National Diploma: Human Resources Management & Practices

(SAQA Qualification ID: 61592)

Final Summative Integrated Assessment (FISA May 2021)

Examination

Duration: 2 ½ Hours

Total Marks: 100

Pass Mark: 60

Instructions: Please pay attention to the following before you start.

1. This paper consists of 3 sections. All sections must be completed in full.

2. Please use the answer sheet provided on the last 2 pages of this paper to complete Section A and
Section B. Do NOT remove the answer sheet from the paper and ensure that you submit both the
exam paper and your answer book together. Remember to write your name and ID number on
the answer sheets.
3. Section C should be completed in the answer book provided. Remember to clearly write your
name and ID number on the first page as well as the name of your Training Provider/ Institution
where you completed the qualification.
4. When answering Section C please indicate clearly in your answer book, which question you are
answering. Example: Write “Question 1 (a)” and then provide your answer underneath; “Question
2” (a) and then provide your answer underneath. You do not have to write out the whole question
– only the question number.
5. You may only use a black or blue pen to indicate your answers. NO pencils.
6. Do not use tipex. If you make a mistake, draw a line through it and continue.
7. Please rule off after every question in Section C.

DO NOT TURN OVER THE PAGE UNLESS PERMISSION IS GRANTED TO DO SO

 SECTION A: MULTIPLE CHOICE
Please clearly mark your answers on the answer sheet provided (2nd last page of this paper) by
indicating with a cross (x) over the option that you have chosen.

Remember to write your name and ID number on the answer sheet and to submit the full exam paper
along with your answer book.

Questions:
1. Which one of the following is not a specific goal of HRM? (1)
A. Attracting applicants
B. Seperating Employees
C. Retaining Employess
D. Developing Employees

2. A company's HR department can create an 'advisory' relationship through; (1)

A. Line authority
B. Staff authority
C. Hiring authority
D. All of the above

3. The majority of unfair practice disputes in industry are related to the problem of: (1)
A. Wages
B. Working conditions
C. Benefits
D. All of the above

4. The term labour relations means _________________________ (1)

A. Relationship between Management and Labour
B. Relationship between the organisation and employees
C. Relationship that grows out of employment
D. All of the above

5. What is the role of the trade-union in collective bargaining? (1)

A. To protect jobs and income
B. Better conditions of work life for workers
C. Prevent any possible exploitation of the employees
D. All of the above

6. Which of the following is NOT a process or principle of Discipline Management? (1)

A. Counselling
B. The principles of Natural Justice
C. Unfair labour practice
D. The disciplinary procedure

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7. A list consisting of job duties and responsibilities is part of: (1)
A. Job description
B. Job analysis
C. Job specification
D. Both A and C

8. Personal qualities and traits required for a job are stated in: (1)
A. Job descriptions
B. Job analysis
C. Job specifications.
D. Both A and C

9. Staffing includes _______. (1)

A. workload estimation
B. termination
C. appointments of personnel, placement
D. all of these

10. __________ involves using a psychometric test during the selection process and then identifying
the successful candidate. (1)
A. Predictive validity
B. Synthetic validity
C. Standard validity
D. None of the above

11. Allocation of employees to specific jobs is known as________________. (1)

A. Placement
B. Induction
C. Training
D. Orientation

12. Which among the followings describe the skills that are available within the company? (1)
A. Workplace Skills Plan
B. HRIS
C. Skills inventory
D. Management inventories

13. __________ consists of the learning opportunities designed to help employees to grow. (1)
A. Training
B. Development
C. Operational decisions
D. None of the above

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14. Which pair in order of sequences represents the first and last steps in a training & development
(T&D) programme? (1)
A. determination of T&D needs, and evaluation of T&D programme
B. determination of T&D needs, and designing the T&D programme
C. designing T&D programme, and implementing it
D. evaluation of T&D programme, and implementing it

15. Which one is not an objective of the NQF? (1)

A. Create an integrated national framework of learning achievements.
B. Facilitate access to and mobility and progression within education, training and career paths.
C. Redress inequalities in on the job training
D. Contribute to the full personal development of each learner and the social and economic
development of the nation at large.

16. A qualification is made up of: (1)

A. Learning Outcomes and CCFO’s
B. Exit level Outcomes CCFO’s
C. Specific Outcomes and CCFO’s
D. All of the above

17. A Performance Management System is _________________ (1)

A. A formal, structured system of measuring and evaluating job related behaviours and
outcomes to discover causes of poor performance as well as how to perform effectively in
future so that the employee, organisation and society all benefit.
B. A process of looking both to the future and to the past, in the context of the collective
performance of all the employees in an organisation.
C. The process of establishing goals, assessing employees and implementing the annual
performance appraisal process.
D. All of the above

18. All of the following are objectives of performance appraisal except: (1)
A. Giving the supervisor the opportunity to show his or her superior how well the supervisor's
employees are performing.
B. Giving employees the opportunity to regularly discuss performance with their supervisors.
C. Providing the supervisor with a means of identifying the strengths and weaknesses of an
employee's performance.
D. Providing a basis for salary recommendations.

19. The following factors influence the productivity of the workforce: (1)
A. Effectiveness
B. Efficiency
C. Labour turnover
D. All of the above

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20. The Purpose of the Employment Equity Act is to: (1)
A. Create equal opportunities and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of
unfair discrimination
B. Implement affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment
experienced by designated groups (black people, women and people with disabilities).
C. To ensure equitable representations in all occupational categories and levels in the work place
D. All of the above

21. All of the following are business-related reasons for managing diversity except: (1)
A. Better utilization of talent.
B. Enhanced creativity.
C. Increased quality of team problem solving.
D. Lower turnover and absenteeism.

22. Best practice analysis includes: (1)

A. Competive and Paradigm benchmarking
B. Collaborative and Paradigm benchmarking
C. Competative and collaborative benchmarking
D. Best practice benchmarking

23. Change Management is ______________________ (1)

A. A systematic approach in dealing with change at individual & organisational level
B. A gradual process of adaptation in the workplace due to new policies, technology, or even a
new boss
C. Both (a) and (b)
D. None of the above

24. Typical methods of collating HRIS input data include: (1)

A. Interviews and surveys
B. Information form clients
C. Interviews with Finance
D. Job analyis and surveys

25. Fixed pay includes: (1)

A. Basic pay and short term incentives
B. Basic pay and benefits
C. Basic pay and long term incentives
D. All of the above

26. In an organisation, the career path model would essentially form the basis for: (1)
A. Placement
B. Transfer
C. Rotation
D. All of the above

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27. ___________________is the process of searching for candidates for employment and
stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation. (1)
A. Induction
B. Training
C. Recruitment
D. Selection

28. Selection ends with ________________ (1)

A. Job offer
B. Contract of employment
C. Placement
D. None of these

29. Actual achievements compared with the objectives of the job is known as: (1)
A. Job performance
B. Job evaluation
C. Job description
D. None of the above

30. Can the assessment and selection of applicants be carried out in such a way that the 'best' or
'right' person will always be identified? (1)
A. Yes
B. No
C. If enough money is invested in the process.
D. If managers use their intuition or 'gut reaction' in making recruitment decisions

Sub Total: Section A: 30 marks

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 SECTION B: TRUE/FALSE
Please indicate whether the following statements are true or false. Clearly mark your answers on the
answer sheet provided (last page of this paper) by indicating with a cross (x) over the option that you
have chosen.

Remember to write your name and ID number on the answer sheet and to submit the full exam paper
along with your answer book.

Questions:
TRUE FALSE
1. Selection, involves the choice, from a pool of candidates, of the most
suitable candidate who, according to the judgement of the selection panel,
best meets the given job requirements.
2. Training is a learning experience to the extent that it seeks a relatively
permanent change in an individual that will improve his or her ability to
perform on the job.

3. Recruitment has little effect on employee retention

4. As internal consultants, HR practitioners need specific competencies,

characteristics & skills that would enable them to provide critical input into
the strategic initiatives of the organisation & become increasingly involved
in the implementation of strategies.
5. HRM includes Administrative Service and transactional work in addition to
developing strategic HR initiatives in response to business issues.

6. Fair treatment of workers results in lower performance and increased costs.

7. In a dispute, it is the arbitrator's responsibility to interpret the intent of the

labour agreement

8. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (no. 75 of 1997) does not prescribe
a minimum wage.

9. Workplace forums are not a method of settlement in an industrial dispute.

10. 20. Health and safety in the workplace is not the responsibility of the HR
department.

Sub Total: Section B: 10 marks

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 SECTION C: CASE STUDY
Read through the case study provided below and answer the questions that follow.

Clearly mark your answers in your answer book.

MAC’S AUTO
Darren and Thabo are the joint owners of Mac’s Auto, a small car repair workshop which was
established in 2018. They currently employ 10 people: 5 qualified mechanics, 3 artisan assistants,
a cleaner and an HR Practitioner called Jane.

Although Mac’s Auto has been doing very well financially, there have been a number of hiccups
over the last couple of months. A number of jobs were not completed on time, which resulted in
client dissatisfaction. There have been a couple of safety incidents in the workshop and increasing
pressure has been put on the employees to finish their jobs on time. As a result 2 employees
resigned and 2 new employees were appointed in their place.

Recruitment is based on word of mouth and personal acquaintance. Darren or Thabo will
sometimes come across a likely candidate and offer the person a job on the spot. The first thing
that Jane, who handles HR, will hear about this is when the person reports for work on his/her first
day.

Jane is responsible for Finance and Admin. HR Admin also forms part of her function. Some of the
HR functions, like recruitment, are handled directly by Darren and Thabo. There are no HR policies
in place. New recruits to the organisation receive a letter of appointment, basically stating their job
title and salary.

Question 1: [10]
In order to develop HR Policies and Procedures for Mac’s Auto, Jane will need to take various sources
of legislation into consideration. Provide a list of what you consider to be the 5 most important HR
related Acts that Mac’s Auto should comply with when developing HR Policies and Procedures.
Motivate your choices.

Question 2: [5]
List at least 5 HR policies and/or procedures that should be in place at Mac’s Auto and explain their
purpose.

Question 3: [5]
Explain what Jane, the HR Practitioner could do to promote HR best practice when developing new HR
policies and procedures.

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Question 4: [5]
Discuss how best practice HR policies and procedures can contribute towards the monitoring and/or
improvement of health, safety and wellness within the workplace.

Question 5: [5]
Briefly describe the administrative role of an HR generalist, employed at Practitioner level.

Question 6: [10]
Currently recruitment and selection is based on an informal process. Draw up a basic step-by-step
recruitment and selection plan aimed at filling vacant positions that could be introduced at Mac’s Auto
to ensure fair and equitable recruitment and selection. (You may use a process flow diagram).

Question 7: [10]
During the first week on the job all new employees should be inducted. Outline what should be
included in an induction programme that covers organisational, departmental and job induction. The
plan should be based on the following:
Level (Organisational/ Responsible
Day Time Content (Key items to be covered)
Departmental/Job) person

Question 8: [10]
In the last couple of months, not only has there been an increase in labour turnover at Mac’s Auto, in
addition, there has also been an increase in the number of employee relations issues that has led to
disciplinary action, some resulting in termination and an increase in grievances. To address this it has
been decided to introduce a performance management system.

a) Briefly outline the main purpose of a performance management system with particular emphasis
on how such a system could address some of the problems related to labour turnover and the
increase in disciplinary action. (5)

b) Explain how the introduction of a performance management system will contribute towards
improved productivity and the overall strategic plan of the business. (5)

Sub Total: Section C: 60 marks

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 SECTION A: MULTIPLE CHOICE ANSWER SHEET
Name:_____________________________________ ID No:___________________________

Please clearly mark your answers on the answer sheet provided BELOW by indicating with a cross (x)
over the option that you have chosen. Remember to submit the full exam paper along with your
answer sheet.

Question Option A Option B Option C Option D

1 A B C D
2 A B C D
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 SECTION B: TRUE/FALSE ANSWER SHEET
Name:_____________________________________ ID No:___________________________

Please indicate whether the following statements are true or false. Clearly mark your answers on the
answer sheet provided BELOW by indicating with a cross (x) over the option that you have chosen.
Remember to submit the full exam paper along with your answer sheet.

Question TRUE FALSE

1 True False

2 True False

3 True False

4 True False

5 True False

6 True False

7 True False

8 True False

9 True False

10 True False

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