Question 1

On-the-job training has been widely practiced but has three major drawbacks. The

three major drawbacks will affect the three aspects; the trainer, the trainee, and the company.

To being with, the major drawback affecting the trainer would be the disturbance

caused. On the job method causes disturbance to the trainers focus and commitment.

Trainers assigned to the trainee are not full time trainers. Assuming that they are full-time

trainers, the problem would arise at the practicality of the training itself. Hence, most of the

time, the trainers have their own default job portfolio and KPI to achieve. With that itself, the

focus of the trainer would primarily be their default job rather than the training process itself.

In fact, the on-the-job programme would easily be a secondary focus that garners lesser

commitment towards the trainee. Creating multiple focuses for the trainer would create

disturbances that would possible affect the trainers default work performances and also the

training quality itself. Furthermore, the trainer personally may or may not be equipped with

the training capabilities to conduct an on-the-job training. This may be harmful to not only

the training process but also the trainee too. (Durham 2014).

The second major drawback would be the trainee. As previously mentioned, the

training quality is jeopardized. This would be a setback to the trainee as the trainee would be

exposed to the way things have been done while not the way things should be done. In

addition to that, there will be a lack of understanding of the problem but only exposed to the

supposed response to it rather than the possible solutions to it. In other words, the

reactiveness is taught rather than being proactive. Prior to that, on-the-job training is done in

a tight timeframe. The trainer has no choice but to intensify each of the training regimes and

puts the training effectiveness in question. Ultimately it puts the trainee quality in question.

(Ubong 2007)
 Last but not least would be the drawback to the company. On-the-job training is an

informal method that puts the company in a major risk. This is because it increases not only

the running costs but also the production quality. A point to take concern would be the errors

that occur in on-the-job trainings which would cause a drop in either product quality, delay in

product deliverance, and in worst cases the dissatisfaction of customers. On top of that, there

are high chances that unwanted bad habits by the trainers are inherited by the trainees and

carried on. Due to the lack of training benchmarks and quality, the trainees produced may not

be of quality. This would cause a waste of resources not only monetary but also time spent to

nurture trainees which do not perform for the job in the end(Woon 2015).

In summary of the major setbacks, they are setbacks of disturbance towards the

trainer, jeopardized training quality to the trainee, and unnecessary costings towards the

company. Having said so, most companies recognize these setbacks and produce counter

measures. The first counter measure is arranging trainings for the trainers themselves. A very

common corporate strategy is to send the trainers to training sessions called Train-The-

Trainer to enable the trainers to possess training qualities.(al. 2009), (Avista 2015).

The training quality can also be improved with a fixed benchmark from the top

management down to ensure the core values and key topics are covered during the on-the-job

training. This is also a common practice to have checklists for the trainers involved in On-

The-Job trainings. This method would help in ensuring the training quality is on track and the

growths of the trainees are notable. Having the checklist would also ensure there will be a

more structured and guided training regime for the trainees during their On-The-Job training.

Last but not least, most the risk of failures of On-The-Job training programmes are

minimized by allowing trainees to handle only the lest complicated and more repetitive tasks.
This will create lesser risks of error and also lesser implications towards the product quality

or the customer satisfaction.

Question 2 A

Performance management is the process of identifying, measuring, and developing the

performance of the human resources in an organization. Performance appraisal is the ongoing

process of evaluating the employee performance.

In comparisons between two of the mentioned, the first one would be the process.

Performance appraisals are an assessment which is from the top superiors downwards to the

lower level employees. Furthermore, the process of the appraisals is designed and controlled

by the HR department. Performance management on the other hand is a joint dialogue

between multiple parties, particularly line managers to nurture the performance and talent.

Therefore, the process itself is owned by the line managers. Besides that, performance

appraisals are the singular review of work effort and KPIs in a fiscal year. It focuses on the

quantitative aspects of performances. On the other hand, performance management is a

continuous process of one or more reviews involving objective planning, competency

reviews, and face-to-face planning. The focus is more on the qualitative aspects of

performances. Partly due to this, performance appraisals are based on a more monolithic

system whereas performance management contains flexibility; the difference in management

whereby the former is managed by command while the latter is managed by agreement. In

most performance appraisals, the results are justified on agreed benchmarks which then

would also affect the salary or bonus. In comparison, performance management does not

relate to monetary matters but rather on the completion of skills, abilities, and ultimately

achievements that are deemed success.

Question 2B

The first tool commonly used in appraisal process is written essays. This method is a

simple method which requires great deal of writing and language ability. However, the

mentioned two abilities also are the determinants of the appraisal results. In reality, this

method would not be suitable for most organisations.

The second technique commonly used for performance appraisals is Critical Incident

Method. This method records samples of an employees good and bad performances. The

record is then related to the performance objectives or key performance index as per mutually

agreed; line manager and employee. This technique requires a lot of effort particularly in the

precise observation and recording of the employees sample performances to determine the

quality. Hence, it is subjective to human perception and may involve human bias elements.

The third technique used would be the Graphic Rating Scale (GRS). Through GRS, a

series of traits are listed out. The traits are those that the company would presume as

significant for the work performance to be effective. Shortly after that, the person in charge

would rate the employee based on this lists and judge on how well the employee has

exhibited the listed traits.

Question 3

First and foremost, as the Health and Safety Manager, the main importance is to

revolve around internationally recognized certifications which in this case would be the

Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Services (OHSAS) 18001. OHSAS 18001 is a

safety management system which provides a framework to identify any danger towards

health risks. It is also to reduce the potential of an accident occurring while being legally

compliance. All this ultimately would ensure the overall performance of the organisation to

improve through OHSAS 18001. The implementation of OHSAS 18001 would then ensure

that the amount of labour is justified and there will legally be no abuse of labour. It would

also provide rules and effective prevention procedures to ensure the production environment

to be safe physically and mentally.

Quite clearly, with a manufacturing production of 24 hours, the intensity has taken its

toll on the employees. This results to absenteeism. In efforts to tackle this matter, there are a

few aspects of focus beginning with improving the mental state of the employees by the

maintenance of work life balance. With a production that is high paced of which is

continuous, the amount of stress is huge. Hence, there is a need for the H&S Manager to

create strategies that will recompense their tolerance of such stress. These strategies can come

in rewarding systems or may come in working time policies. Through such policies, the stress

level can be managed.

After efforts to improve the mental state, efforts must be focused on the physical state

of the employees too. There are various ways of promoting the physical state and one of them

would be by creating health and wellness programmes. These programmes can involve gym

participations or daily diet recommendations. Furthermore, there is a need to also maintain

employee motivation. Due to the continuous repetitive work, motivation may decrease easily.
Hence, as the H&S manager, the rotation of job responsibilities and work shifts is a good way

to maintain work motivation.

In efforts to project commitment on promoting health and safety, as the H&S

Manager, promoting fitness and safety in the organisation must involve certain level of

encouragement. These encouragements are such as financial aids to medical programmes and

also seminars to raise awareness. Periodical compulsory medical check-up can be

implemented. These initiatives will also improve the mental motivation of the employees.

Last but not least is the effort of creating the environment to be safe and secure for the

employees to work at according to the OHSAS 18001 standards. In the manufacturing area,

the facilities have to be secure to be used. This would also mean proper periodical

maintenance and equipment calibration. In addition to that, the medical kits should be

available when needed.

Question 4 A

As identified by Bateman and Snell (1999), the general reasons for resistance to

change are inertia, timing, self-interest, and peer pressure.

Inertia is the resistance of moving against the changing motion. It is further explained

in sense that formerly, the person is in their comfortable zone. Any change beyond that moves

their stationary conditions to an uncomfortable situation. That then affects the persons status

quo which becomes the reason for resisting a change. The former conditions have been

accustomed and changing causes the affected person to have to pay a certain price. This price

comes in terms of effort, time, and also new adaptions. Hence, the resistance would appear to

reproduce the previous state of comfort and at that status quo.

Also, resistance is formed when the change is introduced during the wrong timing.

The mentioned timing is whereby the people are not receptive. In a situation whereby there

are high tensions due to various reasons such as job load, changes may not come as pleasant.

Also, in situations when the people are unhappy, changes will be negatively accepted. All of

such would represent a wrong timing and any implementation of changes will result in

resistance.

Besides that, the resistance can occur due to the existence of self-interests rather than

the interests of the company. Hence, the change may be benefitting the entire organisation it

comes to the disadvantage of their personal best interests. Hence, it generates a resistance

response. To this matter, the individuals possess a scale to gauge what is the cost of change. If

the costs do not overcome their personal benefits, it will not generate resistance. On the

contrary, if the costs required are above the personal benefits, it will cause a resistance.
 Last but not least, one of the reasons for resistance is due to peer pressure. Peer

pressure has been a main factor in most resistance. Peer pressure is a very dangerous thing as

not all individuals sincerely are against the change. It may be of a group of people that, due to

the mentioned reasons, resist changes. This group would then proceed to influencing other

individuals that may not resist changes. These influences gather momentum of a larger group

to resist the change.

Question 4 B

With reference to the Bateman and Zeithaml model, there are stages to handle change. The

three main stages to motivate people to change would begin with unfreezing, moving, and

refreezing.

The unfreezing stage would be a diagnosis stage. At this stage, all the facts with

regards to the present situation is laid and clarified. A process called performance gap is also

done to obtain the difference between the intended changed situation and the current

situation. The performance gap process can be done for the whole company, inter

departments or even just among the singular department.

After the unfreezing stage would be the moving stage. The moving stage is whereby

the intended people for change are being shifted towards the change. This can only happen by

beginning with the vision of this change. The future state of the organization is clearly

conveyed to everyone with the details on the matters that requires changes, bringing an

expected effort, and also the elements that will remain. By doing so, certain sort of stability

can be maintained.

Last but not least is the refreezing stage. In this stage, all proposed changes are

implemented. This would involve the injection of resources required. It would also involve

the injection of enthusiasm to the changes implemented. This is to ensure the change will

remain and strengthened.

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