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People are people - not things!

Posted to Gurteen Knowledge-Log by David Gurteen on 17 May 2003

 



Title

People are people - not things!
WeblogGurteen Knowledge Log
Posted DateSaturday 17 May 2003 09:43 GDT
Posted ByDavid Gurteen
CategoriesHuman Resources

This morning I received a management development guide through my door. I flicked through it and came to rest at the "Human Resources" section. And I shivered. No nothing unusual. In fact more of the same! What made me shiver was the language used to describe people.

There were four training courses and I wanted to rename each of them - to change the language that was used in talking about people.

  • "Managing human resources" to "Managing people" or even to "Working with people".
  • "Attracting, retaining and developing talent: a strategy for increasing human capital" to "Attracting, retaining and developing people: a strategy for helping people to develop themselves"
  • "Return on investment on human capital" to "Helping people to be their best."
The idea is simple:

  • Lets STOP thinking of people as resource, or talent or capital but quite simply as people!
  • And lets stop talking about manipulating people but about working effectively with each other and helping and supporting each other.
And of course lets not just change the language lets change our behaviours too!

But try as I might I cannot think of a better name for the most hated term of all "Human Resources"! Any suggestions?

Or maybe a paradigm shift is in order? Lets transform the concept of "HR" and then we would not need a new name!




If you are interested in Knowledge Management, the Knowledge Café or the role of conversation in organizational life then you my be interested in this online book I am writing on Conversational Leadership
David Gurteen


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Tuesday 19 March 2024
09:43 AM GMT