So what is the perfect HR practice? The truth is that neither of them represents reality completely. It is complicated to understand why people behave in very different ways. That is why sometimes managers use the hard approach, sometimes – the Harvard model. If we go deep into the theory we may notice that they can actually both exist at the same time and this is what represents reality. What is suitable for one does not mean it would be right for another. According to Torrington (et al 2002: 26)
At root it is about whether or not there is an identifiable ‘’best way’’ of carrying our HR activities which is universally applicable. It is best understood as debate between two schools of thought, although in practice it is quite possible to take a central position which sees validity in both the basic positions.
McGregor (1960) argued that employees would respond reciprocally to how they were managed. Therefore, if workers were treated on ‘’Theory X” – they would react in ‘’Theory X’’ manner, and vice versa.
Maslow’s ‘’Theory Z’’ and Ouchi’s ‘’Theory Z’’
While Mcgregor's XY approach is generally focused on ambitions and management from the supervisor's and corporation's perspective, Maslow’s Theory Z allocates more reliance on the behavior and responsibilities of the employees (1954). He developed what is called the hierarchy of needs up that human beings progress. Once people reach a specific level of the hierarchy, they need to fulfill the next one. There are general needs (physiological, safety, love, and esteem) which have to be reached first, and eventually self-actualization. From Maslow’s theory, modern executives and managers find what really motivates employees.
Maslow's Theory Z should not be mistaken with the William Ouchi’s book called “Theory Z”. Ouchi's approach is often mentioned as the 'Japanese' management style. It is a mixture of “Theory Y” and modern Japanese management which assumes that employees are loyal and share the organization’s interests so it places a huge amount of reliability, respect, team-work and support.
Treating Employees as Human Beings
A fames quote states that "communication is the lifeblood of an organization" - and it truly is; it keeps the members of the company together. Better communication means employees are well-informed and thus, more productive because they feel involved. According to Jan Carloz (Former President and CEO, Scandinavian Airlines System), an individual without information cannot take responsibility; an individual who is given information cannot help but take responsibility (Nelson, 1997:44).
For example, VITAL (Virtual Interactive Teaching at Liverpool) is the University of Liverpool’s online learning environment. It enables quick and easy access to course materials and provides communication tools such as discussion boards, virtual chat and announcements. It is the best source for the students of University of Liverpool because it provides all the information about their lectures, courseworks and task, and they can keep in touch with their module coordinators. VITAL is an investment that is worth the money spent.
The collection of employee’s suggestions is the most appropriate way to involve all the members of the organization in running the business. It is important for them to know that their managers pay attention to worker’s ideas because these suggestions can make enormous difference (Nelson, 1997: 48). In one year, employees at Hughes Aircraft in Los Angeles generated more than 23, 000 ideas. The company’s management demonstrated its respect for its employees by adopting most of them – resulting in savings of $477 million (Nelson, 1997 : 49).
According to Bob Nelson (1997), empowerment can energize employees and motivate them perform exclusively. To empower workers means to give them the independence and autonomy in making their own decisions when a specific task needs to be done. This strategy would help them feel that they are significant part of the corporation and are trusted. Moreover, employees are able to make better decisions because no one knows better what their job is all about and what it needs to be improved. Generally, people know what they are looking for from empowerment – a flexible, fast-moving organization that is responsive to change (Danby, 1992: 1).
Nurses at San Diego’s Mercy Hospital have been giving the authority to perform patient-related tasks, such as drawing blood and performing EKGs (Electrocardiography), formerly reserved for specialized technicians. This approach has energized the nurses and improved patient care and has allowed management to cut six or seven layers of supervision down to three or four, and collapse thirty-five separate job descriptions down to only four (Nelson, 1997 : 24).
The disadvantage of empowerment is that not every single person can be reliable. Not all the employees will behave in the corporation’s interests. However, the successful manager will always recognize the employees who can be trusted.
Workers should not be scared of punishment because of mistakes. Think about an employee’s particularly tough day - maybe he is getting late to work because of annoying traffic jam; probably as soon as he arrives at the workplace, he realizes he forgot to take his laptop with him (and he was supposed to present a new project to his colleagues and managers the same day); a couple of hours later a customer decided to vent his or her anger at the worker. Just when it seemed that all was lost, his boss dropped by to thank him for doing a terrific job on an assignment that he is particularly proud of, and mentioned that his project can be introduced the next day. Suddenly, the employee’s troubles with the traffic jam, the laptop, and the customer were forgotten - replaced with the personal satisfaction of being recognized for a job well done (Bob Nelson, 1997). The good manager realizes that employees are not robots. To err is human, to forgive is divine. An employee in a constant fear of making mistakes will probably suffer from work stress and exhaustion by his job (Brun and Cooper, 2009).
Treating Employees as an Economic Resource
Some argue about the idea of employees treated as assets. It can be seen demeaning for humans to be listed as an economic resource. However, others think that treating human beings as assets will help bring to the attention of managers the significance of developing this “asset” (Atril and McLaney, 2011:482). As Torrington put it:
Managing resourceful humans requires a constant balancing between meeting the human aspirations of the people and meeting the strategic and financial needs of the business” (Torrington et al, 2005: 4)
Treating employees as valuable assets should combine two types of fundamentalism: people and shareholder value. Friedman et al. (1999) argued that “people are not our greatest assets” as Michael Hammer suggested. For Friedman et al., employees become more valuable when we invest in them, and we can evaluate returns on that investment (p3).
If you treat people as assets, they will generate wealth. Unfortunately, few organizations have placed the same amount of attention to understanding and tracking the human resources as they do in the tracking of financial and tangible assets. The problem is that the corporation often invests little time in understanding the nature of their ‘’intellectual capital’’. As Gordon Petrash, Director of Intellectual Capital at Dow Chemical, says ``if it can be visualised it can be measured and if it can be measured it can be managed'' (Mayo, 2000). By placing human beings in the asset section, managers can measure the profit, which the business generated, even better
How human capital contributes to value? Evaluating human capital is not an easy task. The more we see employees as the key driving force of value, the more crucial is to understand the balance of assets they comprise and how these can be grown. People can be stuck doing the same tasks they did yesterday, with the same level of knowledge. They can add value to the business day by day, but it may be the same value. On the other hand, people can experience different learning each day, as they grow, innovate and contribute more, pursuing the self-achievement level of the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.(Mayo, 2000)
If companies take care of their employees – they will respond by taking care of the customers, that means that customers will come back and, therefore organizations will generate profit. The first step toward achieving the strong and productive departmental structure is to build a solid foundation; one that can support the departmental structure, a supervisor wants to create (Grossman, Jack H.; Parkinson, J Robert; 2001: 25). Managers should not overstate the human factor or understate the asset factor because they are interrelated in every single aspect. The key to the successful management is to find the balance between treating workers as human beings AND as economic resources.
References
Atrill, P., McLaney, E. (2011) Financial Accounting for Decision Makers, 6th edition: Prentice Hall / Financial Times
Brun, J.-P., Cooper C. (2009) MISSING PIECES - 7 ways to improve Employee Well-being and Organizational; Houndmills, Basingstoke: Macmillan Publishers Limited
Danby, P. (2009), Setting the right direction. Business Strategy Review, 20: 58–63. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8616.2009.00632.x , , Article first published online: 27 OCT
Friedman, Brian, James Hatch and David Walker (1999) Delivering on the Promise: How to Attract, Manage and Retain Human Capital New York: The Free Press
Grossman, Jack H. Parkinson, J. Robert (2001). Becoming a Successful Manager - How to Make a Smooth Transition from Managing Yourself to Managing Others. Blacklick, OH, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing, 2001. p25. -http://site.ebrary.com/lib/liverpool/Doc?id=10001914&ppg=25
Hollway. W. (1991) Work Psychology and Organizational Behavior - Managing the individual at work; London, Newbury Park, New Delhi: SAGE Publications
Lustengarten, M. SPHR (2003) Treat People Like Assets and They’ll Create Wealth If You Don’t, They’ll Take You Down The Tubes!
Maslow, A.H. (1954) Motivation and Personality New York: Harper
Mayo, A. (2000) The Role of Employee Development in the Growth of Intellectual Capital, Mayo Learning International Ltd, St Albans, UK Personnel Review Vol. 29 No.4, 2000, pp. 521-533 = MCB University Press, 0048-3486
McGregor, Douglas. (1960). The Human Side of the Enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Nelson, B. (1997) 1001 Ways to Energize Employees; New York, NY: Workman Publishing Company, Inc. 708 Broadway: 3, 9, 14, 18, 38, 44
Taylor F.W. (1967) The principles of Scientific Management. New York: Norton; first published 1991
Torrington, D. Hall, L. & Taylor S. (2005) Human Resource Management 6th Edition :FT Prentice Hall / Financial Times
(2008) Accessed: 19 November 2010
(2009) Maslow’s hierarchy of needs : Accessed 26 November 2010
- Peter Murphy
EzineArticles.com Expert Author
VITAL Student Support Accessed 26 November 2010
