QUESTION 1: Sun Superstores management faces increasing dissatisfaction from their employees.

From which they are concerned that it will affect its reputations as an Employer of choice leading to the withdrawal of potential candidates for their expansion plan in the next 2 years. Furthermore, with the increasing trend of companies promoting family-friendly working environment, failure to attract high quality candidates may in turn lower the level of customer service provided by Sun Superstore. Hence, it is crucial for Sun Superstore to address the dissatisfaction of its employees so as to retain and attract the potential ones. Below are the issues that lead to the employees dissatisfaction:
a) Employees family life and work-life are regarded separately i.

Lack of Paternity leave

b) HR policy are deemed to be discriminatory fewer women in supervisory role c) Unacceptable No Pay Leave (NPL) policy adopted d) Lack of education support or subsidies e) Lack of Childcare related services

Below are the proposed recommendations in resolving the employees dissatisfaction:

a) Employees family life and work- life are regarded separately

Singaporeans lifestyle has changed over the years. Work-Life Balance has become one of the key expectations in any employment. There is a growing trend that employees who does not have a work-live balance resulted in lower work productivity and higher divorce rate. (Appendix A) Thus, if Sun Superstore remained a non pro-family working environment, it will lose its competitive edge in this intensive labour competition. Sun Superstore could consider implementing the following: (1) Family-friendly schemes Family-friendly schemes aid workers to balance the demand of work and personal life especially in dealing with family obligation. Such schemes could include providing infrastructure like the lactation room (for women); paternity leave and family leave increase family time.

Page 1 of 25

Some other proposals would be to take into consideration of what the government is encouraging. They are as follows: (1) Medical/insurance coverage for family, (2) time-off granted for more family time. This will not only address the discontent of no paternity leave but also let the employees to know that this is how much Sun Superstore cared for towards their family members especially with the high number of employees with young children. With the provision of basic medical coverage, it also assists employees in loading off the financial burden in supporting the medical expenses with the increasing elderly at home. The downside of these benefits would be the cost involved to extent its benefits to their family members as well. However, this is believed to be justifiable from the increased in employees productivity and loyalty towards Sun Superstore. (2) Flexi Benefit for Work-Life Balance As the name suggest, the idea is adopted from the Flexi Benefit (One of the Compensation and Benefits Schemes). This recommendation is to counteract the problem on high cost incurred when implementing WorkLife Balance. There are many types of Work-Life Benefits a company can adopt. However, different employees have different needs. For example: i) Single and taking part time study prefer study leave over childcare leaves. ii) Married prefer childcare related benefits over recreation club membership Hence, Sun Superstore could introduce flexi benefit to assist employees in managing their WorkLife Balance but only entitle the employees with what they have selected. Upon doing so, individual employees needs are fulfilled. On the other hand, Sun Superstore can save cost while achieving Work-Life Balance by providing the option to choose the benefits according to their needs. However, the managing of such flexibility in benefits differentiate from one employee to another is generally more time consuming due to the customization elements.

Page 2 of 25

Overall, upon implementing the above, it is believed to assist Sun Superstore in achieving the following positive outcomes:

Attracts and retains employees Cuts absenteeism and tardiness caused by unexpected family commitment Improves the quality of employees work and productivity Improves morale by demonstrating that the employer cares about employees

b) HR policy are deemed to be discriminatory fewer women in supervisory role The discriminatory feeling from employee on fewer women holding supervisory role can be rectified through a fair promotion system.

Promotion should be based on employees proven merits. In order for a promotion system to be deemed as fair for all employees, Sun Superstore could adopt a 360 degree performance appraisals system. A 360 Degree Feedback is a system or process in which employees receive confidential, anonymous feedback from the people who work around them. This typically includes the employee's manager, peers, and direct reports. [CustomInsight.com, 2011]

The use of such feedback system encourages supervisors of different genders and different backgrounds to evaluate an employees performance. This can help create diverse viewpoints about an employee's job performance and worthiness for promotion that are demonstrated to be fair than gender discriminatory. On the other hand, the cons of implementing such performance appraisal system would be that it is very time consuming since it involves various parties for each employee. Furthermore, it may threaten the confidentiality level. [Shtmwiki, 2007]

c) Unacceptable No Pay Leave (NPL) policy adopted The policy of NPL being accepted only in the case of death of immediate family in Sun superstore will lead to displeasure of the employees as they would feel that their family needs are not met. With the increase in working women and aging population, employees will need more time to take care of

Page 3 of 25

their family members well-being. Already when NPL is taken without receiving any salary, it should not be restricted to only the death of their family members. Continuation of this unfair policy will only lower employees productivity and commitment to working for the company. Furthermore, it may also result in poor employees retention. As employee might choose to leave the job since it cannot compromise to meeting their family needs. Sun Superstore can grant NPL up to a maximum of one month on a full day basis and it may only granted after all annual leave are fully utilized. Leave application should as far as possible apply at least one month in advanced so that managers could make alternative work arrangement while the employee is away. d) Lack of Childcare related services In Sun Superstore, it is noticed that almost 80% of their employees have children and at least 75% of which are aged 5 and below. With this high number of working parents in Sun Superstore, providing employees support in this aspect makes it even more important. In view of the nature of its work environment, it is not cost-effective to provide on-site childcare services in all their retail outlets, especially when more outlets are opening in the next two years. Hence, we would propose Sun Superstore to collaborate with external childcare service providers near each of their outlets. They could then negotiate for a corporate rate and provide childcare subsidies to employees who need to send their children to these centers while they are working. Not only that it is nearer to their work locations, parts of their childcare expenses are subsidized by the company as well. Upon implementing such subsidies and supports within the company, it will eventually reduce the employees absenteeism rate as they no longer need time off to look after their child. Furthermore, having the subsidized childcare centers nearer to their work place assist in employees punctuality when reporting to work. Most importantly, when employee feels that that their need is a concern to the company, it enhances their sense of belonging and commitment towards contributing their best and more for the company increase in productivity, talent retention and reduces its increasing turnover rate.

Page 4 of 25

e) Lack of education support or subsidies Offering employees continuing education opportunities has several benefits for employers. A welltrained work force is an important productivity enhancement. Just as important, employees greatly value education benefits. Therefore, Sun Superstore could offer education subsidies (E.g. Exam fees, Course materials) or support (E.g. Exam or study leave) to encourage employees to constantly upgrade their skills and inculcate the value of lifelong learning. This is especially essential with the growing of aging workforce. More than 20% of their employees aged 50 and above. It makes it even more crucial for these staff to upgrade their skills to remain employable coupled with the new re-employment of older workers act enforcing in year 2012.

Beyond paying for education, there are other ways in which the company can support employees efforts to improve their expertise and value to the company. Such as accommodating their course schedules by allowing employees to work on a flextime basis. Providing education benefits show how much a company truly values its employees and their future. In a study conducted by Spherion Atlantic Enterprises LLC., 61% of employees who received training said that they were very likely to remain with their current employer for the next five years or more. [hrworld.com, 2011] However, the disadvantage would be that making your employees more valuable to you also makes them more valuable to competitors. Its an unavoidable fact that better-educated employees encompass higher market value.

Page 5 of 25

PROBLEM PRIORITIZING & ESTIMATED TIMEFRAME: The separate recognition of employees family life and work life is set to be the highest priority that Sun Superstore should resolve as a change in the companys philosophy brings about implementation of related policies and benefits to ensure alignment.

High Priority Separate recognition of work and employees life

Medium Priority Unacceptable NoPay Leave Policy Timeframe: Short-Term

Timeframe: Intermediate Issues to be Lack of Childcare resolved Services Timeframe: Intermediate

Low Priority Lack of educational support/ subsidies Timeframe: Short-Term Discriminatory HR Policy Women in Supervisory role Timeframe: Intermediate

You would need to provide explanation on your choice of timeframe. Putting them in graphic format without explanation does not serve any purpose without your rationale.

You have made good arguments to support your recommendations for family friendly environment for Sun Superstores employees. Kindly refer to my comments above for improvements. Overall, a well written answer. 16 marks

Page 6 of 25

QUESTION 2: 2a) In the process of modifying the company current HR policies, Ms Huda is fulfilling the 2 HR roles namely, Operational and Employee Advocates and Strategic roles.
i) Operational and Employee Advocates Role

HR (Human Resource) is often view as the employee advocate in the organization. HR professionals spend substantial amount of time in managing both work and non-related issues of each employees. They assist in ensuring that fair and equitable treatment for employees regardless of personal background or circumstances. In Sun Superstores case, recently the management is challenged by many discontentments from the employees. Employees are voicing out their dissatisfaction concurrently. For instance, employees pointed out that the no-pay leave is not acceptable; company is of paternity leave and complained that the HR policy is discriminatory to women etc. Hence, employees begin to voice out their discontent on the companys policies and benefits entitlement. This is where Ms Huda needs to play the role of an employee advocate by imposing necessary changes in meeting and resolving the employees displeasure. As for the operational role, it is where the HR professionals cooperate with the operating managers in identifying the needed programs and policies in the organizations. It also involves in ensuring that the HR activities are in alignment with the companys strategies. In this case, one of the companys strategies is to differentiate themselves from other companies in terms of excellent customer service. Sun Superstore believed that a decline in the quality of the employees will affect the achievement of this strategy. With that, it was mentioned that the company faces challenge in recruiting and selecting employees for some of its job opening coupled with the intense labour competition in the Singapore retail landscape and decrease in traditional media recruitment effectiveness. In view of the need to maintain the employees quality and standard while being challenged by the these problems, Ms Huda plays an operational role by reacting to the issues and responded to the goals and objectives set by the executives in proposing the below:

Page 7 of 25

To overcome the decrease in traditional recruiting media effectiveness, Ms Huda suggested to change the channel of recruitment Internet/ Online recruitment. To counteract to the challenge in recruiting and selecting employees for job opening such as retail assistants; maintenance; delivery/ dispatch; storekeepers and promoters, Ms Huda reacted by suggesting to recruit the older employees with her positive experience from the current senior/ mature employees.

ii) Strategic Role Strategic role requires the HR professionals to be proactive in addressing business realities and focusing on future business needs, such as workforce planning, compensation strategies and the performance of HR. In view of the boards concern in maintaining their reputation as a good place to work, retention problem and attracting high quality employees for their expansion plan in the next two years, Ms Huda is pro-active in resolving the boards concern and employees discontentment by engaging the task force. With the recommendations made by the task force (to rectify the employees dissatisfaction as highlighted in Q1), Ms Huda will then involved in re-strategizing the HR policies and procedures and evaluate its current benefits, fine tune it to ensure alignment with the new HR and business strategies and enhance employees retention. Your discussion on the roles could have been better answered. You should not discount the administrative role that HR managers play in organizations. A comprehensive answer to this question should include: Brief discussion of the importance of HR Managers Explain briefly the four roles: strategic, administrative, employee advocate and operational role Modification of current HR policies can be linked to all four roles Strategic enables the company to maintain reputation; to attract high quality candidates; to improve performance through better customer service Employee advocate act as employee voice, solve employee issues; mediate between employee and management support various stakeholders in the company Operational/administrative streamlining of policies, clearer policy for easy implementation; consistency and transparency in implementation Provide examples to support Ms Hudas roles in these 4 areas. 9 marks

Page 8 of 25

2b)

With reference to the issues as expressed by the employees in Q1, below are the possible factors resulting to the change in employees expectations that challenged Sun Superstore current HR issues.

i) Increase in Literacy rate According to the Singapore Department of Statistics, the literacy rate among residents aged 15 years and above is as high as 95.9% and of which, 91.7% has acquired Secondary higher qualifications. With the high literacy rate, employees would be opened for more job opportunities. This is especially true in circumstances when the current employer is unable to meet their demand or expectations while another does. This in turn explains the increasing turnover rate faced by Sun Superstore from a mere 10% to 23%. With a more knowledgably workforce, personal upgrading and growth are deemed as essential and is often an expectation from their employers. Research have shown employee are more likely to stay on with the company should training benefits be provided. Reason being, it show how much a company truly values its employees and their future. [hrworld.com, 2011] Thus, it explains as to why Sun Superstore is challenged by the younger employees in requesting for provision of educational support or subsidies. The literacy rate in 1960s was as low as 50% as compared to what it was now, 95.9%. With a lower literacy rate, employees generally stay longer in their job due to the lack of higher qualifications and skills. Furthermore, promoting life-long learning is not strongly inculcated in the workforce by the government back then. school or

Page 9 of 25

Extracted from: North-South Trade, Employment and Inequality by Adrian Wood. ii) Increase in Dual-income family According to the Singapore Department of Statistics, there are increasing dual-income couples as more married women entering the workforce. The number of dual-income family has almost doubled during the 80s and 90s. From which, we can infer that the number of dual-income families in the 60s and 70s is even lesser.

Extracted from: Singstats, Dual-income families, 1994. The emergence of dual-income families has therefore increases the standard of living with their combined income. However, this has also brought about implications to their social life since both are working namely, increasing needs for childcare related benefits, paternity leave and time off grant. [Singapore Statistics, 1994]

Page 10 of 25

There will be increasing needs for childcare services or benefits since both parents are working and no one is around to look after their children. Furthermore, in the case of Sun Superstore, 79% of their employees have at least a child and out of which, 75% aged below 5. With that, it is therefore essential for Sun Superstore to implement policies or benefits that look after the needs of working parents. There is also an increase in the life expectancy. It can be seen from the diagram below that the life expectancy has increased from 73.1 to 79.3 and 77.6 to 84.1 for males and females respectively. Such significant increase is highly due to improvements in public health, standard of living and availability of medical services.

Extracted from: Singstat.com, Life expectancy rate 2010 The increase in life expectancy leads to an increase in elderly care at home. According to the population census, nearly three quarters of the senior citizens are living with their children. (Family and Community Development, 2005) This will therefore increase the time needed to look after the elderly especially those with medical needs. With the above, it accounted for the discontent of the employees when there is a lack of childcare services; paternity leave and unacceptable No-pay leave (NPL) policy. iii) Increase in women in the workforce The Labour Force Participation Rate has increased for both men (from 65.2% in 1999 to 77.7% in 2010) and women (from 26.3% in 1999 to 44.7% in 2010) aged 55 to 64. (Ministry of Manpower, Singapore workforce 2010). The increase in women joining the workforce is complimented with the increase in women literacy rate of 94%.
Page 11 of 25

Extracted from: Trading Economics.com, 2011. As compared to the 60s and 70s, a larger number of women have attainted higher education qualifications. Furthermore, with the strong initiative of fair and equal employment practices and culture in Singapore, both men and women can hold managerial positions as it will be based on meritorious performance and not the gender difference. This account for the issues as rose in Sun Superstore, discriminatory HR policy. In Sun Superstore, its workforce consists of 38% and 62% of male and female respectively. With women being the largest percentage of employees, only one woman (i.e. Ms Huda) holds a supervisory position while the rest are held by the males. iv) Increasing demand for Family-Friendly Policies

Page 12 of 25

Due to demographic and social changes [As highlighted in 2b (i), (ii) and (iii)] as compare those during the 60s and 70s, the number of people in the workforce with caring responsibilities is set to increase. This will in turn increase the demand for flexibility in the workplace. Companies that can help employees in managing their careers and family responsibilities will become employers of choice and attract and retain the best employees. Flexible workplaces can contribute to employees and family health, boost retention, productivity and promotes innovation. Family-friendly benefits enable company to retain highly skilled employees who might otherwise seek more accommodating employers or leave the workforce entirely. Implementing family-friendly policies can also decrease absenteeism, enhance productivity, and improve employers ability to attract competitive applicants. (USAID, health policy initiative, 2009) With that, it explains why the employees from Sun Superstore are voicing out their discontent over the lack of family-friendly policies especially when the company maintained a philosophy that employees work life and family life should be separated. You have answered this question focusing on the factors of the workforce that affect HR in organisations. You have made detailed accounts supported by statistical information on the matter. However in discussing the factors affecting HR there are more critical factors other than the workforce alone as mentioned below:
Critical factors: 1. Globalisation of business increase competition for the best labour 2. Economic and technological changes: occupational composition, workforce availability and quality concerns, growth in contingent workforce, technological shift and the internet 3. Workforce demographics and diversity: racial/ethnic diversity, women in workforce, aging workforce 4. Organisational costs pressures and restructuring

10 marks

Page 13 of 25

QUESTION 3: 3a) With reference to Q1, we have made recommendations in view of all the discontent as expressed by Sun Superstores employees. However, many a times, the reasons behind why employees have chosen to leave the company can be either work or non-work related issues. Likewise, employees who have chosen to stay on with the company may not necessary due to the work and monetary benefit but for non-work reasons. There are very limited measures a company can implement if the employees have chosen to leave company due to family commitment such as spouse relocation, raising of children etc. However, there are certain steps a company can take to compromise and lend a helping help in assisting their employees to manage their work-life balance. Such measures can definitely promote loyalty and enhance employees productivity. Below are the evaluations of each recommendation, in view of the issues faced by Sun Superstore, how it will enhance the employees retention.
i)

Employees family life and work- life are regarded separately Work- life balances are becoming increasingly important as the new age workforce comprises mostly knowledgeable employees who are techno-savvy, aware of market realities, materiallyfocused and have higher propensity to switch jobs (Edris 2004). Thus, if Sun Superstore remained a non pro-family working environment, it will lose its competitive edge in this intensive labour competition. The implementation of Family-friendly schemes and flexi benefit will eventually increase the employees retention. One of the driver for retentions is the characteristics of the employers Organization culture and values and its management. Upon implementing schemes that assist in managing employees work-life balance, it forms part of the organization culture and values. Such values will reflect how important Sun Superstore employees family life is to the company. When employees felt that company plays a part in lightening some of their family obligations, they tend to stay loyal and it increases their commitment

Page 14 of 25

towards contributing their best and more than to risk looking for another organization that may not have such cultures and values instill. ii) HR policy are deemed to be discriminatory fewer women in supervisory role Another key driver of retention is employee relationship. The relationships that employees have in the organization such as reasonableness of HR policies, fairness of disciplinary actions and the means used to determine work assignments and opportunities will all have impact on employees retention. With the increasing demographic diversity in the workforce, it is essential to ensure fair and nondiscriminatory treatment. Otherwise, employees are more likely to look out for better job opportunities. This will lead to losing of potential employees and declining in employees motivation and productivity. In Sun Superstore, employees raised their unhappiness over the discriminatory HR policies where fewer women are holding supervisory role in the company. Hence, it is crucial that the management rectify this through implementing of a fair performance appraisal system 360 degree feedback where promotion are based on employees proven merits.

The use of such feedback system encourages supervisors of different genders and different backgrounds to evaluate an employees performance. This can help create diverse viewpoints about an employee's job performance and worthiness for promotion that are demonstrated to be fair than gender discriminatory. With the practice of fair promotion system, employees are more likely to stay on with the company as they know that there are career prospective and are confident that their hard work will eventually pay off and be recognized for.

iii) Unacceptable No Pay Leave (NPL) policy and Lack of Childcare services

In Sun Superstore, NPL will only be accepted in the cases of death of immediate family. Furthermore, there is no provision of Childcare services as employers felt that employee should be responsible for their own familys needs.

Page 15 of 25

The above will eventually lead to displeasure of the employees as they would feel that their family needs are not met. With the increase in dual-income family and aging population, employees will need more time off to take care of their family members well-being. The continuation of such unfair policy will result in poor employees retention. As employee might choose to leave the job since it cannot compromise to meeting their family needs. One of the retention driver is Job Design/ Work Time and work Flexibility. Hence, with the implementation of benefits (i.e. Collaboration with nearby childcare centres for corporate rate and providing childcare subsidies) or policies (i.e. granting of NPL not only for death of immediate family but any other possible needs that arises) that assist employees in managing their family needs will convey positive message to the employees that employers recognize the challenge employees are facing and is trying as much to mitigate their burdens. Such initiatives will definitely enhance the employees retention as a survey conducted by National Childcare Information Centre (NCCIC) reported that approximately 30% of the employees have chosen to leave the company due to inadequate childcare benefits. Also, it was reported that 80% of the employees will continue to work for their employers with the availability of childcare services. (Bright Horizons Family Solutions, 2008) iv) Lack of education support or subsidies In the retention driver, training development and mentoring is one of the factors that affect employees retention. A well-trained work force is an important productivity enhancement. Just as important, employees greatly value education benefits. Providing education benefits show how much a company truly values its employees and their future. In a study conducted by Spherion Atlantic Enterprises LLC., 61% of employees who received training said that they were very likely to remain with their current employer for the next five years or more. [hrworld.com, 2011] Hence, if Sun Superstore provides education subsidies (E.g. Exam fees, Course materials) or support (E.g. Exam or study leave) to encourage employees to constantly upgrade their skills and inculcate the value of lifelong learning, it will enhance its employees retention as employees knows that the company value their skills and is will to groom and provide support in personal growth.

Page 16 of 25

However, there is possibility that it will also threaten the employees retention as increase in employees value would also make them more valuable to competitors. Therefore, it is the companys overall policies and benefits that retain potential employees. You have been able to succinctly apply the points discussed to the case study. This showed your ability to analyse and provide pertinent points to address the issues. An overall well-written answer. Good job. 13 marks 3b) Ms Huda suggested to employ senior or mature workers can resolves some of the staffing issued faced by Sun Superstore. Below are the rationales that Ms Huda would have used to support her views on older workers: i) Aging Population

According to the Department of Statistics, in Year 2006, almost half of the Singaporeans will aged 62 and above and live past the age of 85. In the current context, 8 working adults support one resident above age 64 and by 2030; it is expected to be halved to 4 working adults. (Reemployment.sg, 2008)

Extracted from: World Population Prospectus, 2006 Revision, United Nations

Not only so, the increase life expectancy as mentioned in Q2b (ii), also resulted in more aging workforce population.

Page 17 of 25

Sun Superstore mentioned that they are facing issues n recruiting and selecting employees are jobs such as retail assistants, maintenance, delivery/ dispatch, store keepers and promoters. With that, the more Sun Superstore should on the large available pool of older workers to fill up the current vacancies. ii) Experience and loyalty

In view of the companys strategy in maintaining high customers service standard through the employment of quality employees, older workers very much meet the requirements. Older employees are invaluable to any company - big or small. They are hardworking, dependable and loyal. More importantly, they also bring onboard a lifetime of knowledge and experience. (Silvergroup.com, 2008) This is also being experienced in Sun Superstore current group of older employees. Ms Huda highlighted that many of its older employees have served the company for more than three decades and some are best performers. Hence, with the re-employment of older workers, their experiences will certainly brings about positive attributes to the company growth especially with the new outlets opening. Furthermore, it may also lower the current turnover rate as older employees are generally loyal and committed to their work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers ages 55 to 64 have been with their current employers a median of 9.3 years, while workers ages 25 to 34 have a median tenure of only 2.9 years. (inc. Magazine, 2006) A reduction in turnover rate brings about positive impact to the organization as frequent staff movement can result in increasing staff training and recruitment cost. iii) Mentoring

With the employment of older employees, this group of employees can play an important role as a mentor to the younger generations. They are a group with vast experiences who can share and provide guidance to the existing employees. Not only does it helps to improve the employees overall performance level but also indirectly reduces the training cost incurred as more on the job training can be executed during their daily operations.

Page 18 of 25

Furthermore, younger employees will have greater reassurance of being 'taken under the wing' of someone with years of experience. (acas.org, 2011) It is also found out that training in mentoring will help in managing the new relationship between the older and younger worker in a structured and thoughtful way. Such training methods Mentoring is applicable to employees of all levels and it is identified to be an effective way of 'succession management'. As part of a set of measures to enable older employees to work longer, the Government will enact reemployment legislation by 2012 to enable more people to continue working beyond the current statutory retirement age of 62, up to 65 in the first instance and, later, up to 67. (Re-employment.com, 2008)

With Ms Hudas proposal in employing the older workers to fill up the current job vacancies, it has put Sun Superstore in alignment with the government initiatives. This will eventually enable Sun Superstore to start preparing for the re-employment policies especially when about 26% of its employees aged 50 and above.

You have answered logically with some plausible rationales. However there are other rationales you could have included for more marks: Less probability of job hopping Sizable applicant pool Possible less costly in remuneration Reputation of a socially-responsible organisation Employee champion/psychological contract; reward of good performance through extension of employment

10 marks
QUESTION 4:

INTERNET RECRUITMENT CHANNELS: For the recruitment of Sun Superstores store managers via the online recruitment channels, it comprises of 3 avenues namely, Internet Job Boards, Professional/ Career Websites and Employer Website. In the current context, internet recruitment has gradually evolved as the primary means for reaching out to wider pool of applicants. Reason being, internet access are made widely and easily available anytime and
Page 19 of 25

anywhere. A recent survey conducted showed that More than seven in ten employers advertise vacancies on their corporate websites, while jobs boards are used by four in ten with 73% reporting reduced costs through using e-recruitment. (Netsite, 2011) Hence, it is believed to be a highly recommended recruitment source for Sun Superstore.

For Internet Job Board, it is an internet source where it provides places for employers to put up their job posting or search for candidates from their database. (E.g. Jobstreet, JobsDB and Jobscentral) The advantage of using this channel is that it enables a wider exposure to the available pool of job seekers. However, with that it also implies that more time will be needed to screen through the large number of applicants. In addition, it may also attract a lot of unqualified applicants and job seekers who are not serious about changing job but to check out on their market value and current compensation level.

For Professional/ Career Websites, they are professional/career websites that mainly targets on a specific group of specialists and professionals. They can be found on the website of professional associations under the employment section. The use of this recruitment source would assist in reducing the search time and effort of the recruiter. In addition, it is likely to target applicants specifically interested in the job field and may reduce the number of less qualified applicants. Internet recruitment via the Employer Websites is where job seeker will visit a potential companys websites to check out for their careers or employment section for better job opportunity. It usually take place when the company is known for being the Employers of choice as it will attract potential applicants to look out for any available job vacancies within the organization. It is often deemed as an effective and efficient source since information about the job and organization are all in the websites. It promotes a higher chance of attracting potential candidates that are person/job and person/ organization fit. All 3 internet recruitment sources are viable to their recruitment of store managers for new outlets. However, to identify the sources that make most sense to Sun Superstore would be Professional/ Career websites.

Page 20 of 25

In both internet job board and employers websites, they are all prone to attract more unqualified applicants. Needless to say for internet job board as it is a public general job sites that have no targeted audiences. Whereas for employers website, it is also prone to attracting unqualified applicants as typically it is because you are the Employer of Choice that attracts the job seekers in looking out for job opportunities directly in your corporate. Applicants are attracted to you but they may not necessary be the potential ones just because you have the best deal in employees benefits. Unlike Professional/ Career Website, it is clearly targeted on a specific group of job applicants specialized in a particular industry and field. Sun Superstore highlighted that they are facing poor performing store managers that are recruited through recommendations. In view of the increasing competitiveness in both businesses and labour, only attracting the right people to the right job at the right time will enhance Sun Superstores business strategy differentiating themselves from other companies in terms of excellent customer service. Hence, we would strongly recommend Sun Superstore to utilize the Professional/ Career website in this round of recruitment for store managers especially when it is meant for the new expansion plan, the more it should ensure that quality employees are hired to facilitate the outlet opening and operations.

LABOUR MARKET The supply of workers differs considerably across different labour markets and therefore it affects the company staffing plan. There are altogether 4 labour markets that company can tap on during their recruitment namely, Geographic Labour Markets, Global Labour Market, Industry and Occupational Labour Markets and Educational and Technical Labour Market. Of the 4 labour markets, there are two that are highly applicable to the Sun Superstores recruitment drive Geographic Labour Markets and Educational and Technical Labour Market. Geographic Labour Market classifies its labour markets by their geographic location. The local and area labour market vary significantly in terms of the workforce availability and quantity. In view of Sun

Page 21 of 25

Superstore outlets location (Singapore and over the region), they should tap on the availability of its geographic labour markets that are necessary for employees to work out of local. Educational and Technical Labour Market is to tap on labour market with the necessary Knowledge, Skills, Ability and Other characteristics (KSAOs) that are required for the job. From the above two suggested labour markets, the one that Sun Superstore is strongly recommended to focus on when recruiting the store managers would be Educational and Technical Labour Market. This is because, as the store manager, there are specific KSAOs that are essential to perform the job well. This is especially true when these are new outlets, the managers must be equipped with the right KSAOs in order to ensure a smooth opening and operation of the outlets be it the stock/ goods management, staffing and outlets customer service level. Hence, recruiting via the Educational and Technical Labour Market enables Sun Superstore to locate the potential pool of candidates in facilitating and upholding of the business strategies. You have answered the first part of the question very well. Excellent work! However, you have not answered the second part of the question accurately. The answer to the second part would have been the
Industry and Occupational labour market is the one to target at. This type of labour market is based on the knowledge, skills and abilities required for the specific job, that is, managers in the retail industry.

12 marks

Page 22 of 25

APPENDIX A

Increasing early divorces

One in 10 civil marriages registered in 1996 broke up before their tenth wedding anniversary. This is an increase of 3 per cent compared to the 1987 cohort. For Muslim marriages, 18 per cent of the 1996 cohort divorced within their first ten years compared to 11 per cent of the 1987 cohort.

Divorce among empty nesters

Many older marriages are breaking up, particularly among the non-Muslims. Most of these people 50 years old and above do not have dependants below 18 years of age. It is likely that for many of these late divorcees, it was after the children had grown up that they found there were no other reasons to cling on to the marriage.

Sandwiched families
With rising life expectancy, the sandwiched generation would find themselves having to take care of, not just their children, but their elderly parents as well. With the trend towards dualincome families, breadwinners would be hard-pressed to cope with their own needs and those of their aged parents and growing children. Shrinking household sizes also meant that these families may not have many family members to turn to in times of need.

Source: http://www.nfc.org.sg/pdf/State%20of%20the%20Family%20in%20Singapore.pdf

Page 23 of 25

Page 24 of 25

BIBLIOGRAPHY/ REFERENCES Custominsigh.com, 2011: 360 Degree Feedback solutions [online]. Available from: http://www.custominsight.com/360-degree-feedback/what-is-360-degree-feedback.asp [Assessed on 1 September 2011] Hrworld.com, 2011: The Pros and Cons of Providing Employee Continuing Education [online]. Available from: http://www.hrworld.com/features/employee-continuing-education-081808/ [Assessed on 1 September 2011] You-can-learn-basic-employee-rights.com, 2010: A 360 degree performance appraisal [online]. Available from: http://www.you-can-learn-basic-employee-rights.com/360-degree-performance-appraisal.html [Assessed on 1 September 2011] elibraryhub.com, 1994: Occasional Paper on Social Statistics [online]. Available from: http://mms.elibraryhub.com/SHC/Govt/MTI/SingStat/op-s2.pdf [Accessed 4 September 2011] Ministry of Manpower, 2010: Singapore Workforce 2010 [online]. Available from: http://www.mom.gov.sg/Publications/mrsd_singapore_workforce_2010.pdf [Assessed on 4 September 2011] unicef.com, 2010: At a glance: Singapore [online]. Available from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/singapore.html#80 [Assessed 5 September 2011] United States Agency, 2009: The Family-Friendly workplace model [online]. Available from: http://www.healthpolicyinitiative.com/Publications/Documents/724_1_Family_Friendly_Workplace_Brief_ FINAL_2_24_09.pdf [Assessed on 5 September 2011] Ways2work, 2010: The need for flexibility s growing [online]. Available from: http://ways2work.business.vic.gov.au/employers/the-benefits-of-being-family-friendly/the-need-forflexibility-is-growing [Assessed on 5 September 2011] Department of Singapore Statistics, 2010: Population Age pyramid [online]. Available from: http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/charts/popn-area.html [Assessed on 5 September 2011] National Childcare Information Centre, 2011: Employer-Supported Childcare [online]. Available from: http://www.nncc.org/EO/nccic.employercc.doc.pdf [Assessed on 5 September 2011] Bright Horizons Family Solutions, 2008: The Lasting Impact of Employer-Sponsored Child Care [online]. Available from: http://www.brighthorizons.com/lastingimpact/resources/Lasting_Impact_Report_Final.pdf [Assessed on 5 September 2011] Netsite, 2011: E-recruitment gives employers real costs savings plus increased ease and efficiency in the recruitment process. It also gives candidates an improved experience. [online]. Available from: http://www.netsite.co.uk/NetsiteCMS/pageid/42/ [Assessed from: 5 September 2011] Re-emmployment.sg, 2008: Why is re-employment important? [online]. Available from: http://www.reemployment.sg/web/contents/contents.aspx?contid=165 [Assessed on 5 September 2011]

Page 25 of 25