‘Untrained individuals give HR profession a bad name’

PETALING JAYA: Human resources (HR) professionals have called for a halt on hiring incompetent HR candidates, claiming untrained individuals are giving the profession a bad name.

Software company HR manager and talent recruiter Kavinthiran Shanmugam said untrained individuals are unfamiliar with the Employment Act 1955 and its contents.

“Many of them do not know what the job entails. HR managers are service providers and the company employees are the clients. This is a concept that untrained HR candidates fail to understand.

“Too many of them believe their job is to issue circulars to staff, watch their movements and lord over them. Very few of them want to do any real work and this is a major problem for employees.”

Kavinthiran said a company and its staff depend on HR for fair practices and when unqualified individuals make poor decisions, conflicts with employees would crop up. As a result, recognition and reward programmes lose their impact.

Private university HR, administration and registrar senior director Dr Teh Choon Jin said hiring unqualified HR candidates will cause serious consequences for a company.

“While the HR department is responsible for hiring, firing, training and addressing employee grievances, incompetent incumbents will not be able to support and nurture new staff, including fresh graduates entering the workforce.

“Currently, about 44 public and private universities in Malaysia offer degrees in human resources. Business owners must hire qualified HR candidates with diverse skill sets who are capable of managing the full spectrum of HR portfolios,” he said, adding that qualified HR candidates can guide and mentor newcomers, and create tailored development plans.

“But the unqualified individuals will struggle to do this due to their lack of training. This will ultimately hinder the integration of fresh graduates into the workforce and limit exposure to best practices.”

Human resource consultancy managing consultant Usha Devi Arumugam said some companies take a chance on individuals who are willing to learn, even if they lack proper HR qualifications.

“In most cases, companies will hire unqualified HR candidates only as a temporary solution, while actively searching for a qualified candidate. This is usually done to fill an immediate need and avoid a prolonged vacancy.”

Usha Devi also said budget constraints can limit a company’s ability to attract experienced and highly qualified candidates.

“In some situations, smaller companies may fill the HR role with someone who fits their budget salary-wise, even if they lack experience. Some companies may even prefer to promote existing employees to HR roles, although they are unqualified to hold such positions.

“This is possibly one of the biggest mistakes a company can make as the employee that becomes the HR personnel will believe she got the job due to her good work, when this may not necessarily be true at all.”

She stressed unqualified HR candidates usually cause a high turnover of employees, who quit due to poor talent management, while the company itself will suffer from poor employee relations.

“This might look like a minor issue. However, it can directly affect the company’s public reputation due to word of mouth. It will discourage potential employees from applying for positions or joining such a company.

“Hence, it is important to identify unqualified HR hires through various strategies, including regular performance evaluations, feedback mechanisms and collaboration with other departments to gather insights on the effectiveness of HR.”