Name :

SYED Asnif Ali

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Case Study 1: How to Provide a Safe and Healthy Working Environment to Employees: Malaysian
Manufacturing Perspective

Author(s): Harinee Surya Prakkash

Introduction
The unsafe working environment will give a huge impact on employees who must put themselves at high risk.
Occupational accidents can happen to anyone who is working in any sector, especially whoever did not aware of or
follow the rules and regulations. An occupational accident is referring to uncontrollable events that might causes
harm to anyone at the workplace, worst come to worst it might lead to dead too (Study.com, 2022). When
discussing occupational accidents, the manufacturing company is holding the highest rank according to data
provided by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH). In the year 2020, most companies were
forced to shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The year 2020 can be said that the safest year compared to
the previous 10 years. This is because when looking at the statistics, there is a 19.9% drop in occupational
accidents from the year 2019 to the year 2020. Below graph shows the number of occupational accidents occurs
between the years 2010 – 2020 and occupational accidents according to the sector from the Statistics Department:

(Allison.L, 2021)

Even though the year 2020 holds the title of the safest year, the manufacturing sector still holds first place with the
highest rate of workplace accidents compared to other working sectors. In such circumstances, manufacturing
companies need to take immediate action on how to stop such issues keep happening. As soon as the
manufacturing company became aware of the safety measure, it eventually will provide a safe and healthy working
place to the employees and XYZ Plastic Moulding Manufacturing Sdn. Bhd. was one of them.

This company conducts the manufacturing process of plastic mould by segregating with a few teams to run the
process smoothly. The manufacturing process of plastic mould can divide into 4 categories which are extrusion
moulding, compression moulding, blow moulding and injection moulding. All the manufacturing process above
needs higher-quality technology and services to produce a quality product. Since it required a high variation
technician, problems and issues that need to handle are also high to meet perfectionism.

So, this firm trained to focus more on post-sales service. To maintain its reputation, the firm hires a team called
trial assistance to do the weekly tooling progress reports, and SCAR reports and take all the necessary measures

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just to make sure that the plastic mould that has been produced causes the least possible problem to their
valuable customer. So basically, the firm very concerning about their products rather than providing a safe and
healthy working environment to their employees. In this case study, the authors described are safety weaknesses
applicable in XYZ Plastic Moulding Manufacturing Sdn. Bhd and how they improve the weakness to provide a good
working environment to their customers.

Case study
XYZ Plastic Moulding Manufacturing Sdn. Bhd. is located at Subang Jaya, Selangor and it is a single branch. This
company is specialized in the manufacturing of plastic moulds as per customer request and successfully gained 30
years of experience in this journey of a highly technical industry. Having this much experience in this field by the
company makes them specialists even in making complex moulds. The company could not get this position and
success without their employees. As employees, they should create and provide a safe roof for their employees
who are willing to work for the company to achieve their mission and vision.

In their record-keeping, there are several accidents keep occurring at the production site especially due to the
safety weakness of the company. The primary issue in this company is the uncomfortable working environment
where all the employees need to work in a high heat environment. This occurs because the company do not have
any proper heat absorber in the manufacturing area. One of the employees Alex was affected with heat stroke due
to the excess heat being released into the environment, and perspiration ensues when the heart rate rises to pump
more blood through the exterior body parts and skin (Canadian Centre for occupational health and safety, 2020).
The body is put under more stress because of these changes. To overcome this issue, XYZ management decided to
fix fans at the production site. This helps the employees to work in a less heat environment and it’s a better
decision than nothing. Even though they fix the fans, the best solution will be the heat absorber. The company
could not effort for that due to the high cost and it also needs to incur maintenance costs.

XYZ company was fined RM10,000 due to failing to monitor their employees to wear proper PPE during working at
the manufacturing site. Devan is also one of their employees who oversee working in the chemical department.
Since he never wears his personal safety suit as per instruction and failed to monitor by the supervisor, he was
affected with a chemical burn and one of his fingers was dysfunctional. This incident really makes the
management worried because they lost a quality employee who is an expert in plastic moulding. So, the company
took the initiative to send their supervisor and team leaders for safety training and from the training, they will get
a bigger picture of how to monitor and examine their employees to follow the safety procedure during their work.
In addition, the management come out with a tight regulation where any of the employees who fail to where their
whole safety suit and did not follow the safety procedure their monthly incentives will be deducted. From the
author’s point of view, an effective safety induction must conduct by the XYZ management because an employee
can get a better understanding of safety awareness and their responsibilities during their job. In addition, the
employees will be familiar with how and what they should do and should not do. A safety onboarding session for
new hires also is the best practice that can be done by the XYZ management.

According to an internal report, the cleanliness of the XYZ manufacturing site did not meet the requirement of per
Department of Standard Malaysia. This is proven with many incidents where there will at least one slip and fall
case will occur in a week. This is due to the slick nature of the resin pellets or beads. When employees walk on the
spilt resin pellets or beads will provide them low traction and this makes them slip and fall (United states
department of labor, 2021). The author would recommend XYZ management hire a team for housekeeping. Good
housekeeping will assist organizations in creating a safe working environment, which can result in significant
benefits such as reduced workplace injuries and increased overall productivity. Cleaning up areas with flammable

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materials, such as sawdust and paper, and ensuring that any chemicals are securely kept away, can help prevent
workplace fires. It's also a good idea to double-check that any electrical boxes or wiring have enough clearance and
that no combustible things are stored close.

Sometimes it might be very difficult to identify the cause of certain workplace accidents. If the XYZ management
fails to identify the root cause, then unable to work towards getting a proper solution. The best solution is to work
together with occupational clinicians or hire a team for the clinicians’ department. This team will assist the
organization to examine the workplace and identifying locations where there is a significant risk of employee
injury. This activity assists the organization to focus more on those areas to improve the safeness.

Conclusion
In conclusion, an unsafe working environment is not fair to any individuals who work in the organization. Hence, it
is obligatory that the top management in the XYZ Plastic Moulding Manufacturing company be extra cautious and
be proactive, such as to be an additional protector for employees instead of being a troublemaker and providing
high risk and dangerous working conditions. To effectively meet a good safety measure, the top management
should follow the rules and regulations according to their legislations and SOPs to ensure employees’ safety and
health.

Case Study 02: A Strategic Approach Towards Achieving Employee Retention and Job Satisfaction in
Public Sector

Author(s): Gaithri Chandran

Introduction

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Human Resource plays an important role in any organization both public and private sector. They are responsible in
the selection, staffing, development, compensation, safety and health, and labor relations. This is all linked for
employee’s wellbeing and ensuring the organization treats their employees that benefits both employee and the
organization. Staffing refers to hiring new full time or part time employees and terminating contracts. This includes
salary and other benefits. Development refers to providing training opportunities to enhance employee’s
knowledge and skills. Compensation refers to salary and benefits based on role, performance, and legal
requirements. This includes educational benefits, bonus, rewards, health insurance, retirement plans and
recognitions. Employee compensation includes all forms of pays given to the employees arising from their
employment (Dessler, 2008). This is an important tool used in to attract and retain their valuable assets which
refers to employees in the organization. An ideal compensation policy in an organization encourages their
employees to work harder to benefits the compensations offered and it increases their job satisfaction in their
respective fields.

Public sector is comprised of businesses that are owned, controlled, and funded by government. It is clearly stated
in Article 132 of the Constitution of Malaysia that public services are the armed forces, judicial and legal services,
public services of the Federation, police force, railway services, joint public services mentioned in Article 133, the
public services of each state and the education service. There are 1.3 million civil servants working in public sector
in Malaysia. There are 20 Ministries under the Government of Malaysia. There are two types of commission under
the Government which are Education Service Commission (ESC) and Public Service Commission (PSC). ESC is the
appointing authority for members of the education service in matters of appointment, confirmation of service,
placement in permanent or pensionable posts, promotion, transfer of appointment and permanent transfer of
service and exercise of disciplinary control where else PSC is responsible for the general administration of the
Public Services of Malaysia's Federal Government. It establishes the rules and regulations for the conduct of all
members of the Federal civil service. The Public Service Department (PSD) was established under PSC. The vision of
this organization is “Dynamic and citizen-centric Public Service with high performance and integrity” and the
mission is “Leading the Development of Public Service’s human resource”. PSD acts as human resource manager to
the management and development of high-performing, dynamic, effective, efficient, and fair human resources to
establish an outstanding and people-oriented public sector.

Public sector is comprised of businesses that are owned, controlled, and funded by government. It is clearly stated
in Article 132 of the Constitution of Malaysia that public services are the armed forces, judicial and legal services,
public services of the Federation, police force, railway services, joint public services mentioned in Article 133, the
public services of each state and the education service. There are 1.3 million civil servants working in public sector
in Malaysia. There are 20 Ministries under the Government of Malaysia. There are two types of commission under
the Government which are Education Service Commission (ESC) and Public Service Commission (PSC). ESC is the
appointing authority for members of the education service in matters of appointment, confirmation of service,
placement in permanent or pensionable posts, promotion, transfer of appointment and permanent transfer of
service and exercise of disciplinary control where else PSC is responsible for the general administration of the
Public Services of Malaysia's Federal Government.

It establishes the rules and regulations for the conduct of all members of the Federal civil service. The Public
Service Department (PSD) was established under PSC. The vision of this organization is “Dynamic and citizen-
centric Public Service with high performance and integrity” and the mission is “Leading the Development of Public
Service’s human resource”. PSD acts as human resource manager to the management and development of high-
performing, dynamic, effective, efficient, and fair human resources to establish an outstanding and people-
oriented public sector.

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Case Scenario
Although there are different types of commission in charge, yet public sector encounter employee retention. Public
sector managers have a direct influence on employee retention. This means it depends on the organization how
they treat their employees. In public sector there are few strategies involved to increase employees job satisfaction
and to retain their employees in the services. Presently, there are few basic practices being used in public sector
such as hiring the right person, empower employees, training and development, appreciation, and compensation
benefits.

Compensation in public sector employees plays an important role in attracting qualified workers joining the
government sector and well retaining and increasing their job satisfaction in their respective fields. Compensation
includes financial and non-financial benefits. Financial benefits are bonuses, increase pay and rewards where else
non-financial refers to health benefits, educational benefits, and retirement benefits. This compensation benefits
urges employees to work more efficiently and proficiently. For example, in public sector they are given increase pay
according to their performance. This performance is evaluated every end of the year by their supervisor and the
top management will decide of the increments and those names will be sent to PSD for approval. Besides that,
fully sponsored scholarships are provided to employees to further their studies. This is to encourage and make the
civil servant more knowledgeable and can enhance their working skills which lead towards increasing job
satisfaction and as well meets the organizations goals and objective.

This kind of compensation is used to motivate and retain employees and as well improving the overall effectiveness
of the organization. It also helps employer to worker harder to achieve certain targeted goals to obtain the extra
benefits offered. Compensation benefits both employer and employees. For employer, it lowers the absenteeism
rate where else for employees it creates the happy workplace and increases their job satisfaction. By offering this
kind of benefits, employer will retain and will not exit the public sector.

However Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is one step further which take all the responsibility of
Human Resource Management and align them with overall organization goals and objectives which consist of
Vision, Mission, goals, and values. It’s a process that creates a link between the company’s strategic goals and the
management of human capital. Human capital is the collective value of the capabilities, knowledge, skills, life
experiences, and motivation of an organization’s workforce. In this regard, the HRM function can be thought of as
having six menus from which firms can pick out the most appropriate practices: job analysis/design, recruitment
and selection, training and development, performance management, pay structure/incentives/benefits and labor
relations.
These six menus are associated with productivity.
There are many differences and challenges in the public sector compared to private sectors. First, the bureaucracy
binds in the public sector. This refers to the recruitment of the employees into public sector. There are many layers
compared to private sector. For example, hard to find job listing, slow response time makes employee who has well
knowledge and skills to withdraw from public sector.

Second, the pay structure. In public sector the pay is based on grades, seniority and time based. In public sector
there are various position assigned with different grades and level and that differentiates the pay structure. For
example, a clerk position is considered a lower grade compared to managerial level in an organization. Besides
that, all employees will be compensated in term of seniority. This refers to incremental salary scales based on
seniority and grades as well where else in private sector their pay is based on job performance, skills, and
knowledge. There are advantage and disadvantage in incremental salary scale. Linking pay increase helps
employees the length of service on the job and reduces turnover where else the disadvantages are since its time
based pay it develops incompetent or lazy civil servant to get the same raise as productivity and energetic

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employees. This will lower the motivation of good employees and will affect the productivity and efficiencies in the
public sector.

Third, on- the job opportunities. This refers to promotion and increased compensation. This is related to job
satisfaction because an employee’s performance is based on how much opportunities such as training, and
development are being offered in enhance and learning new skills and knowledge. In public sector budget is always
an issue. This makes employee to feel demotivated and will not be happy to work in public sector and it would lead
to issues like turnover. Other factors that contribute to employee turnover include terminations for poor
performance, job dissatisfaction, job change, relocation, downsizing, medical issues, and retirement. This is where
Human Resource Department plays an important role in identifying the skilled employees and offer them this
additional compensation where they can send their employees overseas to obtain and enhance their skills and
knowledge.

Besides that, motivation had become a rather slow-paced factor in the public service which affects the work
performance and productivity. Communication between departments and high position individual tends to be
deficient and minimal. For example, not all top bosses communicate with their employees. This makes employees
feel demotivated and not appreciated and as well decrease their job satisfaction. Now days employees or co-
worker’s scared to confront of their bosses because they don’t communicate each other. Many problems like
disciplinary or job-related issues arise when there is communication breakdown. Employees don’t feel happy to
work and they will work in silo which could even lead into mental stress and depressions. Employees who
experience high levels of job strain, communicate poorly, make mistakes, and create conflicts, which add up to the
already high job demands.

Recommendation
There are many steps to tackle these issues. First, the role of Human Resource Management. Functions of HRM
have been considered strategic because they are often theoretically related to overall organizational performance.
They should identify which types of reward should be given to employees in the public sector. There are two types
of rewards which are Intrinsic reward and extrinsic reward. Intrinsic reward refers to praising for completing a
project given where else Extrinsic reward refers to are tangible, having the form of both monetary and
nonmonetary. Rewards in this organization refers to bonus, promotion, sponsored education fees and many other
more. This makes the employee feels more confident and happier at the workplace. It’s as a token of appreciation
for them because of their work. This increases their commitment towards their job and indirectly they will perform
even better towards achieving the organization goals. Besides that, they will be more focused on the job and will
indirectly compete with other employee to gain the benefits offered in the organization. These compensations
keep the workforce motivated to achieve more. Motivated employees are the sign of the prosperity which means
it creates a good impression to public sector.

Second, pay for performance is a compensation strategy that uses salary, bonuses, and other benefits to directly
incentivize employee performance. Employee performance usually measured by qualitative evaluations such as
performance appraisals. Its closely connected with the high-performance culture which encourages employees and
manager to stretch and the goals and to pay the best employees more than others. Training and development are
an essential part of the pay for performance concept as it involves budgets that should be focused on employee in
developing their managerial and leadership skills and competencies. The most used pay for performance model is
individual incentive plans where this plans tie pays increases to individual levels, quantitative performance
measures. Individual incentives have positive effects on individual employee performance. Second is merit pay
based. Merit pay is an approach to compensation that rewards higher performing employees with additional pay,
sometimes called incentive pay. It is a tool that employers can use to make sure that their best-performing
employees feel as if they are adequately compensated for their contribution. There are also disadvantage of pay

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for performance. Performance based pay disadvantages include the possibility of contention among employees.
Employees who are not earning bonuses can show jealousy toward those who are earning performance bonuses.
Jealousy and contention create hostile work environments, which can reduce productivity. Therefore, there are pro
and cons on pay for performance, but the organization is the one who decides how to make it more attractive so
that it benefits both parties.

Besides that, Variable compensation, also known as variable, pay, is an incentive on top of a base salary can be
used to motivate and retain employees. Variable pay is based on employee performance. For example, if an
employee meets the target or goals in the specific division or department, they are rewarded with this variable pay
incentives. Their morale remains high, and their job satisfaction levels increase. High morale ensures that
employees are motivated enough to come to work every day and deliver work to the best of their abilities.

Creating more creative benefits is also one of the ways to retain and increase job satisfaction in public sector. There
are benefits given yet creating benefits for example, a home after retirement, online yoga, or exercise classes
during working hour, paid off for voluntary services like helping the need, points system which can be trade off
with money, sending good employees overseas to work and experience their nature of work and so on. By creating
new benefits, employee will tend to perform better and even will compete employee to gain the benefits and this
increases their job satisfaction and as well will create a new image to public regarding the efficiency of public
sector.

Equity of fairness should be implemented in the public sector. It means there should be a balanced between
employees’ contribution and remuneration compared to others. They need to be treated fairly for example top
management or top bosses must identify employees who are hardworking, less hardworking, responsible, and so
on. They should know how to differentiate their employees rather than treat everyone as equal. This will make the
employee to be comfortable and happy to work at their workplace and this will indirectly create job satisfaction
and as well increase the productivity in an organization. This will help the top management to identify how many
employees contribute to their team success and the organization.

Another way to improve job satisfaction is prioritize mental and physical well-being of employees. Many
organizations in public sector have a culture of workaholism that contributes to stress and burnout which will
affect their health. Organization must focus on employee’s wellbeing for example conduct yoga classes every week,
Zumba classes and sports activity like badminton, football and so on. By doing this this will not only improve their
health but also creates a good network and relationship among employer and employees.
This will make things easier and creates a health and good environment and therefore contributes to job
satisfaction and they will retain in public sector.
Therefore, ways to improve and attract employees should be identified and implemented from time to time to
create a health and harmony workplace.

Conclusion
As a conclusion, by offering this kind of compensation it not only retains employee or create job satisfaction, but it
helps to create a good impression to people about the public sector. Therefore, compensation is an important key
factor in retaining and as well to increase job performance in the organization.

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