The industry we’re working in is called HR – Human Resources. Of all the resources an organization uses and needs, we are taking care of the human ones. Not the coal, not the ink, not the diggers, not the airplanes, but the humans. And while this is definitely a commonplace it is worth remembering from time to time.
Because especially in larger organizations, higher in the ranks, where several humans are grouped, rated, condensed, aggregated, allocated like any other resource, we should never forget that it is actually humans we’re dealing with.
Don’t get me wrong here. I fully understand that in order to get a bigger picture we need to form groups of people, cluster them, shift them around. We even need to measure performance, output and the value a person adds to the purpose of an organization. But sometimes the terminology seems a little off. For example when I read a really great, well thought-through article about ⟶ ELTV – Employee Life Time Value. A term that evokes – with me at at least – the terminology from product marketing like planned obsolescence, resale value, and such. One might forget we’re not dealing with a new gadget, household appliance, or sweater.
But then – to end on a positive note – there are concepts like ⟶ Responsive Organizations, Greenlaef’s ⟶ Servant Leadership, Laloux’ ⟶ Reinventing Organizations that give me hope for our profession to never forget we’re working with for humans.