It seems strange to me that the words Human Resources and humanist are not always viewed as synonymous. As a consultant, inexperienced managers often approached me on training courses to seek advice on managing staff. Of course, I tried to oblige but I also asked,
‘Have you spoken to anyone from HR about it?’
‘You must be joking,’ came the incredulous reply, ‘they’re the last people I’d talk to!’
The reason for this, it transpired was about a lack of trust but furthermore many added that HR were only interested in adherence to systems and did not want to get involved in ‘personal matters.’
When I started teaching English in Poland, a school phoned me to ask how a lesson with a new student had gone.
‘Oh, very well,’ I said, ‘we got on really well; he’s a little self-conscious and over critical but open minded and enthusiastic.’
‘I don’t want to know what he’s like,’ was the indignant reply, ‘just tell me his level!’
Having worked for a few schools, it came as something of a shock to see what a production line business it can be. In some cases, it’s just a matter of processing people along a conveyor belt which runs from B1 to B2 and so on. This is perhaps reinforced by the HR’s department to establish measurable outcomes and return on investment for their training budget.
It seems that in the desire to quantify and measure it is easy to confuse people with materials on a building site. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to measure progress but whether it’s HR or teaching, management or coaching, we need to remember that people are holistic, complex animals and never lose contact with the human touch.
