Cimb Under Fire For Fostering Cultural Clashes By Looking To South Asia For Its Hr Head Honcho

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THE Brazil men’s football team will be led by Carlo Ancelotti, an Italian, at the next World Cup. So will England which has placed Thomas Tuchel, a German, in charge.
The question being asked by the media and many citizens of those proud footballing nations is this – “Aren’t there suitable and qualified (local) individuals to do the job?”
That very same question is now being hurled at CIMB Group Holdings Bhd for preferring to hire foreign talent over Malaysians. This was highlighted in a post by Malaysiakini (BM) (@MKini_bm) on X.

The post was in response to the National Union of Bank Employee (NUBE) vehemently opposing the appointment of Animesh Mukherjee as the bank’s Group Chief People Officer (GCPO).
A statement by NUBE secretary-general Joseph Solomon expressed concern over Mukherjee – an expatriate from India – who joined Malaysia’s second-largest bank by assets (behind Maybank) on July 2023 having displayed a clear lack of cultural awareness and empathy which could contribute to industrial disharmony in what was once a harmonious workplace.

“Nearly 100% of CIMB’s workforce is Malaysian yet the GCPO’s decisions reflect a detachment from their well-being and aspirations,” claimed NUBE.
Ironically, NUBE’s official stance resonates with many netizens who, too, wonder if there was really such a dearth of talent in Malaysia.
“Hiring a foreign CHRO in a local bank can backfire due to weak knowledge of local laws, culture clashes, slow adaptation and poor employee connection,” opined one commenter.
“Local insight matters more than global buzz-lah. Pretty sure CIMB has got some great talents internally.”

Many also pointed to Pos Malaysia Bhd which also has an expatriate in Briton Charles Brewer as its CEO. Recall that Brewer was recently embroiled in a controversy which led him to issue an apology over remarks made in response to a postman’s request for a new uniform on an internal platform.

Insinuating that the CIMB HR chief had connections, one netizen point blank asked ‘who is his cable?’.

To which one commenter replied that the bank’s “cable” extended to the government ministers.

Some commenters chided CIMB for not being with the times. Unlike previous decades, Malaysians were now an educated and knowledgeable lot. There was no need to hire foreigners for such important vacancies, they argued.

This was just a reflection of a colonial mentality, postulated one netizen. Times may have moved on but the mindset remains the same.

In this day and age, it is indeed questionable that key positions in important national organisations are given to non-locals.
Is there still a need for transfer of knowledge/expertise? In this instance, surely knowledge of local cultures and customs is more pertinent than international profile.
Just like the appointments of Ancelotti and Tuchel to perceived sacred national institutions, the question comes fully loaded with all sorts of insinuations.
Time for the Madani administration to provide shed some light on these appointments given these institutions (CIMB and Pos Malaysia) are of public interest. 

- Focus Malaysia

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