(Published in the Job Market-Working People section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, September 23, 2007, Sunday)
By Roel Andag
Contributor
From personnel management to people management
THE SHIFT FROM “personnel management” to “people management” has significant connotations transcending semantics. Business practice is progressing from “depersonalization” (man as machine) to “humanization” (workers as partners). From being treated as mere peons, workers are now valued as individuals – complex human beings with needs and emotions. The era of “walang personalan-trabaho lang” workplace mentality is fading gradually. This development can be attributed to driving forces such as:
Appreciation of workers’ rights – With the help of watchdogs and advocates, workers are aware of their rights and are more confident about asserting them. For its part, the company is well aware of the potential consequences of violating these rights. Legal battles, workplace conflicts and loss of trust are disastrous to the company.
Increasing consciousness about work-life balance – Business and workers seek equilibrium in their life at work and beyond. Burnout and fatigue lead to absences and underperformance. Work-life balance counters the adverse effects of work-related stress.
Search for personal relevance in constantly morphing work conditions – Workers are pressured to cope with technological advances, outsourcing, mergers and similar developments that result in the rapid obsolescence of competencies. Without proper retooling, workers feel disoriented and irrelevant.
Quest for competitiveness – Despotic companies simply cannot attract the best minds. Mistreated workers are not the best of performers. At the heart of a competitive company is a motivated workforce that accelerates productivity and profitability.
Availability of information – Information technology allows workers and watchdogs to obtain data easily. Benchmarking work practices is just a Google search away. Mass media is also a helpful information source and a powerful influencer.
A company that insists on the primitive way of treating workers as mere production inputs faces extinction. Its comeuppance is near. Here are some ways of valuing people at work:
1. Ensure that workers enjoy entitlements that are mandated by law. Comply with regulations governing compensation, social security, housing and healthcare. A law-abiding company will not have to deal with litigation costs and work disruption. Apply industry standards especially when they exceed the requirements of the law. Some companies provide daycare and scholarships for employees’ children.
2. Institutionalize continuous development. The first step is to know the workers’ development needs. Armed with this knowledge, run a responsive training, coaching and mentoring programs that provide vision and direction, enhance performance, optimize skills, improve relationships and facilitate change. Recognize employee’s self-initiated activities such as volunteering in nonprofit organizations as performance-enhancing credits.
3. Create a professional and comfortable work climate. Equip workers with technologies that enhance efficiency. Ergonomically designed equipment and furniture are worthy investments as they reduce work-related stress. Beyond the physical, a work environment that minimizes conflict while allowing creative friction will encourage workers to be more innovative. Apply sound corporate and human development philosophies to strengthen company culture.
4. Promote work-life balance. Stress-busting exercises, rest and recreation activities, subsidized gym fees or in-house facilities, allowing people to conclude a workday at the eighth hour and offering alternative work arrangements such as telecommuting are just some of the ways to prevent burnout.
5. Match jobs and persons strategically. Avoid job mismatch by learning about a person’s real interests and skills in relation to business requirements and objectives. Half the battle is won when a job role is assigned to the best qualified person. Solid support, capability gap remedy, monitoring and evaluation will ensure that the role is executed satisfactorily.
6. Affirm performance. Grant merit-based raises, incentives and rewards. Depoliticize such decisions by using objective performance appraisals. Recognition can be in cash or kind as long as it symbolizes the significance of the worker’s contribution.
7. Communicate openly and honestly. Establish mechanisms that engage management and workers in regular dialogue. Authentic communication characterized by verbal and nonverbal articulation and active listening fosters trust, promotes team cohesion, defuses conflict, reveals insights and encourages involvement.
8. Democratize decision making. Involve workers in making crucial decisions. Make sure that it is not merely token attendance in meetings but genuine participation. Allowing them to ventilate their views, with the assurance that their ideas are considered, paves the way for workers’ buy-in and cements their sense of ownership of decisions made.
9. Uphold the use of leaves of absence as a right. Labor law grants leave credits to workers. As such, leaves should never be dangled as “utang na loob” or rewards that are difficult to obtain.
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