Pitamber Dutt Pant
It is often used phrase that the utilized potential of human beings is just the tip of the ice berg. The potential is enormous but largely untapped. HR has the responsibility of bringing this latent potential in play. But the million dollar question is how do we make it happen? Creating a work environment that fosters a humane environment – an environment where people are considerate, empathetic & place high value on trust perhaps is the foundation.
Human beings respond best when dealt with affection. It is said that the Almighty created the universe to bring love & affection in the play – wherein Beings share the joy and the sorrow of each other, are truly affectionate and thus HE and the Beings both enjoying the drama. In other words, the process of dealing with all Beings is “affection & sharing”. Unfortunately the organizations by design create compartments and this creates a We Vs Them mentality. This is further complicated by the practice of managerial philosophy of Theory X.
McGregor illustrates this point well in his classic “Human Side of Enterprise”. He writes that whenever we go wrong in getting right results in the physical sciences i.e. not getting the hardness right, engine getting overheated or tool getting broken, we go back and find out where we went wrong in the process or selection of tools. However when the people do not respond in the desired manner, we simply blame it on them! Whereas unlike physical materials, humans are far more sensitive and therefore needs much higher precision on processes & tools.
Ample research and work has been done on the systemic part to build good human practices. But the focus on the human process part is still naïve and a bottleneck. A process which is humane, full of empathy and affection will bring the full potential in the play. It will create an ambience full of energy and creativity – benefiting the organizations in many ways. This process needs to be the focus of HR function, and changing the name from Human Resources to Human Relations (HR to HR) can be a stepping stone to this change.