Verity journal

Lazy, rude, or even, corrupt. For many Malaysians, the perception towards our civil servants is not a kind one. It is no surprise as we are constantly exposed to reports of bad service or worse still, crimes committed by people that we expect to run our country, communities and well-being.

 This is concerning as civil servants are integral in implementing government policies, thus it is essential that the rakyat that they serve are able to trust them and to engage with them in a positive manner.

Since the May 9 elections this year, we’ve seen Malaysia take incremental steps towards changing the practices of our public services, such as imposing a no-gift policy and committing to be more transparent.

It appears that the path forward is one paved with accountability. A point clearly highlighted when the newly appointed Chief Secretary of Malaysia, Dr Ismail Bakar, said: “In this era, we want to ensure that integrity and accountability are at the best level among the civil servants”.

But, how do we go about ensuring integrity and accountability?

As an employee screening company, we believe the best way to manage accountability issues is prevention, in which pre and during employment screening can prove to be instrumental.

A proper civil servant screening policy based on different levels of risk exposure can help the government ensure the pool of human resources are free of criminal records, security records, and will not fall victim to subversive elements, espionage and sabotage due to poor financial health or record.

The Malaysian government could also take inspiration from policies that Bank Negara already has in place, such as the Fit & Proper Criteria which places great emphasis on properly and regularly vetting senior personnel, while the Anti-Money Laundering Act focuses on having ongoing and periodical audits on all employees and, the Employee Screening Policy in which enforces that companies have to have latest 7 years on Employment History of their personnels.

The long term benefits include increased ability and trust, a reduction of corruption and in turn reducing financial and security issues as it would weed out people that are potentially dangerous.

To maintain and have a truly effective and trustworthy civil service, we believe that screening and verification should be applied to all staff at all levels and should be undertaken regularly. We believe this is one of the best ways to identify the right people to uphold the country’s renewed commitment to integrity and accountability.

For more information about employee screening and accountability, please stay tuned to www.verityintel.com.