Business executives must strive to maintain a people-oriented philosophy of management. The daily press of commercial activity often makes it easier to deal with numbers, organization charts, inter-office memos, and administrative procedures. But industry is not the only segment of society that should pay greater attention to people. The federal and provincial governments have been under attack for treating people as “files” instead of as human beings. Insensitivity to human needs is a critical problem in nearly all organizations; yet, a humanistic approach to management is always good business, regardless of the industry.
The special needs of some people have been neglected. The physically handicapped have had to overcome some managerial barriers in order to achieve occupational dignity. Individuals who have served time in jails need jobs that will keep them from returning to criminal activity.
These situations reflect dissatisfaction on the part of people involved in or affected by business organizations. Such people argue that business has been too concerned about short-run profitability, machinery, evaluation, and control of corporate personnel and not concerned enough about the people involved. One of the aims of social responsibility is the achievement of a new concept of management that will take into account people oriented concerns.
Workers are more productive when they have a sense of participation in the decisions affecting them. Human resource development has thus become a major organizational objective for many businesses. People-oriented management requires a careful balance between productivity and profitability objectives on the one hand and employee desires on the other.
My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir – Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.
