The Department of Human Awesomeness

“My love, you are my most valuable asset.”

Take a deep breath, let the goosebumps subside. Now tell me: how did that statement make you feel? Loved? Respected? Appreciated? No, of course not. And here’s why: YOU ARE NOT AN ASSET! Nor are you a resource. You are a person. A human being. You have a mind, a heart, a soul. You are capable of brilliance. Of passion. Of magnificent achievement. And sometimes you suck. But thankfully, you have the ability to learn and adapt.

Now it would be a vast improvement if companies actually did treat their employees as their most valuable asset. At least they’d be well cared for. But it wouldn’t be good enough. This world view – held by so many companies – is benighted. It is fundamentally disrespectful to people (and, therefore, to humanity) to conceive of people as assets or resources. Oh, and by the way, it is also counterproductive. When’s the last time you went the extra mile for someone who treated you like crap?

So why, you might wonder, is the function in the company that has to do with people called “Human Resources?!” It is practically oxymoronic.

I’ll tell you why. The function wasn’t invented to help people. It was invented to control them at a time when the elites thought that the masses were incapable of changing their own underwear. So much has changed. So little has changed. Companies are still run by people who either don’t know anything about people or just don’t care. Companies still don’t understand that people perform much better when they are inspired and set loose against worthy challenges. Not when they are controlled. (Or even directed. Directing someone is just a more benevolent form of controlling them. More on that in another post.)

But the time are a-changin’. People are getting savvier. And they aren’t going to allow themselves to be treated as resources anymore. Those companies that lead the way towards providing people with work that ennobles rather than degrades the human soul, will reap untold rewards. Those that hold onto the tyranny of the old model will wither and die.

If you are in Human Resources, it’s time to rethink your mission. Your job is not to manage people. It is not to create career ladders. It is not to reduce the company’s health care costs. It is not to decide what people ought to wear to work. Sure, you might have to do some of those things. But that is not your job. Your job is to find awesome people, create an environment that nurtures awesomeness and then get out of the way.

You might start by changing your name. Right now, it’s kind of backwards and more than a little insulting.

Tagged as: HR