This article is part of the Renegade Manifesto Series.
Human Resources is actually a pretty crappy name for what we do.
Back in the Personnel days, employees were treated as an expense to the business. Then Human Resources came around. Suddenly, employees weren’t a cost – they were an asset! They were an investment. They were a resource.
That was a big leap forward. The idea of employees as resources has a big flaw, though: When you treat people like resources, you dehumanize them.
Never forget that employees are people. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t demand great performance or that you should tolerate mediocrity.
When you think of employees as people, it changes the way you recruit, manage performance and focus on development. You stop simply utilizing resources and start inspiring people to do amazing things.
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@Ed – That’s a great story. Thanks for sharing it!
“When you think of employees as people, it changes the way you recruit, manage performance and focus on development. You stop simply utilizing resources and start inspiring people to do amazing things.”
I wish more people had this business philosophy. It truly would change the way business is done. Thanks for sharing.
@Mark – Glad you enjoyed it. I’m hoping we can make this dream a reality!
I agree that people should treat people like people but does anyone know of a business who still doesn’t treat employees like an expense. I mean do they really have a line item on thier financials in the asset area. Every company I’ve worked for has everything related to employees accounted for in the expense/liability sections of their financials.
@Chris Danielson – That’s a fair point. But what you’re describing is accounting and balance sheets. An account’s job is to track all costs and revenues for an organization, so failing to capture to cost of the human component would be a failure to do their jobs. For HR peeps and the managers they support… well, they’re not accounts.