HCM553

HCM553 Copyright © 2025 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS)
ECA – January Semester 2025 Page 1 of 8
HCM553
End-of-Course Assessment – January Semester 2025
Performance Management and Total
Rewards Strategy
INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS:
1. This End-of-Course Assessment paper comprises 8 pages (including the cover
page).
2. You are to include the following particulars in your submission: Course Code,
Title of the ECA, SUSS PI No., Your Name, and Submission Date.
3. Late submission will be subjected to the marks deduction scheme. Please refer
to the Student Handbook for details.
IMPORTANT NOTE
ECA Submission Deadline: Sunday, 02 February 2025 11:55 pm
HCM553 Copyright © 2025 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS)
ECA – January Semester 2025 Page 2 of 8
ECA Submission Guidelines
Please follow the submission instructions stated below:
A. What Must Be Submitted
• The ECA requires each student to submit a report for marking and grading.
• Please verify your submission after you have submitted the report.
B. Submission Deadline and Mode of Submission
• Compose your report using Microsoft Office Word, and save either as .doc or .docx
(preferred).
• Deadline for Report: Please submit online via Canvas by
2 February 2025 (Sunday), 2355 hours.
• Multiple submissions are allowed before the deadline. After the deadline, one
submission is allowed, only if there is no previous submission.
• After the 12-hour grace period, mark deduction will kick in, i.e. 10 marks of total
ECA marks will be deducted for each 24-hour block, or part thereof that the
submission was late. Submissions with more than 50 marks deducted because of
late submission will be given a zero mark.
• Reports should be submitted in Word doc. format and document file should be named
in this format – CourseCode_AssignmentCode_UserID_FullName. For example,
ABC123_DISSERTATION_Sally001_TanMeiMeiSally (omit D/O, S/O). Use
underscore and not space.
• Please ensure that your ECA submission is successful. Once you have submitted
your ECA, you will receive a Paper ID. Paper ID is the ONLY proof of your
submission, especially in the event of technical failure. To download a copy of your
Paper ID, click on the “Digital Receipt” icon.
C. Please Read This Information before You Start Working on your ECA
This ECA carries 40% of the course marks and is a compulsory component. It is to be
done individually and not collaboratively with other students.
Submission
You are reminded that electronic transmission is not immediate. Hence, you are advised
to submit your work no later than the day before the cut-off date in order to ensure that
the submission is accepted and in good time. It is possible that the network traffic may
be particularly heavy on the cut-off date and connections to the system cannot be
guaranteed.
You should not jeopardise your course result by submitting your ECA at the last
minute.
HCM553 Copyright © 2025 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS)
ECA – January Semester 2025 Page 3 of 8
Plagiarism and Collusion
Plagiarism and collusion are forms of cheating and not acceptable in any form of a
student’s work, including this ECA. You are in effect taking work done by others or
work done together with others and passing it off as your own. You can avoid
plagiarism by giving appropriate references when you use some other people’s ideas,
words or pictures (including diagrams). Refer to the APA Manual if you need
reminding about quoting and referencing. You can avoid collusion by ensuring that
your submission is based on your own individual effort.
The electronic submission of your ECA will be screened by a plagiarism detecting
software. For more information about plagiarism and cheating, you should refer to the
Student Handbook (Section 5.2, paragraph 1.3). You are reminded that SUSS takes a
tough stance against plagiarism or collusion. Serious cases will normally result in the
student being referred to SUSS’s Student Disciplinary Group. For other cases,
significant marking penalties or expulsion from the course will be imposed.
Responsible Use of Generative AI
Please familiarise yourself with the University’s policy regarding the responsible use
of Generative AI. This can be found in the Academic Integrity Handbook.
(https://www.suss.edu.sg/docs/default-source/contentdoc/tlc/onlineresources/academic-integrity.pdf). Popular Generative AI tools include ChatGPT,
Microsoft Copilot, Grammarly and Quillbot. These are not the only Generative AI tools
available and the list of such tools continues to grow exponentially.
Please also be aware that the electronic submission of your ECA will also be screened
for AI writing. If you use Generative AI as a source of reference for your ECA
submission, you are expected to:
1. Declare that you have used Generative AI in your assignment.
2. Cite every instance of use of the Generative AI tool(s).
3. Provide a table detailing the name of the AI tool used, the approach to using the tool
(e.g., what prompts were used), the full output provided by the tool, and which part
of the output was adapted for the assignment.
HCM553 Copyright © 2025 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS)
ECA – January Semester 2025 Page 4 of 8
Please refer to the Academic Integrity Handbook for details on how to cite Generative
AI tools as your source.
It is important to note that declaring the use of Generative AI tools does not mean that
you are allowed to “copy-and-paste” the outputs from these tools word-for-word
(verbatim) into your ECA submission. This is simply another form of plagiarism.
HCM553 Copyright © 2025 Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS)
ECA – January Semester 2025 Page 5 of 8
(Full marks: 100)
Section A (100 marks)
You must answer any 1 out of 2 questions in this section.
Answer all parts of each question.
The paper should not exceed 3500 words, excluding diagrams and charts.
Provide the necessary citations and references, drawing on industry best practices and
market studies.
Question 1
You are the newly appointed head of the Rewards function in your organisation and
have been tasked by your management to submit an annual rewards action plan
comprising the review of the existing reward programs in your organisation and the
proposal for the year ahead. This includes reviewing the competitive total cash pay
analysis and a specific request by your management to review the variable bonus plan
for both staff and management to bolster productivity and profitability. In addition,
there is also a request to review and propose a recognition program directed at customer
satisfaction and cost improvements.
The review should cover all existing reward programs relative to meeting the given
objectives of the Company’s total rewards strategy. The annual plan should include the
quantum of the merit increment for the year to ensure competitive total cash pay for all
employees, as well as any proposed changes or new programs to be considered. Provide
the necessary justifications for the items in the rewards plan submitted, especially with
regards to the new/revised variable pay and recognition program. It is important that
your plan addresses and provide financial justifications (Returns On Investments/ROI)
for the business objectives as well as the Employees Value Proposition (EVP) of the
Company relative to the new and amended reward programs.
This reward plan should be based on a local or MNC (Multi-National Corp) company
based in Singapore.
(100 marks)
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ECA – January Semester 2025 Page 6 of 8
Question 2
You are the newly appointed head of the Rewards function in IT Solutions Electronics
(a local entity dealing with Info Tech outsourced and PC repair services) and are
expected to submit an annual rewards plan comprising the review of the existing reward
programs with the proposed action plans for the year ahead.
The review should cover all existing reward programs relative to meeting the given
objectives of the Company’s total rewards strategy. The proposed plans are meant to
enhance the effectiveness of the reward programs to deliver the desired business goals
for the Company. The annual plan should include the quantum of the merit increment
for the year relative to the total cash pay competitiveness as well as any proposed
changes or new programs to be considered. Provide the necessary justifications as well
as cost impact for the items in the rewards plan submitted. Your plan must address
meeting the business objectives as well as the Employees Value Proposition (EVP) of
the company.
All relevant information on IT Solutions Electronics are given in appendix 1 and 2. You
can provide any further information or assumptions deemed necessary. Please provide
the additional information in an assumptions list.
(100 marks)
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ECA – January Semester 2025 Page 7 of 8
Appendix:
Appendix 1: Salary Details of IT Solutions Electronics:
Relevant information for ECA Q2.
Positions in the Company, IT Solutions Electronics, with employee population and
(bench-marked) market pay of jobs from grade 1 to grade 8 and their average salaries
in the Co.
Market variable pay for non-managerial jobs (gr1-5) is 2.5 months’ pay; market bonus
for managerial staff is 3.5 months; bonus for GM position in the market is 5 months.
IT Solutions Electronics Company variable bonus is 1 month for all non-managerial
jobs (Gr1-5) and 3 months bonus for all managers and the GM (Gr6-8). AWS is 1 month
of salary for all staff similar to market practice.
Table 1: Grades & Pay information (Both Company and Market adopt a 13X annual
pay scheme)
Grade/Nbr
of Staff Typical Job Title
Average Pay
per month (in
Co)
Market Pay per
month
1 / 60
1 / 2
Technician
Store-keeper
2400
2200
2600
2500
2 / 15
2 / 2
Senior Technician
Administrative Assistant
2750
2900
3200
2800
3 / 5
3 / 1
3 / 2
Technical Supervisor
Store supervisor
Executive Secretary
3200
3300
3600
3450
3500
3700
4/3
4/4
4/12
4/2
4/3
Senior Tech Supervisor,
Accountants
IT Sales & Software Engineers
HR officers
Supply Chain officer
4300
4500
5000
4400
4350
4600
4700
6000
4500
4500
5/7
5/6
5/3
Senior HR/SupplyChain
Senior Fin/Accountant
Senior IT (Engineer/Sales)
5700
6000
6700
6300
6400
7100
6/3
6/4
Managers (Fin, Supply Chain,
HR)
IT Sales Mgr/IT Support Mgr
7700
8300
8000
9000
7/4 Dept Manager (All Functions) 11000 12500
8/1 General Manager 14700 15000
Total Employees: 139
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ECA – January Semester 2025 Page 8 of 8
Appendix 2: Other relevant information (for Q2)
IT Solutions Electronics deals with providing software, hardware and IT outsourced
support for medium and small size companies in Singapore. They also provide repairs
in computers (PCs & laptop) for major computer companies. They have a reputation
for high quality, speed & service; Their technical repair teams have a 2 shift work teams
in the service centre and off-site IT support teams; their sales revenue is more than
S$180M a year with their biggest expenses being payroll and electronic components
1. Management is concerned that staff pay is not sufficiently competitive. But they
want a more performance based total cash option that will pay above market for
higher contributions from employees.
2. Management is also concerned about pay for performance in the Co with
performance management being a weakness based on employees’ feedback survey.
Evaluation accuracy has been criticised with little alignment to work performance
or business goals especially with the yearly appraisal process.
3. There is also high turnover in the technical job (key positions like technicians & IT
engrs) at >30% p.a. well above the average mkt rate at 15%; main grouse cited was
uncompetitive pay.
4. Benefits costs have been rising, especially on medical/dental reimbursements (all
doctors and dental receipts are honored). Rising medical absences is also a concern.
Employees are relatively pleased with the Co benefits on vacation and healthcare.
5. Employees highlight a lack of recognition for doing well with customers or at work
(as in work processes and teamwork/collaboration with other staff)
6. Some key feedback in the recent employees engagement survey:
a. Lack of recognition for excellent work
b. Lack of communication from supervisors on work and performance
c. Inaccurate and sometimes disputed performance ratings
d. Stagnant career progress
e. Bonus payment is not attractive
f. Employees feel unappreciated with a very demanding and stressful workload
(key comments from on-site Technicians and software engineers) contributing
to high turnover for technical staff
g. Good benefits schedule and management seems caring and communicative.
h. Complaint of crowded work-spaces and lack of meeting rooms to meet and
discuss work with their supervisors and customers.
i. Suggestions by staff for exercise areas and childcare services
7. Senior Management (GM & Dept Mgrs) additional feedback and concerns:
a. Rising benefits cost is a concern as in rising medical costs & absences.
b. Ratings on performance is based on normal distribution which seems unfair but
Mgmt is unsure about other alternatives relative to fairness and cost impact.
c. Employees are not driven by performance, teamwork or customer interest
d. There is a lack of suggestions & efforts to improve or excel at work
8. Total Rewards Strategy is aimed to attract, retain and engage talents to achieve the
business goals with excellence in innovation, service and speed in execution. The
company desires excellent contributions. All staff shall be fairly rewarded and for
those exceeding goals and expectations with above market salaries and incentives
—– END OF ECA PAPER —–

HCM553 ECA QP Jan 2025