The Effect of Job Rotation in a Fixed Wage Setting Model

Abstract

The study investigates the extent job rotation on the career development of Royal Malaysian Navy officers in a fixed wage setting model. It attempts to fill in the gap in literatures concerning the impact of job rotation in a non-conventional wage setting model. The present study is benefited from an actual data set of Royal Malaysian Navy officers that is obtained from Department of Human Resource, Royal Malaysian Navy in 2017. The data consists of 1,686 officers that are ranked from Lieutenant RMN (ZA18/44) to Captain RMN (ZA24/5)2. The analysis of an Ordinary Least Squares OLS regression showed that job rotation is positively associated with education level, training, and experience. The likelihood of job rotation increases if the nature of job is more flexible in terms of hours of work, skill, and content. Further, there is a significant effect of job rotation on wage. Specifically, a quantile regression indicates that the low rank positions such as Lieutenant and Lieutenant Commander are benefited more from job rotation than a Captain in terms of wage premium. However, the small effect of job rotation in the fixed wage setting environment suggests a need to review the way job rotation is being implemented by Department of Human Resource, Royal Malaysian Navy. In this regard, work experience should be viewed as an important catalyst for enhancing the positive wage impact of job rotation, so much so that it outweighs the role played by educational attainment in the Malaysian navy sector.