OPINION: THE INTEGRITY OF HR BEGINS WITH CONFIDENTIALITY- Without it, organisational integrity begins to erode. By Thembekile Phylicia Makhubele My first on-the-job training was in Human Resources, and as a student of Public Administration, one lesson was etched into my professional conscience from day one: CONFIDENTIALITY IS NON- NEGOTIABLE. HR practitioners are entrusted with the private details of people’s lives, performance records, disciplinary matters, grievances, personal circumstances, even medical conditions. This is not casual information. It is sensitive. It is sacred. And it must be handled with the utmost care and integrity. The integrity of any organisation begins with the integrity of its Human Resources function and that begins with confidentiality. Once that’s lost, what follows is the slow, silent erosion of trust, ethics, and ultimately, the institution itself. SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THIS TRUST IS BROKEN? What happens when HR is infiltrated by people who speak without restraint whose mouths run like unchecked diarrhoea, spilling secrets in corridors and boardrooms, in hushed conversations and casual gossip? What Happens Is Simple and tragic,: the organisation begins to die. LEAKING CONFIDENTIALITY IS MORE THAN UNPROFESSIONAL, It’s Destructive. Once HR information becomes gossip fodder, cliques form. Whispers replace facts. The corridors of professionalism turn into battlegrounds of manipulation and fear. People start to wonder: Who knows what about me? Who’s talking? Am I next? Trust the invisible glue that holds teams and institutions together disintegrates. And in its place, a toxic culture flourishes. HR, instead of being a sanctuary of support and fairness, becomes a strategic tool for targeting individuals — often the very people who ask difficult questions or speak truth to power. WEAPONISING HR IS ORGANISATIONAL ABUSE. This is not just a breach of protocol. It’s an abuse of institutional power. When HR data is used to “deal with” people rather than serve them when files are pulled, stories are spun, and character assassinations are disguised as policy enforcement we are no longer dealing with poor practice. We are dealing with organisational bullying dressed in HR uniform. The damage is psychological, professional, and systemic. The victims often suffer silently anxiety, reputational harm, career stagnation, and sometimes the quiet exit of good people who simply can’t take the toxicity anymore. And worse still is when power-hungry leaders drive this culture when they enable or encourage the misuse of HR systems to control, intimidate, or sideline those they perceive as a threat. That’s not leadership. That’s fear in a tailored suit. THE COST OF LOSING TRUST IN HR Once employees lose faith in HR’s impartiality and confidentiality, they lose faith in the organisation as a whole. You can’t ask people to give their best in an environment where they don’t feel safe, heard, or respected. You can’t build an ethical institution when the very unit meant to protect fairness is complicit in its destruction. It is a slow, quiet unraveling. And by the time the signs are visible at the top, high turnover, disengagement, whistleblower complaints, and reputational damage the damage has already been done. A CALL TO PROTECT INTEGRITY OF HR It doesn’t matter how visionary your leadership is, how polished your strategy looks, or how well-funded your initiatives are, if your HR function is unethical, your institution is at risk. Confidentiality is not an administrative detail. It is the moral heartbeat of public service. It is the foundation of dignity at work. And those who cannot honour it should not be anywhere near the files or the people behind them. #writtinginmypersonalcapacity