SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

SEMESTER C

YEAR 2020 / 2021

FINAL EXAM

BBMN 3213 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

DATE : 24/01/21 8.00PM-11.00PM DURATION : 3 HOURS

BACHELOR BA (HONS) IN MARKETING

BBA (HONS) IN TOURISM MANAGEMENT
BACHELOR IN ACCOUNTING (HONOURS)
BACHELOR BA (HONS) IN FINANCE & INVESTMENT
BACHELOR OF PROPERTY MANAGEMENT (HONOURS)
BBA (HONOURS) IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (HONOURS)

YEAR THREE

Student’s Name: LIM JEI YIN

Student’s ID: B170219B

Instructions to Candidates:

Answer ALL questions. Each question contributes 25 marks.

Standard format: Times New Roman (12pt) or Arial (11pt), 1.5 spacing, 1” margin, A4,
Microsoft Word document.

For the submission of your answers, you are required to use this page as your cover page.
Name the document with the following file name:
<student’s ID>_<subject code>_FINAL EXAM
for example, B100000A_BBMN3213_FINAL EXAM.

Submission date: By 24th JANUARY 2021, 11:00pm through SUCCM e-learning portal.
Deadline for submission of this examination is to be strictly adhered to. Late submission will
NOT be accepted and be awarded ZERO (0) mark. Any students that are caught plagiarising
or letting part or whole of their work to be plagiarised will be penalised, with all the students
involved be awarded ZERO (0) mark.

Question Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total
Number
Marks
obtained

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Q1. (a) In order to attract job seekers to apply, identify TWO (2) of methods that can
be used for the position of Human Resource Executive. (10 marks)

Answer:

In order to attract job seekers to apply for the position of Human Resource Executive, we
can apply both internal recruiting and external recruiting.

Internal recruitment means that the firm will fill the vacancy existed from within its
existing workforce. The method of internal recruiting which is suitable for this position will
be current-employee referrals.

Current-employee referrals can bring the company with reliable source of people to fill in
the vacancies. This is because the source of people are those acquaintances, friends and
family members of current employees.

Word-of-mouth referrals and discussion can help the company to add in the attractiveness
positively to apply the job. Furthermore, will lead to more application decisions by those
referred.

External recruitment happens when the company fill the vacancy existed from any
suitable applicant outside the business. The method of external recruiting which is suitable
for this position will be internal recruiting.

Internet recruiting is a way that the company looks for job seekers and individuals
suitable for the position through online recruitment notice. It can be done by posting
recruitment notice on the internet job boards, professional career websites and employer web
sites.

Internet job board is an online tool designed for job advertisements, and job postings. It
has the functions related to searching for a job such as posting resumes, gathering industry
and company information and pursuing offerings in continuing education. Information such
as job title, responsibilities, salary, location, benefits and application requirements can be
seen clearly. Top 10 Malaysian job websites are JobsDB.com, mudah.my, Jobstreet, linkedin,
Jora, Recruit.net, neuvoo, Splashfind, expat.com and JobsCentral.

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Professional career website is a resource that is commonly used by employers and

candidate. The career websites are designed in a way that the employers can post their open
position to an active candidate pool. For example, website of Ministry of Human Resources.

The company can also conduct internet recruiting by posting job related information on
social media and networking such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
This is because there are wide and active users on those website, the company could increase
job visibility. The company can also create better employer brand which portray the company
image as an attractive place to work. The social media and networking also helps to lower the
cost of recruiting compared to traditional recruitment method.

(b) Give FIVE (5) selection techniques would be suitable when an employer
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wants to hire a graduate engineer. (5 marks)

Answer:

If a company wanted to hire a graduate engineer, there are some selection techniques
to help the company to screen and select the suitable candidates to fill in the vacancy.

Firstly, realistic job preview. This is a process where the company will give the job
applicant an accurate picture of the organizational realities of the job. This can effectively
prevent the development of unrealistic job expectations among the applicants that will leads
to disenchantment, dissatisfaction, and turnover in new employees.

Secondly, pre-employment screening. This techniques include pre-screening

interview and electronic screening. The purpose of pre-employment screening to verify the
minimum qualifications of the applicants. The use of computer software in reviewing
resumes and application forms received during recruitment and selection process can be
helpful in screening the candidates.

Thirdly, application forms. The purpose of application is to record of applicant’s

interest in the job. The applications can provides a profile of the applicant for basic record of
the company. It can used to evaluate effectiveness of the selection process afterwards. The
tool used in applications usually is resumes. Resumes are applications for equal employment
opportunity purposes. The resumes should be retained for at least three years.

Fourthly, the company should conduct selection testing which are ability tests. The
examples of ability tests suitable for engineer include cognitive test, situational judgement
tests and work sample test. Cognitive ability test is to measure an individual’s thinking,
memory, reasoning, verbal and mathematical abilities. Situational judgment test will test a
person’s judgment in work settings. Work sample test will require the applicant to perform a
simulated task that is a specified part of the target job.

Lastly, structured interview. Structured interview is very suitable for professional job
such as engineer. It uses a set of standardized questions so that comparisons can be made
easily.

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(c) Differentiate with example THREE (3) benefits of an employment contract
which must comply with the Employment Act (EA) and TWO (2) benefits not
regulated by law. (10 marks)
[Total: 25 marks]

Answers:

There are several benefits if the employment contract must comply with the law.

Firstly, the employment contracts helps the business owners to save money and costs.
It will reduce the amount of overtime paid and amount of holiday pay through clearly
clarification of overtime benefits and amount of holidays that are available for the workers. It
gives the company to have control over when the staff can have holidays. It also protect the
reputation of the company through appropriate policies such as giving maternity holiday to
the female workers that will gain reputation of female friendly which become more important
nowadays as gender equality is gaining more and more attention from public.

Secondly, it helps the company to protect sensitive information. There are some roles
which involve handling of sensitive or confidential information in certain company. A
confidentiality clause will ensure sensitive information, which is important and high value for
the competitors will not be leaked. The employee will not able to use the information when
they wanted to compete with the company.

Thirdly, it gives employee a form of job security. An employment contract that

comply with the law should include clear details of the term of employment. Which it clearly
states how long an employee is contracted to work for the company. This will guarantees job
security for employees as long as they did not violate the terms of the contract.

There are some benefits if not regulated by law.

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Firstly, working hours can be more flexible. The employees and employers can
discuss and design suitable working hours and systems. For example, the current working
hours maximum regulated by laws is 48 hours maximum per week. In foreign country, there
is a working hours system which allows the to work more than 56 hours in a week and take
longer holiday in the next week. But it cannot be done in Malaysia when needs to comply
with the law.

Secondly, the compensation package can be more flexible as well. The workers and
employers can discuss a different compensation package based on their performance. For
example, the employers may give salary when they hits the target, the employees can choose
to receive the offer or not and even have the freedom to choose to receive the offer from
another employers.

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Q2. (a) Training is a major financial investment for the employer. Outline the FIVE
(5) steps in organizing a training programme to ensure that the training
programme could be effective. (10 marks)

Answer:

Training is an important and vital process for the organization whereby the employees
could acquire capabilities to aid in the achievement of organization goals.

First step, we need to conduct analysis of training needs. This can be done by doing
organizational analysis, job analysis and individual analysis. In order to make sure that the
training programmes are effective, we need to begin with assessment to identify is there any
gaps between existing training and future needs of the company.

Organizational analysis will help the company to analyse the effectiveness of the
company as a whole and identify is there any discrepancies. This is to uncover the
competencies, knowledge and skills that are needed. Organizational analysis will take into
external factors such as economy, environmental policies, technological advances and
changing workforce demographics.

For task analysis, this will gather information about a particular job function. This
analysis identifies the key tasks, competencies and skills required to perform the job.

For individual analysis, this involves how an employee discover how well they are
performing. This type of analysis will determine the individual’s existing skills and
competencies, their learning styles and capacity for new work.

The source of information used in training needs assessment includes observations,

complaints, tests, records, questionnaires, performance appraisals and job knowledge tools.

Second step, we need to establish training objectives and priorities. The types of
training objectives must include knowledge, skill and attitude. The previous analysis will

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identify the gaps in current training initiatives and employee skill sets. The gaps should be
prioritized and turned into the organization’s training objectives.

Third step, is to create training action plan. The action plan should includes learning
theories, materials and other training content. Resources and training delivery methods
should also be stated clearly. The common training methods include on-the-job training (JT),
classroom teaching, e-learning, video training, simulations, conferences and workshops.
While developing the plan, the participants’ learning styles needed to be considered. There
are three types of learning styles which are auditory learners, tactile learners and visual
learners.

Fourth step, is to implement training program. The training can be done by either
internal training or external training. Internal training is the series of training that occurs
through interactions and feedback among employees. Internal training can be done by
informal training, on-the-job training and cross training. External training can be done by
outsourcing training such as school-to-work transition, apprentice training and internship. E-
learning is also considered as external training as well.

Lastly, we need to evaluate and revise the training. The training program should be
monitored gradually even it had ended. The entire program should be evaluated to determine
whether it was successful or met training objectives. Feedback should be obtained from all
the stakeholders such as instructor and trainees. The training evaluation can be done in
several methods such as cost-benefit analysis, return on investment (ROI) analysis.

(b) There exists a wide range of methods available to the trainer to conduct
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training programme. However, the choice of methods will depend on a number
of factors. Provide FIVE (5) factors. (10 marks)

Answer:

There are several factors that we should consider when choosing the training
methods.

Firstly, the number of trainees. We need to know that the smaller the group of
trainees, the training programme can be more effective as the trainer able to focus on the
individuals and pay attention on their achievement.

Secondly, the training resources and costs. The cost can affect the companies for
choosing to train their employees internally or externally. Companies might avoid hiring
outside resources to conduct employee training as it might be more expensive and did not fit
to the organization culture.

Thirdly, the nature of training. The nature of training delivery is vital to the overall
success for both companies and employees. The training process usually is continuous in
nature and learned all the time in many careers. Properly trained employees waste less time,
money and resources.

Fourthly, self-paced or guided. These two methods of training has different

benefits and suitable for different groups of employees. Self-paced training can be delivered
to the employees more easily and quicker to large groups of trainers. Self-paced learning also
allows more constant flow of information. Whereas, guided learning follows a predefined
time box. There will be a start date and due date for assignments assigned.

Lastly, the time allotted. The time allotted is related to the cost of the company in
training the employees. The time assigned for every training project needed to be suitable for
the employees and also be cost-benefited to the company. If the time assigned is too short, the
employees might not be able to pick up the skills. Whereas, when the time is too long, it can
be costly for the company.

(c) Although good trainers come in all shapes and sizes, certain characteristics are
commonly found in all effective trainers. State FIVE (5) kind of characteristic
needed to become successful trainers? (5 marks)
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[Total: 25 marks]

Answer:

In order to become successful trainers, he or she needs to be

(a) patient, which has the ability to listen and understand the needs of the learner.
(b) be organized, which he or she needs to take time to plan training materials and
delivery carefully.
(c) encourage engagement, which turns the training into a two-way street
(d) build fit-for-purpose content, which plan training programs that meet training goals
and create seamless training experiences.
(e) self-improvement.

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Q3. (a) Performance management is the systematic process by which the Department
of Human Resource involves its employees, as individuals and members of a
group, in improving organizational effectiveness in the accomplishment of
agency mission and goals. Determine the role of Performance Management in
the development of employees. (10 marks)

Answer:

There are several role of performance management in developing the employees.

Firstly, make clear what the organization expects. Setting clear expectation can help
to eliminate and reduce confusion. The opportunities of employees being successful can be
increased in achieving the goals set for them. The performance management will be specific
and clear to what the expectations are and how it will be measured by the company.

Secondly, provide performance information to employees. The employees will go

through performance review process. Managers will evaluate them for promotion, salary
increases or transfer in the same, consistent manner.

Thirdly, identify areas of success and needed development. The areas of success and
needed development will help to improve personal productivity and attain valuable skills for
the employees. By focusing on those areas, the employees can be more productive,
empathetic and cooperative.

Fourthly, document performance for personnel records. Documentation is a written

account of disciplinary actions, positive contributions, reward and recognition, failure and
success to accomplish requirements and goals. The company could have better understanding
the skillset of employees. Maintaining these records allows the company to preserve a written
history of the happenings and discussions that occurred around any specific event.

(b) Examine the differences between employee performance management and

performance appraisal. . (10 marks)

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Answer:

There are some differences between performance management and performance

appraisal.

Firstly, performance management is about actually helping an employee to develop

and increase his performance and productivity. Whereas, the performance appraisal evaluates
the actual performance of the employee but it does not focus on the employee’s performance
productivity.

Secondly, performance management looks at an employee’s performance keeping in

mind the present and the future. Whereas, the performance appraisal evaluates the
performance of employee based on how he has performed in the immediate past.

Thirdly, performance management proactively manages performance of employee

and ensures that the employee has reached every goals. Whereas, the performance appraisal
evaluates the performance of employee objectively for that year and give a final feedback to
the employee.

Fourthly, performance management has a holistic approach that evaluates the

relationship between the employee and the organization. However, the performance appraisal
is individualistic in nature and pertains to the employee and his past performance.

Fifthly, performance management is very dynamic because it involves a lot of dialog

between the employee and the senior managers. Whereas, the performance appraisal are very
linear in terms of the communication because it has a very top down approach towards
employee performance.

Lastly, performance management is a continuous ongoing process by giving real time

instant performance reviews. However, the performance appraisal system facilitates
performance appraisals only once or twice a year.

(c) It is the responsibility of the human resource department to choose an

appropriate system of performance appraisal, train individual managers in its
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use and ensure proper implementation of the system. Effective appraisal
systems have certain characteristics. List FIVE (5) characteristics.
(5 marks)
[Total: 25 marks]

Answers：

The five characteristics of effective performance appraisal system are clear appraisal
objectives, accurate and reliable data, well-defined performance criteria, less time consuming
and continuous feedback.

Q4. (a) Review on the following statement “Trade unions in Malaysia are not strong
and appear to be getting weaker”. (10 marks)

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Answers:

In Malaysia, the trade unions is getting weaker as the number of unions and unionised
workers are steadily decreasing.

According to the Department of Trade Union Affairs, only six percent of the workers
in Malaysia are currently union members.

Other than that, Malaysian trade union and labour laws are far short of minimum
international standards. This gives lesser support and power to the trade unions. Malaysia has
a big space and should have make improvement and amendments to labour laws. This has
make a obstacle for Malaysia to join in Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPPA) when
the human rights and worker rights standard in Malaysia is minimum.

Besides, when there are violations of worker rights, the unions will not choose to
organize campaigns against the employers. Instead, they will choose to lodge complaints to
related government institutions which will brings court actions that may last for many years.
This has caused the employees to retreat as they wanted to have quicker and cheaper actions
when having dispute with the employers. This had reduce the impact and lower the position
of Trade Unions in the heart and mind of the workers in Malaysia.

Even when they win the court case, the remedies are weak which has no actual impact
on employers that will leads to changes. The employers will be happy as their business and
profits will not be affected. The only victims will only be workers and unions.

Next, the unions in Malaysia are surviving in a limited space. There are limitations
makes them to surviving with a strong adherence to the law even the law is unjust.

Lastly, the absence of progressive worker leaders also allows the continuing erosion
of worker and trade union rights. The current leaders seems to worry about the union de-
registration and financial security both themselves and the workers.

(b) Discuss the system provided under the industrial relations laws to settle trade
disputes as speedily as possible. (10 marks)

Answer:

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The system used to settle trade disputes is collective bargaining.

Collective bargaining is used by labour unions to negotiate with employers in order to

improve the terms and conditions of service being offered to their members.

The process of collective bargaining is as bellow:

Firstly, the union must get recognition from the employer which use Form A.

Secondly, the union needs to write a proposal for a collective agreement and request
the company to begin negotiating over its proposal.

Thirdly, the company must reply to the invitation within 14 days and set a day for
negotiation. If fail, a trade disputes will exists.

Fourthly, the negotiation will begin to reach the agreement with the conditions of
minimum 3 years as valid contract.

If the negotiation fail, the unsolved trade dispute may referred to the industrial
relation offer for conciliation.

(c) A contract of employment between an employer and employee can be for a

fixed period of time, typically ranging from six months to two years, at the end
of which neither party need take any action or give notice. The contract

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automatically expires when the contract periods ends. Identify FIVE (5) types
of contract is typically offered. (5 marks)
[Total: 25 marks]

Answers:

Five types of employment contract are agency contracts, full-time contracts, part-time
contracts, fixed-term contracts and temporary contracts.

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