AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON THE MALAYSIAN HUMAN RESOURCE PROFESSIONALS IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR

This study examines the competencies of Human Resource (HR) professionals in the manufacturing companies of Malaysia. The competencies that are examined are business knowledge, strategic contribution, HR delivery, personal credibility, HR technology and internal consultation. The sample employed here consists of HR professionals from Malaysian manufacturing companies in the southernmost state of Malaysia, Johor. The findings show that the top nine ranking HR competency factors are from the domain of personal credibility and HR delivery. The respondents self-rated competencies show that personal communication, legal compliance, effective relationship and staffing rank above all other factors. The three factors that have strongest correlation with firms’ performance are market driven connectivity, solution provider, and value chain knowledge. Furthermore, through difference of mean analysis, this study found that there is significant variation in all success factors (HR experience, education level, salary and firm size) relate to competency of business knowledge of the respondents in their organization.