How Can Employers along with Employees "Redeem Humane Touch" at Workplace

 “How and When Can our Employers along with our Employees Redeem Humane Touch at Workplace”

 

Why Redeem Humane Touch at Workplace:

Redeeming Humane Touch at Workplaces or better still Co-Contributing to the Cause of Co-Creating Congenial, Harmonious, Mutually Helpful and Supportive Employee Relations has become the Need of the Hour.

Most Workplaces in Superfast Moving times are becoming Obscure rather than an Oasis, as it were with flourishing Work Spaces with least of Peace or No Peace at all.

I can confidently conclude and safely infer that the Root Cause of such a suffocating scenario is because, we are forgetting or have almost forgotten that We Belong to Each Other and that We are Each other as often described.

I do make such safe and sound assertion/ averment, based on and backed by over Five Decades of Hands-On Experience, in Industrial as well as Commercial Establishments, both, and also by virtue of serving as Management Faculty (Visiting) in reputed Management Schools, in Delhi NCR, Gurugram and Mumbai and as Management Trainer engaged by Employers throughout Bharatvarsh that is India,

In the presently evolving “Set-Up”, some of the Employers are co-creating an Environment of a somewhat high degree of Tolerance of various Unhelpful Idiosyncratic Acts, on the part of a few of our Employees, not once, but oftentimes repeated with zero remorse. This malady must stop for it hinders Peace Growth, Prosperity, and Profitability.  

There could be many more Maladies and or Challenges but prominent are the following detected and identified by me and my illustrious Team-Members; in our interface with thousands of Employees during the Competency and Skills Development Programs/Workshops we keep conducting across our Country, over the years since 2000;

Some By-Products of unhealthy Human Relations thriving at Workplaces include:

1.     Unhealthy Body and Unsavoury Mind;

2.     Stress and Tension before, during and after Duty-Hours;

3.     Violent Inter-Personal Relationships;

4.     Violent Inter-Personal Behaviour leading to Indiscipline and Punishment;

5.     Avoidable Frequent Medication causing more Stress; and inter alia

6.     Domestic Turbulence.

In the presently evolving “Set-Up”, some of the Employers are co-creating an Environment of a somewhat high degree of Tolerance of various Unhelpful Idiosyncratic Acts, on the part of a few of our Colleagues, not once rarely but oftentimes repeated with zero remorse. This malady must stop for it hinders Peace Growth, Prosperity, and Profitability.  

There could be many more Maladies and or Challenges but prominent are the following detected and identified by me and my illustrious Team-Members; in our interface with thousands of Employees during the Competency and Skills Development Programs/Workshops we keep conducting across our Country, over the years since 2000;

 

Challenges of Employee Relations and Few Maladies:

• 1.     False Sense of some Divine Rights of Entrepreneurs, Employers, Management and Superiors in Organization’s Hierarchy.
• 2.     Colorable Exercise of Authority and Power (Extremes, Retaliation, Teaching Them a Lesson, etc.;
• 3.     Natural Justice getting Obliterated from Human Memory.
• 4.     Hostile Workplace Environment getting Reinforced. (Pace, Noise, Structure, Uncongenial Work Climate, Growing Fear);
• 5.     Rationality vis-à-vis Irrationality. (Impatience, Impudence, Haste)
• 6.     Dearth of inbred Individuals lacking Leaders Virtues, Values;
• 7.     Winds of Change (Universal Education, Liberalism, Org Mass Fear);

Let’s Save our Workplaces from any further decadence. Treat this Post as a Clarion Call from Kritarth Team. Our flawed Thoughts led us, Employers, Management, and Superiors to Do So Little to relate with their Own Employees who they dubbed Human Resource.

 

Why So Little, So Late in promoting Humane Touch in Business:  

Largely because of our previous unexamined beliefs, prejudices, biases, arrogance, dilemma, unfounded fear, and abysmal lack of willpower.

Further, the Personal Characteristics needed by any Manager are woefully lacking in many Managers who themselves are ruefully unaware of. 

The Four common Attributes/ Virtues are:

 1.    Will to Manage / Lead is the pre-requisite to influence others; Get Results, and Create an Environment where Team Members work together to achieve the set goals. Will to manage requires efforts, time, energy, and knowledge and maybe long hours in which Few of us are lagging behind. This must be set right.

2.  Empathy and Communication Skills call for sensitivity, and proficiency in collecting, collating and archiving Reports, Letters, etc in making Speeches or contributing to Meetings.

3.   Integrity and Honesty are being morally sound, trustworthy, having the strength of character, Candor, openness, Fairness, and behaving in accordance with Organization’s Ethical Standards.

4.   Consistent behaviour and performance are the deciding factor in his / her acceptance by his / her colleagues. Managers cannot rest on their laurels and have to work on credibility factors throughout. Credibility breeds trustworthiness.

In addition, to the above-mentioned, many Managers are Low on Application of One or all of the Four Principal Skills, narrated below:

1.  Technical Skills refers to knowledge of and proficiency in the work assigned involving methods processes, procedures, working with tools and technology, and other specific advanced techniques;

 2.  Human Relations Skills – refer to the ability to work with a variety of people in a variety of situations, cooperative effort, team bonding, making people secure, and satisfying people’s urge to express themselves freely;

 3.     Conceptual Skills – refer to the ability to see the big picture. Spot significant elements in a situation and understand the relationship among the elements; and

4.    Design Skills – refer to the ability to see a problem, see a solution or design a solution, solve problems, prevent problems and not just be problem watchers.

Why is the Spirit of Employee Relations getting Extinct or Non-Existent or remaining Dormant or Sluggish:

Our rational previous experience has produced a vast population of Managers who are able to do but unable to distinguish what is worth doing. Such managers have not engaged themselves in a “reality check’ and have overlooked why the AI Tools widely available, the Surging Technology, the Technique available through Innovation, the increasing Level of Education, and Enhancing Enlightenment of our Workforce have changed, miraculously and are constantly changing.

Yet out Attitudes, and our obsolete Outlook have not changed or are Changing at a worrisome slower pace. Many still are in for “relations by rulebook”, arbitrariness, and authoritarianism.

 They are unable to look at the present reality that our employees are educated persons, are knowledge workers, and that they know well the value they carry with themselves.

The current work environment is characterized by constant change, increasing pressure, cost-cutting and tougher performance standards. Without the cooperation from the best people, it is even harder to deliver the demanded outcomes.

Moreover, if you don’t involve your employees someone out there will win over their allegiance. The best available choice to retain them is to involve them.

Effective ER calls for change and becoming better than before. Change disrupts the status-quo. This unnerves many managers. Some managers are unjustifiably scared of discontinuity since it affects their Personal Self Confidence and Self Esteem since the consequences of change are unpredictable.

 Some Symptoms of Bad, Ineffective & Unhelpful Employee Relations:

Include indifference, alienation, strife, conflicts about trivial non-issues, unexplained absenteeism, avoidable accidents and low motivation and morale, more time spent on resolving grievances, the demise of innovation and creativity, more wastages, missed opportunities, etc.

Some Signs of Conducive & Helpful Employee Relations Signaling Better Times:

Humane Touch is a cornerstone of all relationships including that between employer and employee. When you also start doing what others successfully did, you will start enjoying what they successfully enjoyed. When you don’t, you won’t. For all practical purposes, we are what we repeatedly do, and therefore excellence is not a single act but a habit – a way of life. Conducive ER is made but not gifted.

Whenever organizations have a set of Highly Motivated Employees with heightened morale, it can claim to have excellent Employee Relations;

Time to Fine-Tune Employee Relations is Now

As the Champion of conducive Employee Relations, we will have to commit our time and by visible full involvement by providing ongoing direction guidance, and support in shaping the desired future,

Otherwise, there may be common emotional first responses like frustration, anxiety, anger, and even betrayal that does not subside or take longer time to subside resulting in some initial plain becoming long drawn suffering.

Embarking on building a conducive ER is a monumental task of setting in order our own world in order through a change in our thinking, and our sensitivity. If our approach has in it even a trace of hostility it will lose its sublime purpose and meaning. The traditional tools become burdens when the environment which made them necessary no longer exists.

We have Hope & Chance as long as Employees Express themselves:

Employees love to talk about their work, especially if they love their work. How often people talk about their work with their superior is a true measure of the superior’s effectiveness.

Negatively the employees will express frustrations and disappointments and will become difficult to deal with.

Let’s take a Pledge before we embark on our Expedition towards Redemption of Harmonious Employee Relations:  

Pledge-1: We all shall always Maintain & Enhance the Self-Esteem of our Employees.

Pledge-2: We all shall always Listen with Empathy: and

Pledge-3: We shall always Do the Right Things Right, First Time Every Time.

                              

You are Welcome, Dear Respected Readers, to share your Comments, your Valuable Feedback and Suggestions so that I and my Kritarth Team May Update our Understanding of this Subject matter. Thank you for reading my Blog Post  

• Harsh Kumar Sharan,
• XLRI Jamshedpur Alumnus, 1967-69 PMIR Batch.                                                          Formerly Employee-Manager in Tata Steel Plant, Jamshedpur.                                  Call for Clarifications, if any – 95604 53756. hksharan@gmail.com/hksharan@kritarth.in/ www.kritarth.in                             Updated on 8th February 2024.