PUTRAJAYA: Human resource management in the civil service must ensure that no civil servants are shortchanged, says Tan Sri Dr Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz.
The Public Service Department (JPA) director-general said this includes ensuring that human resource management keeps pace with reforms and transformations so that mistakes do not recur.
He cited the example of a long-serving officer from the Kelantan State Forestry Department who was about to retire and almost ended up with a lower pension due to an administrative error.
Wan Ahmad Dahlan said the officer had inadvertently failed to update his human resource records.
“We do not want public servants who have devoted many years of service to ultimately be denied the welfare and benefits they should receive when they retire or end their service,” he told reporters after opening the Public Sector Human Resource Management Conference here yesterday.
Earlier in his speech, Wan Ahmad Dahlan said the quality of a system is measured by whether the same mistakes recur.
“In this regard, errors involving appointments, acting appointments, promotions, salary adjustments, disciplinary matters and performance management should not become the norm.
Wan Ahmad Dahlan also stressed that the rakyat should directly benefit from tangible results arising from government reforms.
“Rhetoric is no longer sufficient. We need to determine how these reforms are to be implemented, measured and held accountable at every level.”
Wan Ahmad Dahlan said Malaysia’s performance in the 2026 World Competitiveness Ranking had improved significantly, and said this should serve as a new benchmark for performance rather.
He also said salary adjustments under the Public Service Remuneration System (SSPA) would benefit two-thirds of public servants earning below RM5,000 a month.
He acknowledged that this was an issue, saying the SSPA would further increase the salaries of these civil servants.
“When we talk about insufficient income, there will never be a point at which everyone says, ‘I have enough.’
“However, this time, we can clearly see that we have already implemented a salary adjustment under the SSPA.”
Wan Ahmad Dahlan noted that salary adjustments must be balanced against the government’s financial capacity.
“In my view, based on the salaries they currently receive, public servants are not below the poverty line. What remains is how individual public servants manage their expenditure,” he said, adding that JPA is also studying other measures that could further improve incomes.
