Junaidah Hashim

Islamic revival in human resource management practices among selected Islamic organisations in Malaysia

Purpose - In an era where religion predominantly presents an integral influence on the way most people live and work, an Islamic approach in managing human resources in Malaysia is apt. This is due to the fact that Muslim employees represent the largest percentage of the workforce in Malaysia and the Malaysian government is implementing an Islamization process in the country. The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which Muslim employees are aware of Islamic human resource management (HRM) practices and the extent to which Islamic organisations in Malaysia practice HRM based upon the Islamic approaches as outlined by the sacred Islamic texts. Design/methodology/approach - This is a survey-based research. It uses a self-developed questionnaire for data collection. A total of 121 Muslim employees who work in Islamic organisations participate as respondents in this paper. Factor analysis is used for data analysis. Findings - The results show that the selected Muslim employees in Islamic organisations in Malaysia are aware of the Islamic HRM practices which they practice frequently. Practical implications - Religious foundations of HRM strategies are important but are rarely highlighted in the literature. This paper would become an important reference for future studies pertaining to HRM practices in the Islamic context. An introduction to Islamic human resource practices is an initial attempt to provide managers with an additional way of managing people. For Muslim human resource managers who work in Islamic organisations, i.e. those Muslim-owned or dealing with Islamic teachings, it is an obligation for them to not only know but also to apply the Islamic approach in managing employees. Non-Muslim managers would have a better understanding of the expected and acceptable behaviours of their Muslim employees at the workplace. Among the behaviours expected of true Muslim employees; regardless of whom they work for, are honesty, trustworthiness, and continuous determination to work for the best. Originality/value - This paper is unique from other previous studies for instead of discussing Islamic management in general, this paper explores in depth every function of HRM based on authentic Islamic sources, as well as providing empirical evidence.

Establishing linkages between religiosity and spirituality on employee performance

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the impact of religiosity and spirituality on employee performance in multi‐cultural and multi‐religious organisations.Design/methodology/approach – This study adopted Religiosity Personality Index (MRPI) by Azimi et al., Spirituality Involvement and Beliefs Scale (SIBS) by Hatch et al., and Performance Measures by Sarmiento et al. The performance data was collected from employees, peers, and supervisors. The study administered and received all the 435 completed sets of questionnaires (435 employees, 870 peers, and 435 supervisors).Findings – SEM analysis showed that religiosity and spirituality have a significant positive relationship with employees’ performance. Better spiritual condition improves performance. Religion functions as a moderating variable in employees’ job performance.Research limitations/implications – This study has extended the knowledge of spirituality in the workplace by confirming that spirituality is more significant than religiosity in influenc...

Competencies acquisition through self‐directed learning among Malaysian managers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how Malaysian managers acquire job competencies through self‐directed learning activities at their workplace. Specifically it aims to investigate what types of job competencies are required for the managers, how they learn to acquire those competencies, and whether the managers have the self‐directed learning attributes and capability to acquire job competencies by self‐directed learning activities.Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected through survey. The survey adapted the Self‐Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) developed by Guglielmino. In total 238 respondents participated in this study.Findings – The findings show that the respondents have identified communication, managerial, and job knowledge as the main competencies required for their jobs. Most of these competencies are acquired through on‐the‐job training, working as part of a team and self‐education. The findings also reveal that the respondents do possess the attributes of...

Training evaluation: clients’ roles

Training evaluation is an elusive concept, especially when it comes to practice. The practice of evaluation in training has received a lot of criticism. This criticism is largely explained by the unsystematic, informal, and ad hoc evaluation that has been conducted by training institutions. In Malaysia, training activities are monitored by the government. Organisations are required to obtain training services from approved training providers registered with the government. Examines the clients’ demand toward evaluation, the commitment given by training providers, and the overall practice of evaluation by the training providers in Malaysia. Finds that the government, client and economic situations have influenced the evaluation practice in a positive direction.

Learning barriers in adopting ICT among selected working women in Malaysia

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify learning barriers in information communication technology (ICT) adoption among working women in Malaysia. Regardless of gender, it would be advantageous for all individuals in today’s society to acquire basic ICT skills. Despite significant growth in ICT professionals during the last two decades, there remains a gender imbalance, particularly in developing countries such as Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a self-developed questionnaire to measure the learning barriers and ICT adoption. The survey instrument was developed from the constructs used in the individual innovativeness theory and theory of perceived attributes. The questionnaires were administered face-to-face to a total of 315working women, who participated as respondents in this study. Findings – The findings revealed that the working women in Malaysia possess only average level of ICT skills. They seldom use the internet and e-mail at their workplace or at home, they do not face serious learning barrierswith respect to ICT, and they have complexity as their innovation characteristics. However, they are innovators in the adopters’ categories. The combined variance in the characteristics of learning barriers, ICT skills, and ICT usage amounted to 70 per cent in innovation characteristics. Practical implications – This study reduces the knowledge gap regarding the identification of learning barriers, ICT skills, and ICT usage as predictors of ICT adoption among working women in Malaysia. These factors have been overlooked by some previous researchers. This study also calls attention to the fact that employers and training agencies that are responsible to provide ICT training to women employees must understand and employ the proper learning approaches and methods that ought to be used in adult training and education. Malaysian women are able to adopt an innovation with a high degree of uncertainty at the time of adoption, and it is believed that with correct and suitable training schemes Malaysian working women can acquire appropriate ICT skills and become competent in using ICT at the workplace. With managerial skills and ICT-based competencies, the working women would have a lot more knowledge seeking skills, increased access to up-to-date information, be effective in decision making, and establish networking and linkages. With this they will stand a better chance for promotion and advancement. Originality/value – The sample of this study is unique. This study was conducted in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual society. Malaysia presents an interesting case study on working women because it is a society undergoing rapid changes from its strong traditional religious and cultural norms to modern values about women. Keywords Communication technologies, Gender, Learning, Information literacy, Women, Malaysia

Predictors to employees with disabilities' organisational behaviour and involvement in employment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the work challenges of employees with disabilities and predict the organisational behaviours of employees and their involvement in employment. Design/methodology/approach – A self-developed questionnaire was used to gather relevant information from employers, employees with disabilities and their co-workers. The questionnaires were distributed and administered by a number of trained enumerators. Findings – Both employers and co-workers perceived that their organisations have provided conducive organisation climate, comfortable work environment and reasonable adjustment for their employees with disabilities. Employees with disabilities are found loyal and committed. They are satisfied with the job. Organisational loyalty and commitment are predicted by the organisations’ ability to restructure their job design to suit to the needs of employees with disabilities. Research limitations/implications – Initially, this study planned to use purposive sampling; how...

Communicating and sharing working relationships with older employees

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine the perception of young employees on working relationships satisfaction with communicative teamwork, mutual learning, participative decision making, and communicating feedback of the older employees in higher learning institutions in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approach – A specially‐constructed questionnaire was developed for data collection. A total of 575 employees in five Malaysian universities in the Klang Valley participated in the study.Finding – Young employees have positive teamwork relationships with the older employees. They learned a lot from the older employees as the older employees are helpful in sharing their experiences in decision making. At the same time, the young employees receive positive feedback from the older employees. However, the older employees hardly compliment the young employees for their achievements.Research limitations/implications – The current findings provide implications for future organisational and intergenerational research si...

Organisational behaviour associated with emotional contagion among direct selling members

Purpose – This paper aims to examine organisational behaviour as a result of emotional contagion experienced by selected members in direct selling companies. Specifically, it seeks to investigate how members in a group are affected by the happiness of their high achievers, what factors influence the emotional contagion to occur, and what are the effects of emotional contagion on individual, group and organisation work outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – The variables studied were emotional contagion, personal characteristics, group outcomes and organisational outcomes. Emotional contagion was measured by self‐report of impulsive acts; while personal characteristics were measured in terms of social desirability, extraversion, locus of control, live accomplishment, materialistic world, susceptibility to interpersonal influence, and self‐esteem. Organisational outcome variables were measured in terms of organisational commitment and organisational culture. Other variables studied were group behaviour, tea...

Academic excellence as selection criteria among Malaysian employers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not performance of employees is determined by merit of their academic excellence, which is measured by cumulative grade point average (CGPA). This paper thus attempts to measure the variables that could possibly influence employees’ performance, such as job satisfaction, motivation and involvement in co‐curriculum activities.Design/methodology/approach – An adapted version of the questionnaire used by Sarmiento et al. was utilised to assess the perceived performance of employees. Ability construct was measured in terms of employee academic qualification and skills. A 13‐item scale based on Porter was used to measure motivation. A 14‐item scale based on Hackman and Oldhams Job Diagnostic Survey was used to measure job satisfaction. In total, 340 respondents from 87 companies participated in this study.Findings – The findings revealed that there is a weak relationship between employees’ performance with CGPA. The findings also revealed that there...

The Practice of Corporate Downsizing during Economic Downturn among Selected Companies in Malaysia

This paper examines the organizational strategies and the effects of corporate downsizing in Malaysia. It reports the results of a survey of 30 Malaysian companies that engaged in downsizing during the economic downturn. Three research questions are probed: 1) What are the general strategies used by companies to downsize, 2) What are the difficulties faced by companies during downsizing implementation, and 3) What are the impacts of downsizing on organizations. The findings show two main strategies are used for downsizing: work reduction and work redesign. The most serious impact of downsizing is organizational ineffectiveness.