Treat people like human beings, not human resources

The success of any organisation depends on its people. Early management attempts to achieve organisational success were based on removing the variability of people’s behaviour by requiring compliance with rigid procedures, treating people essentially like robots, eg Fordism, Taylorism. It was eventually realised, thanks to the work of psychologists and organisational behaviourists, that not only was this policy socially undesirable, but that it placed severe limits on organisational success. If people were given the opportunity to contribute all they were able, organisational success would be almost unlimited.

Although the science behind this has been known for decades, implementing the necessary new approach to management proved beyond the capability of most organisations: although Fordism is now rare, coercive rather than collaborative management styles persist in many areas. Companies and national economies continue to perform way below their best.

However, the movement towards ‘employee engagement’ or ‘creating great places to work’ is beginning slowly to move things forward. Although there is nothing new in it, ‘engagement’ is beginning to capture the interest of the management sector, as it is claimed that high levels of engagement are the key to superior performance. Attention is starting to be focussed on companies practising collaborative management, like Gortex and SW Airlines who have been doing it for years, and especially on relative newcomers like Google and First Direct. The government has even commissioned a report, the Macleod Report, called Engaging for Success, extolling the virtues of ‘engagement’. It describes a number of companies supposedly practising engagement, although in my view what many are doing is pretty superficial. The report is short on analysis and fails to identify key factors that would increase managers’ understanding of what they need to do to create real engagement. There is much talk of surveys and internal newsletters, and almost nothing about management attitudes. A bonanza for the HR and communications industries!

The term HR itself is revealing: the key to creating a great place to work is to treat people like human beings, not human resources.  Nearly everyone is ‘engaged’ when they start a new job. It is management behaviour that ‘disengages’ them, turns them off if you like .Treating people like human beings needs an understanding of some basic human needs. Here there is scope for the business psychologists to step forward. Business psychology, according to the Association of Business Psychologists (I am a member), draws on the fields of organisational, social, economic and even clinical psychology.

Reducing this complex area to some essentials, respect and trust are basic human needs, and so is autonomy, called ‘self determination’ by the psychologists. There is also a need for openness by management: without clarity about the company’s purpose, and knowledge of the current issues facing the company how can the people see what they need to pay attention to. Lack of openness also signals lack of trust. I use the acronym ROTA, for respect, openness, trust, autonomy. ROTA needs to be borne in mind in all transaction between people, up down and across the hierarchy. Sharing information between colleagues al all levels is one of the keys to a successful organisation. If the ROTA elements are missing, the organisation will be a miserable place to work and engagement (and performance) at a low level. It’s interesting that the company motto at First Direct is EXPECT RESPECT. First Direct is really just a call centre based in an industrial building, yet staff say it is a great place to work, staff churn is low, absenteeism low, and morale high.

A discussion of engagement is incomplete without asking the question ‘engage with whom or what’? A good answer is: to engage with the purpose of the organisation. But a better answer (thanks to my friend Sean Trainor of uberengagement.com) is to engage with the company’s brand. If people do this, they pay attention to everything that contributes to or enhances the behaviours that customers are led to expect. What a great way for your people to set their priorities!

So what has all this got to do with Statec? Because we understand the true nature of engagement, we can help our clients work towards a genuinely ‘great place to work’.

We have coaching skills that enable us to support management on their journey, and help all company managers to develop a coaching style of management, desirable in helping the ROTA principles be applied at all levels in the hierarchy, so outperforming the competition.