People are our Greatest Assets
The topic for todays discussion was "People are our greatest assets". This is something I have been hearing ever since I started working. And I am sure this virtue has been propogated several times over in the last several decades at every organization possible. Evidently it is not news and nor is it something that has recently been discoverd by the management gurus. Why then is it still a buzz word? I believe it is so because it is importat for organizations to understand this fact. However, most just preach and a very few pursue this virtue.
In the recent past and in present we have had umpteen number of management gurus talk about this including people like Peter Drucker. Give people empowerement, responsibility, motivation, care for them, etc. This is not a new thought. It has been with us since a long time. We have know this all along. Why is it then being talked about over again? Perhaps because we have not been practicing it. Managers / Organizations accept it cognitivly but do not reflect this in their actions. I feel that following this practice does not take professional training. It is only an attitude / behaviour that has to be developed over time. And the way it can be done is by creating a cohesive organization. Easier said than done I am sure. Perhaps the essence of the topic is a little intangible for me to be able to put in words. But by expierence I realize it.
In todays organizations people are our customers. While organizations are still in the process of acknowledging this, 'People' have already realized it. This is very evident from the way people work and respond to each other. The work environment has changed and the bureaucratic environment is quickly becoming the past. To get a work done managers can no longer impose their authority any more. You need to convince people about their and the organizations objectives. The entire framework of HRMS has moved from being a "Personnel Department" to "Human Resources" to now "Human Capital Management". People realize that employment is no more 'employment'. It is now more of an association from which both parties benifit equally. Employees invest their time and energy in the companies they work for.
Another intresting discussion was on how organization have increased focus on developing a positive winning culture. Organizations realize that everything but the culture can be replicated by their competition. Everything like product design, strategy, business models, employees can be copied / borrowed / stolen / bought by the competition? It is only the culture that cannot be stolen or copied so easily and hence there is am increased focus on nurturing a good organization culture.
As a contribution to the class I coluld share my expierece of some typical "people policies" of the companies that I worked with. Examples of how it is the people leave people and not organizatoins. How people impact the workplace more than the HR Practices. While i could share some of these with the class, the other thoughts we still left in work-in-process.
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