The human resource fraternity in Kenya has been urged to shun corrupt and unethical conduct in their functional areas of jurisdiction to enable steady socio-economic growth.
Stakeholders in the human resource management (HRM) sector have raised concerns over an increase in corruption and other malpractices by HR practitioners at both government and private institutions, thus adversely affecting service delivery.
Speaking during the 27th graduation of HR practitioners at the College of Human Resource Management (CHRM) which saw 443 students graduate, the institution principal Margaret Kinyanjui noted that corrupt malpractices have been manifesting during planning, payroll management, recruitment, selection, deployments and transfer of staff.
She noted that HR officers are the link between any company’s management and human capital which is the most valued asset in any organisation and as such, the specialists should uphold the highest level of integrity and the institutional values for better results.
“If not prevented and avoided, corruption has the risk of hindering institutional growth and stability,” said Kinyanjui.
Her sentiments were echoed by Reverend Stephen Opiyo who regretted that mistreatment of workers is the genesis of corruption in the country.
He noted that the responsibility of effectively managing resources in the country is based on integrity and urged HR practitioners to set good examples in their respective organizations by upholding professionalism.
“The new HR graduates have the power to turn around the integrity issues the country has been facing by ensuring that recruitment is done professionally and workers are employed on merit basis,” stated Opiyo.
The stakeholders at the same time decried low uptake of HR courses by men saying that the profession has for far too long been female-dominated with women representing most of the profession’s students and workforce.
Dr Stephen Mosong, a HR officer at KCB bank noted that the profession has grown into a more data-driven and technology-oriented field requiring the input of men and urged men to consider undertaking courses in the profession to participate in nation-building.
