If we aim to develop people-centric organizations, it is essential to abolish the concept of Human Resources. A paradigm shift is imperative. Sustainable development will inevitably be humanistic.

By Martin Padulla for staffingamericalatina

It’s true. It sounds a bit strong. I know. You might be thinking, “he even uses the word abolish!” Another reader might say, “it makes me uncomfortable to read that title.” For someone else, it might provoke anger… “how dare he! The key area of the company!”

Surely, when I explain my wish, you may find more sense in such a statement and see that behind it, there is a powerful idea. But I used that word, and I don’t want to evade it. I’ll digress for a few seconds from developing the concept precisely not to play down what the word “abolish” evokes.

Urmila Bhoola has been a United Nations expert in an area that many people in the midst of postmodern superficiality ignore, deny, or assume doesn’t exist: she is an expert in contemporary forms of slavery. According to the ILO, in the 21st century, 40 million people worldwide are enslaved. That clear, that intolerable. I want to tell you this because if the word “abolish” seemed strong to you, you should know that in this beautiful region where we live, where slavery was abolished between 1803 and 1888 (Brazil being the last country in the world to do so), there are still people fighting for their freedom today.

Eradicating forced labor, ending contemporary forms of slavery and human trafficking by 2030, as well as ending all forms of child labor by 2025, are part of the Sustainable Development Goals agreed upon by all UN member states in 2015, including those in Latin America.

That said, I want you to know that your discomfort is understood. And shared! Language challenges; there are words that sensitize because they refer to unacceptable situations, to aberrant facts.

In slavery, in forced labor, there is the use and abuse of people illegally deprived of their freedom. This immediately generates widespread rejection.

On the contrary, there are other words that enjoy much acceptance from societies. However, when analyzed in depth, they should lead us to ask ourselves some questions.

In many organizations in the region, the term Human Resources is used with absolute naturalness. It is very interesting to analyze the word “resource.” The Royal Spanish Academy does not associate it with any individual. A resource is an instrument, a means. It refers to something material, instrumental, linked to ideas of cost, use, and utilization.

With things, there is a relationship of use. Resources are had. A very different dynamic occurs with people. With people, you are, you coexist. If a resource in a company is an object, the person who works is a subject; a subject who has resources, valuable, transformative (for better or for worse). Organizations are nourished by these resources through people.

The objectification of the person offers a very old and questionable view of the world of work. The BANI context of high fragility, anxiety, non-linearity, and permanent incomprehensible situations requires a focus on people. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has few pure industrial parameters; it is the post-COVID accelerated digital revolution with technological convergence and population aging. It is the era of coexistence, of respect for individuality, of Artificial Intelligence interacting with Human Intelligence or Stupidity.

Linguistic habits are often important symptoms of unexpressed feelings. Speaking of Human Resources is a shameful anachronism. Human Resources is an oxymoron without the poetic beauty of thunderous silence, eternal moment, or frozen fire.

Is it possible to embrace the era of diversity in an organization that conceives the people who work in it as human resources? Is the development of a person viable in an organization that considers them as an instrument? Are people a cost to be maximized? Can human rights apply to a thing?

In other organizations, the term Human Capital is used, a concept related to the investments made in workers with the aim of making them more productive. We are still talking about resources, still in a pseudo-Fordist paradigm. Investments in human capital are fundamental and essential, but managing people is much more complex. This complexity is related to closeness, empathy, support, dialogue, accompaniment, trust, communication, flexibility, understanding, freedom.

An organization centered on people is one that has a strategic business area that conceives those who add value through various formats as subjects, unique and unrepeatable. Individuals who are not, are becoming; people who, in freedom, choose to develop themselves aligned with a shared purpose.

The challenge for people-centered organizations is to design a diverse talent pool that learns to unlearn to relearn around a transformative mass purpose. This pool can be formed in various work formats, in different places around the world.

It’s about creating the dynamic in which creativity and innovation explode for the benefit of all.

It is to assume oneself as an agent of change for and thanks to the people who give life and shape to that organization. It’s not about changing the name of a management; it’s about a paradigm shift, a true cultural change.

It’s regrettable that in the 21st century, many organizations still conceive humans as resources. Placing the strictly human dimension at the center of the organization will be the real difference.

My wish for 2024 is that individuals and organizations, together, impact and transform, and that diverse forms of work consolidate as a great symbol of freedom.

I have no doubt that the digital revolution as a means toward sustainable development will be humanistic or will be nothing.

So be it. Happy New Year.

Foto de DESIGNECOLOGIST en Unsplash