The Perception of Employer towards Office Management

(OM) Industrial Trainees’ Performance during the

Internship: A Case Study of Public/Private Organizations
in Klang Valley

oorlaila Hj Yunus, Salina
oranee and Rohana Hj Ehsan
Faculty of Office Management & Technology, Shah Alam/Perak

laila814@salam.uitm.edu.my
Salin65@perak.uitm.edu.my
Rohanaehsan@perak.uitm.edu.my

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research was to find out the information about the level of employability skills and
competencies on trainees of Office Management and Technology UiTM. Today much has been said about
the need to produce employability skills among students including the concern about students’ capability to
meet the demands needed by employers in today’s working world. We, the researchers, have previously
completed a research about this topic that covered the northern region and now extend our samples to
organizations in the Klang Valley. The objectives of this study were to measure the level of competencies
of trainees in the areas of technical skills, interpersonal skills, decision making and personality. Dutton
(1996) stated that students are only successful in their career if a curriculum program involves university to
provide all the necessary competencies the employer wants. It is recommended that areas such as English
communication, human relations, and problem solving/decision making skills should be emphasized
(Salina, Rohana and Noorlaila, 2004). The researchers are concerned and are eager to find out what are the
steps to improve the quality of education so that lecturers at the Faculty of Office Management and
Technology can train students to be prepared to make a better transition from what they learn in class to the
working world. The population of this study consists of the employers who worked in selected
organizations in the Klang Valley. The selection of sample was based on simple random technique. A
total of 100 questionnaires were distributed to the selected organizations and the respondents were given
two weeks to return back the questionnaires. The Statistical Package in the Social Science Software
(SPSS) Version 12.0 was used to conduct data analysis. Data were analyzed for descriptive statistics such
as the percentage, mean, mode, median and frequency. Based on the findings, we found that the trainees
have moderate levels in professional characteristics, communications skills, problem solving and decision
making skills, and quality of work. It is recommended that continuous attention is still needed on those
aspects. Trainees must improve their communication skills, problem solving and decision making as to be
competence workers. Trainees must improve their professional characteristics because it will imply their
weakness. In the era of globalization, trainee must compete to be excellent workers.

Keywords: Perception, Trainees, Office Management, Competencies, Internship

I
TRODUCTIO

Discussions for the need to produce employability skills among students include the concern
about students’ capability to meet the demands needed by employers in today’s working world.
In 2004, we, lecturers at Mara University of Technology (UiTM), had conducted a research with
the same topic but was limited only to organizations in the northern areas: Perlis, Kedah, Penang,
and Perak. From our findings in the northern areas, it has been recognized that continuous
attention is still needed on all aspects of the trainees’ competencies. Improvement is also crucial
on the effectiveness, communication and some areas that have been identified. It is
recommended that areas such as English communication, human relations, and problem
solving/decision making skills should be emphasized. (Salina, Rohana and Noorlaila, 2004).
Since our previous research only covered the northern region, we now conduct a research that
covers the Klang Valley. The purpose of this research was to find out the information about the
level of employability skills and competencies that trainees of Office management and
Technology UiTM has. We now extend our samples to organizations in the Klang Valley.
According to a research conducted by the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary
Skills, “more than half of our young people leave school without the knowledge or foundation
required to find and hold a good job” (SCANS 1991). Therefore, the researchers are concerned
and are eager to find out what are the steps to improve the quality of education so that lecturers at
the Faculty of Office Management and Technology (FOMT) can train students to be prepared to
make a better transition from what they learn in class to the working world. Every semester
FOMT has been successfully producing graduates that have promising careers in the private as
well as public sectors. These graduates can be hired as executive officers, administrative officers,
personal assistants, and office managers. The Diploma in Office Management (OM114) program
is a 3-year program that trains students to programs related to Office Administration,
Management, and Technology, Office Competencies, Communication, Personality Development,
Public Speaking, and Human Relations. Besides that, students need to enroll in other courses that

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include Mathematics, Business and Law, Accounting, English, Islamic Understanding and
Thought, and Mandarin. With the courses offered, students are having a great learning
experience trained and guided by dedicating lecturers of the Faculty. During the fifth semester,
students will have to enroll a course in practical training, which is a part of the requirement
needed to graduate. The practical training will take about three months or the whole semester to
complete. To be able to prepare students undergo for the practical training, students have to
complete and passed the prerequisite courses such as Document Processing 2, Executive Note-
taking, and Computer and Information Processing. Besides these courses, students need to have
competencies in communication, interpersonal/human relations, problem solving, group
effectiveness, and several other skills. The main objective of UiTM is to provide opportunities
for Bumiputra students to further their education. Therefore, it is important that students receive
quality educational opportunities. Generally, the number of students graduating from university
every year shows the success of education. However, in reality, we cannot assume this as a
success since it does not guarantee students to be successful in the working world. Dutton (1996)
stated that students are only successful in their career if a curriculum program involves university
to provide all the necessary competencies the employer wants.

STATEME
T OF THE PROBLEM

Skills and competencies are the two important competencies that trainees’ need to possess so that
they can make a better transition from classroom environment to working environment.
Preparedness in employability skills is an important contributor to the individual’s self-
interest and general well-being. Students need to give greater attention to the
developmental area so that they can be expected to contribute the best for their careers as
well as for their personal fulfillment. Today’s business has changed into high technology
workplace. Latest technology, participative environment, sophisticated quality control,
good customer services, and many others are important. Therefore, employees need to
have expanded skills if they want to survive in the workplace effectively. Educating
future employees need to be changed to meet the new needs. It is hoped that with this
research in the Klang Valley are, we will be able to know what the skills employers want
their workers to possess are. This will help educators to train students with the skills so
that students can meet the demand of the workforce.

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PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

This research is intended to find out the skills and competencies office management’s
trainees must have so that they can make a better transition from classroom environment
to working environment. The demand for experience and knowledge for entry-level
employment in today’s business offices requires educators to structure good learning
activities and to understand how to better prepare students to enter the working world.
Close attention need to be given to curriculum development that emphasizes school-to-
work transition. Mara University of Technology, as a world-class university, through
dedicative lecturers should strive and work harder if we want our students to be prepared
successfully in the job market. It is our intention that lecturers at University Technology
Mara could use the data collected in this research to help them in preparing their courses
and ensuring that students will have the training needed before they undergo their
internship.

METHODOLOGY

This chapter explains in detail about the sampling frame, the sample technique used, sample
sized, unit of analysis, data collection procedures, survey instruments, validity or survey and plan
for data analysis. The questionnaires stated the general purpose of study was solely for academic
purposes and that the questionnaires would be compiled anonymously.

SAMPLING FRAME

The sampling was drawn from a list of employers employed in both public and private sectors in
Klang Valley.

POPULATION

The population of this study consists of the employers who worked in selected organizations in
the Klang Valey. The sampling was drawn from a list of employers working in above mentioned
states. The addresses of the employers were based from the Industrial Training Database. The
total number of the population was 100.

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SAMPLING TECHNIQUE

The selection of sample is based on simple random technique. This technique requires the
researches to select population of the employers to have an equal and independent chance of
being selected. Equal because there is no bias that one person will be chosen rather than another
and independent because the choice of one person does not bias the researches for or against the
choice of another (Salkind, 2003) and within the target population has an equal chance to be
picked as samples (Shamsuri, 2004).

SAMPLE SIZE

The word sample according to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1990) is to try out or
examine. Samples are a fraction of the target population in which a generalization is applied to
the whole population. It is identified that there are 100 selected organizations in the Klang
Valley.

U
IT OF A
ALYSIS

The element of the study was the employers in the selected public and private organizations in the
Klang Valley.

DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES

The data were collected by questionnaires distributed to all employers by post. It is identified that
there are 100 organizations in the Klang Valley. Follow up on the progress were made from time-
to-time by the researchers. The respondents were given two weeks to return back the
questionnaires. Follow-up on the progress is made from time-to-time by the researchers.

SURVEY INSTRUMENT

The instrument used for data collection for this study was a survey questionnaire designed for
personally distributed questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of two sections: Section 1 of
the questionnaire was focusing on demographic background of respondents such as age, gender,
highest qualification, division/department, type of organization and location of the organization.
Section 2 was focusing on the workplace competencies that include the question on

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communication skill, problem-solving and decision making skills, professional
characteristics/initiative, job knowledge, quality of work and public contacts.

VALIDITY OF INSTRUMENT

The questionnaire was tested for content validity before being distributed to the respondents.
Two personnel from Administrative Department of Office Management and Technology were
asked to validate on the face validity of the questionnaire and as for the content validate, two
lecturers who have expertise in Administrative Management and Human Resource Management
were involved as to establish content validity.

PLAN FOR DATA ANALYSIS

The Statistical Package in the Social Science Software (SPSS) Version 12.0 was used to conduct
data analysis after the entire questionnaires had been collected from the respondents. Data was
analyzed for descriptive statistics such as the percentage, mean, mode, median and frequency.

SUMMARY

This chapter describes the methodology used by the researchers to conduct the study. Overall,
the methods used are questionnaires and interviews to some selected organizations. On the other
hand, the purpose of this chapter is to expose the result of the study and show all the significant
findings, which are derived from the survey questionnaires. The result is focused on the
percentage and mean.

FI
DI
GS

In relation to Research Question 1: What are the characteristics and job level among the trainees?
From the research findings it was found that the trainees have moderate professional
characteristics level. Trainees can work without close supervision and able to meet deadlines but
only at satisfaction level only. Trainees are able to handle changing conditions and work under
pressure. Trainees also seek assignments voluntarily, demonstrate punctuality and begin work as
schedule. Trainees also need to improve in their willingness to learn. They also need to improve
their imaginative and talent for new ideas, findings new and better ways of completing tasks. The
trainees also have moderate job knowledge. They were able to apply knowledge and skills

6
necessary to accomplish job but it still need improvement. The trainees understand and apply
standard procedures, understand how the work relates to other work inside and outside the
department. Trainees also able to handle office equipment, understand general plans and goals of
department.

In relation to Research Question 2: What are the skills level among trainees in the areas of
communications skills, problem solving and decision making skills? From the findings of the
research, it was found that communication skills are at moderate level. It shows that the trainees
still need to improve how to apply the skills that they have learned in the classroom to the
workplace. The trainees do not communicate fluently in English and they only ask questions
about tasks when needed. The trainees written and oral instructions still need to improve because
it is only at satisfaction level. Meanwhile, the trainee’s accuracy in all aspects of work also still
needs to be improved. Problem solving and decision making skills level are moderate among the
trainees. The trainees able to identify problems and develop effective solutions but still need to
improve. They also need to improve their priorities, make decisions quickly and accurately.
Trainees must improve and learn how to accept responsibilities for both success and failures.
They also need to manage their time effectively.

In relation to Research Question 3: What are the quality of work and public contact among
trainees? From the research findings it was found that the trainees have moderate quality of work
level. They are able to produce work, which is complete and accurate. They were able to perform
work in accordance to job requirements but still need to improve. They were able to recommend
creative, innovative and practical solution and can be improved to be much better. It was found
that the trainees have moderate public contact level. They were able to respond promptly to
customers/client request but still need to improve. They also respond accordingly to
customer/client concern and apply at satisfaction level only.

From the findings it can be summarized that the communications skills, problem solving and
decision-making skills are moderate and still need to be improved. Professional characteristics
and job knowledge for the trainees are at moderate level and still need to be improved. The
qualities of work for trainees are at moderate level and their public contact still need to be
improved.

CO
CLUSIO
S

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In keeping with today’s electronic technologies advancement, we have to change our traditional
definition of working style. Thus, realizing the new challenges, the faculty’s graduates through
the world are now emphasizing on new concept and stresses on the intrinsic qualities. The
researchers believed that the findings of this study will benefit people and organizations in
various ways and thus reflect the good identity of an organization as a whole. Last but not least,
even though there are both positive and negative implications on the findings but the most
important thing is to keep ahead of the current situation in order for the trainees to survive in this
millennium. In keeping workers to be competence, it’s important to change our traditional
working style. Workers need to improve their knowledge, skills and attitude to improve their
work qualities. The faculty should produce graduates that are able to emphasize the company
vision to be achieved. The findings of the study can be used for improving the program to
increase quality of the trainees.

In order to face the challenges, in this study, it has been recognized that continuous attention is
still needed on all aspects of the trainees’ competencies. Improvement is also needed on the
effectiveness, communication and some areas that have been identified. It is recommended that
some areas should be taken in preparing a more applicable syllabus and cross-cultural instruments
in any other future study. A further study on this topic with larger sample should be carried out.
The larger the sample, the more representatives and more generalized the results will be. The
followings are the recommendations:
• Committee on Internship
• Compare with Other Organization
• Educate the Staff
• Emphasize Subject on Organizational Behavior and Human
Resource
• Stay Current
• Maintain Computer Competencies

RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Based on the study, the researcher found that further study should be conduct to help faculty
overcome the problem student’s face in practical training. Recommendations are as follows:

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 • The study should be conducted to identify the factors that influence learning among the
trainee at the workplace. It is important to know what factors influence the trainees learn
during the practical training.

• The study should be conducted to identify learning outcomes for the trainee from the
practical training. It is important to know what the outcomes of the trainee are after the
practical training. It will help to identify the effectiveness of the training program by
measuring learning practices by the trainees.

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