When HR Becomes Administrative, People Get Lost - Message to HR

Cikgu HR
Jan 29
5 min read

One night in July 2025, I was scrolling through an active HR group consists about 800 plus HR practitioners and reading the questions and comments being shared. Many people were engaging, and most of them introduced themselves as HR. But as I went through the discussions, something didn’t sit right with me.

What I saw were responses that were very administrative in nature, focused on processes, instructions, and mitigation but lacking people understanding, legal depth, and accountability. It made me realise that many who call themselves HR are, in reality, functioning more as administrators. What surprised me most is that this is still happening today, when employment laws, HR tools, and information are easily accessible. Even with a younger generation entering HR, the old way of thinking continues to dominate.

So I wrote the message below, immediately and honestly, without editing. It’s not meant to attack anyone. It’s simply a reflection and perhaps a reminder that HR is not just about managing paperwork. It’s about understanding people, carrying responsibility, and having the courage to do what is right. The message goes....

[8/7/25, 11:27:11 PM] Sujos: Hi everyone, I've been reading through the comments and responses in this group. As someone who's been in HR for many years, I’d like to share some insights from my own experience — especially on where HR often goes wrong and how it affects the workplace.

Learn to take the blame, dont blame others.

These messages are also available in PDF format. If you find them useful, feel free to keep them. If not, just ignore. 👇

A piece of advice from this ‘old HR’

The Weight of HR: Law, People, and Accountability

Being in HR is more than just doing administrative tasks. HR is like carrying a shipyard full of people. The success or failure of both the company and its people rests heavily on HR’s shoulders.

To be an effective HR professional, we must carry a deep sense of patience, empathy, and

understanding for people from all walks of life. Every case, every employee, every issue requires us/HR to listen, to pause, and to think critically before responding. A strong HR person doesn’t only follow SOPs, they also think creatively and out of the box to find solutions that are fair, legal, and human.

This means we must:

✔️ Read constantly

✔️ Stay updated with employment laws

✔️ Research case studies

✔️ Learn from real-life workplace issues

✔️ Be the bridge between staff and management/employer

✔️ Keep growing professionally and personally

If someone in HR only focuses on daily administrative work like payroll, scheduling, and data entry, then they are not fully functioning as an HR professional, they are simply an administrator or assistant.

HR is just like a mother in a home. Your role is NOT to constantly find faults in employees or look for ways to expel them. A true professional in HR nurtures employees, focuses on retention, provides encouragement, and enhances staff knowledge and capability. We build people, not break them.

As HR, ask yourself honestly:

🔍 Do you retain a poor-performing employee?

🔍 Or do you label them and push them out without trying?

•⁠ ⁠How far do you truly understand whether the employee cannot perform or whether no one ever guided them properly?

•⁠ ⁠Would you retain a poor-performing employee without fully understanding why they’re underperforming? Or do you just label them as a “problem”?

•⁠ ⁠Do you mitigate the ‘PROBLEM’ AND FIND SOLUTION?

REMEMBER:

There is no stupid human being in this world. But there are people, including HR themselves, who do not want to learn — for a reason.

And this is where HR must think out of the box to uncover those reasons:

💡 Is it a mental block?

💡 A demotivated heart?

💡 A toxic supervisor?

💡 An unfit job placement?

💡 Personal struggles?

HR must think beyond warnings. We must think towards solutions. Not everyone fits perfectly into the same box — sometimes the system (in the company) must adjust, not the human. Hope you understand this. Think!💭💭💭💭💭

Not everyone understands the Employment Act BUT as an HR, that is NOT an excuse. If you choose to be in HR, you cannot afford to be ignorant of the law. Otherwise, your actions may lead to:

🚫 Unfair dismissal

🚫 Breaches of employee rights

🚫 Company liabilities

🚫 Unnecessary legal disputes

If you don’t understand, then learn.

📞 Call JTK — they give free advice.

📚 Attend HR training — if your company doesn't pay, invest in yourself.

❌ Do not create your own rules just because your boss says so — especially if your boss also doesn’t know the law.

Too often, HR points fingers:

“Boss suruh…”

“Saya ikut arahan…”

“Saya kena paksa…”

“Saya takut boss... boss marah...”

Yes? Then where is your dignity as a so-called HR professional?

If you choose to wear the title, then wear the responsibility. Your badge is NOT “yes-man” — it’s HR. Stand for what is right, or step aside. You are called the HR expert for a reason. If you cannot carry that responsibility, then move to a different position LIKE administrator, tutor, or other non-risk roles. Don’t put your company in danger by pretending to be HR without knowing the basics.

Over my years of reading, research, and HR case reviews — one fact is clear:

Many companies in Malaysia have had to pay heavy compensation due to unfair dismissal.

💸 Who triggered the problem? — It began with HR, for failing to establish a meaningful

relationship with employees and neglecting to build a sense of social responsibility from the start.

💸 Who allowed it to escalate? — HR again, due to ignorance of the law, blindly following instructions without understanding the legal or ethical implications.

💸 Who should have stopped it? — Still HR. When you accepted the role, you focused on the title and salary, without fully considering the weight of the responsibility and its consequences. Therefore, you ignored your duty and failed to carry out your role properly.

It all goes back to HR.

A message to all HR out there: before you take up the position or wear the HR hat, ask yourself — do you truly have the criteria to be one? If not, you will become a failed HR. You will end up screaming in meetings, unable to control your anger, calling employees names like “stupid,” “useless,” or “tak guna punya orang.” You may point fingers at others — but in reality, you are only reflecting your own incompetence. If you cannot carry this weight, it’s better you find another job.