Frederick Herzberg's Motivator-Hygiene Theory, Abraham Maslow's Heirachy of Needs, Victor Vroom's Expectancy Theory and Douglas Mc Gregor's Theory X, Theory Y are human resource management theories that are studied with great earnest, as organizations scuffle to diagnose and find solutions to the ills that plague the workplace. In this day and age we owe a lot to these humanistic psychologists as they have caused employers to realize that employees are not mere cogs in the wheels of production but rather an asset. These humanists do not believe that human beings are pushed and pulled by mechanical forces, either of stimuli and reinforcements (behaviorism) or of unconscious instinctual impulses (psychoanalysis).
Humanists focus upon potentials. They believe that humans strive for an upper level of capabilities. Humans seek the frontiers of creativity, the highest reaches of consciousness and wisdom. This has been labeled "fully functioning person", "healthy personality", or as Maslow calls this level, "self-actualizing person."
Now being that companies are equipped with this knowledge, they want to employ this 'fully functioning person.' They therefore spend millions of dollars and countless hours trying to figure out how to motivate their employees so that they may get maximum returns on their investment. These companies have caught on to the trend of having a Human Resource Department. These companies employ the countless work attitude adjustment workshops/seminars/retreats, hire the best human resource management practitioners, job rotation, job enrichment, job enlargement, motivational talks, increase in salary, increase in benefits, day off incentives, flex time, birthday clubs, social clubs and all of the theorized management techniques that are supposed to guarantee success, but somehow they DON'T.
Have we ever asked ourselves the reason why? Have we asked why there are so many disgruntled employees within the workplace? Have we asked why there exists the epidemic of absenteeism? Have we asked why we have employees trudging into work late each and every morning and praying for the clock to strike 4:00 p.m. or why getting them to go the extra mile is like squeezing blood from a stone? Have we asked why so many employees are feeling forlorn and any reference to the idea of work is like reliving a bad experience in hell? Have we ever asked why so many employees are just unhappy within the work environment and why there are so many work day prayer messages plastered on the walls or Daily Breads nearby to help one get through the day?
Have we ever asked why organizations are seeing such a high rate of turnover? Have we asked why employees loathe their bosses and just have nothing but ill repute for the organizations that they work for? Have we asked why when seeing an employee enter the door of his or her workplace, that there is this look that of a preschooler on his or her first day of school has on his or her face, of just not wanting to go. There is this look of I would rather drink a bottle of poison before I have to go in there, but the ONLY reason I am doing it& is because I know that I need my job in order to put food on the table, the only reason I am doing it is for my children or because I know I need to survive.
Yes we know that human nature is fickle and that it is impossible to please everyone because as we like to say some people just born miserable. We may want to believe that humans are just lazy beings who have to be coaxed into work. We may want to believe that after spending countless dollars on all of these full proof human resource management theories and practices that the problem is that of the employee and not the employer. Human resource management theories teach us that we employ the whole human being. They teach that an employee comes into the workplace with all of his or her past experiences and problems and that he or she may be quite a challenge, so this little net makes us feel good, because we really want to believe that our modern organizations are doing their best to serve the employee and that at the end of the day the problem is after all and I say it again the employee and not the organization.
We however make one simple but rather huge oversight in our human resource management approach. We disregard the human resource management Theory of Respect, the principle being that we should do unto others as we would have them do onto us. It is just the whole idea that we are all equals that we all deserve to be treated with a little courtesy and respect. We know of cases where employees enter the workplace each day and are emotionally battered and berated by their bosses, made to feel worse than a dog, made to feel like the scum of the earth.
These employers make the people feel small man or as the Windward islanders like to say old. There is the shouting, the ranting, the raving, the snubbing, the reprimanding and the threatening of one's livelihood on a daily basis. This is totally uncalled for. There is the constant harassment. There is this over showing of bravado. There is the 'I am in charge mentality' and 'I determine your fate, that is whether you eat or not' and trust me these employers go to the extreme. There is the total disregard for the employee not just as an important factor of production but as a mere human being, as an equal. Some employers like to say, 'Me, I aint buying company with a soul... I do as I like and who want vex dead...they are my subordinates and that's that...my job is to manage not to be anybody's friend or 'buncom pal.' Get real! Respect does not mean that you have to buy company or be your employee's 'buncom pal' but rather that you extend the general courtesies, that you show some respect.
My best friend Teslyn and I were discussing this same issue, after hearing complaint after complaint and she said, "Tryce, just think of it, the mere terms 'superior' and 'subordinate' implies and sets the precedence for the relationship that should exist between the employer and the employee...that is I am your superior ...the one who is duly in charge of you and you are my subordinate...that is you are beneath me...we are not equals in any shape or form... I don't have to tell you good morning when I walk in a room because you are a 'non-entity'... but you dare not do the same...I don't have to ask your opinion...If I need your opinion I will give it to you... I can speak to you in any manner or tone I chose... but you dare not open your mouth to answer me...because that would make you insubordinate...I owe you nothing...but you bow to me because I control the purse& I am holding the handle and you are holding the blade."
This is in fact true in many of our workplaces. Some employees are held hostage by their superiors. They are tossed and turned about at their superior's whim and fancy&made to feel less than human, the biggest bad word you could find sometimes, the employee getting it. I know that Eleanor Roosevelt said that no one can make you feel inferior without your own consent and this is true but believe me, having to go through that day in and day out can really do a number on one's emotional state. As human resource theorists and practitioners we need to focus not only on the training of 'subordinates' but also pay keen attention to the training of 'superiors.'
They should be trained not only on how to manage but let's go softer, train them and retrain them on the art of respect. Send them back to Sunday school if you must or ask them to give Mr. Keith Phillip my past 'boss' a call, because this man has duly mastered the human resource management Theory of Respect. We should go back to the basics of treating others as we would like to be treated. It doesn't matter what level the employee is at, everyone has value not just as an asset to the company but as a mere human being. Everyone deserves to be respected.
We spend the major part of our day in the workplace. This should be a warm and inviting environment, of course it is not a lime but still...We should not have to go to work and be abused or berated. We should not have to go work and be disrespected. No one deserves to be disrespected. I think that if most organizations employ the Theory of Respect they would be surprised to see the drastic change within their organizational culture. Try it and you will see! It is not costly. I can guarantee it would be full proof. It's called the Management Theory of Respect. |
