effective benefit programme are:
Forming a specific objective;
Allowing input from employees;
Re-designing employee benefits;
Flexible planning; and
Conveying information about benefits to employees.
Exercise 8.4
True (T) or False (F) Statement
1. False
2. True
3. True
4. False
Essay Questions
1. Employer RM8.75
Employee RM2.50
The steps that need to be taken for an effective plan administration are:
The manager is willing to give incentives based on the difference in the
performance of individuals, teams and the overall workforce.
The annual budget has to be sufficient in giving rewards as well as
validating excellent performance.
Indirect cost which is related to administration and the execution of the
incentive plan have to be identified. This includes the cost to develop
performance standards and additional cost for records purposes. Aside
from that, the time used in conveying the incentive plan to employees,
answering questions that arise as well as handling related complaints
have to be considered in the calculation of cost.
Exercise 9.1
1. False
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. False
Exercise 9.2
1. False
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. False
Exercise 9.3
True (T) or False (F) Statements
1. False
2. False
3. True
4. True
5. False
Essay Questions
1. The hot stove method characteristics are such as utilising the warning
system, having an immediate attitude, and being done consistently and not
privately. Through this method, the workers are usually being informed
about the types of punishment that they will receive if they make mistakes
before each problem arises. If the workers are found guilty, punishment
will be immediately carried out so that the worker or other workers can see
the relationship of cause and effect from the mistakes make. In this method,
the implementation of punishment is also being done consistently where
workers who make the same mistake will receive the same punishment.
Next, this method is not personal, meaning the discipline action taken is not
aimed at the workers but more at finding solutions to unpleasant behaviour
problems.
2. A few things that need attention when planning discipline rules include:
Distributed to all workers and cannot assume that they know it;
Needed to be investigated again from time to time;
Explain reasons for each rule;
Done in written form;
Logical;
Exercise 10.1
1. True
2. False
3. False
4. True
5. True
Exercise 10.2
True (T) or False (F) Statements
1. False
2. True
3. True
4. False
5. False
Essay Questions
1. Registrations are usually rejected if the Chief of Pengarah Kesatuan Sekerja
finds:
There are objectives of the establishment against the law;
A part of constitution of working association against the Trade Unions
Act
The name of the working organisation that wants to be established will
give problems in future or is almost the same as other established
organisation or the given name is suspicious; or
The working organisation that wants to be established will be used for
reasons against the law.
Exercise 11.1
1. False
2. True
3. False
4. True
5. True
Exercise 11.2
1. True
2. False
3. True
4. False
5. True
Exercise 11.3
True (T) or False (F) Statements
1. False
2. True
3. False
4. True
5. True
Essay Questions
1. A few steps that can be taken include:
Making the work interesting;
Create a safety committee enrolled by representative workers and the
management side;
Display safety statistics;
Use information boards in the organisation for promoting the culture of
working safely;
2. The following are the ways that employers can use to reduce the rate of
accidents in workplace:
Create a safety and health policy;
Implement all rules and procedures that have been set;
Investigate immediately when accidents happen;
Provide protection tools such as helmets, gloves and so on;
Organise awareness campaigns to reduce accidents from time to time;
Make sure that workplace surroundings are always safe;
Organise a safe work system;
Establish a procedure of reporting and investigating accidents;
Create and provide safety training;
Choose proficient workers;
Incentive system. Workers or departments who can avoid accidents in
the workplace would be rewarded;
Cooperate with government examiners;
Provide safety uniforms and safety tools;
Establish work areas and non-work areas such as dangerous areas;
Provide clear warning signboards such as „smoking is prohibited‰,
„restricted area‰, „be careful‰;
Give ample holiday and rest to workers who need more rest compared
to others;
Get input from workers about their problems; and
Get feedback from workers every time an accident occurs.
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Copyright © Open University Malaysia (OUM)
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OR
Thank you.