In July 2016, Professor Michael Pirson inaugurated the first edition of the Humanistic Management Journal. The core of his message highlighted this management concept: “We firmly believe that the market economy has great potential for human development. In business, as well as in society, respect for human dignity demands respect for freedom. Therefore, collective decision-making, in corporations as well as in governments, needs to be based on open, equitable deliberation and the participation of all groups that may be impacted”.
The investigation called by said journal should focus on three basic pillars: the dignity, well-being and fullness of the human being. The relevance of this approach gained weight due to the complexity and pressure of the environment faced by companies and, therefore, by their directors.
The pandemic caused by Covid-19 accelerated the need to recover the human side of managing people. Realities such as the digital revolution, robotization and process automation, added to the constant pressure to achieve ambitious financial results, had been diverting the vision of responsibility that directing people means towards a utilitarian approach, limiting the director to the task of setting goals , give orders and judge the achievement or failure in the evaluated period.
A leader who directs people under a human approach is fully aware of a new reality:
- The borders in their daily work grew. The company is no longer its limit of action, there is a social and environmental impact that must be addressed in equal circumstances.
- Communicating is no longer enough. Especially if the message is about the values of the organization, act accordingly to really achieve the goal.
- lead with justice. Give everyone an equal voice, report what is good and what is bad, apply policies and procedures without distinction.
- Interact closely to understand people and be able to offer them meaning and purpose, by promoting their growth and self-realization.
Considering this new reality is that it becomes necessary to lead people with purpose. The way in which a team of people faces the situations that arise, evolves, reflects and learns; It is what we know as purpose. It is easy to confuse it with the organization’s mission. In practical terms we will say that The mission is usually established by the directors, while the purpose They must discover it, since it is the vertex where strategy and culture meet.
Purpose is a concept that has been widely used recently and the directors who take advantage of it know that it is a dynamic and permanent process, which arises naturally as a result of deep reflection with their collaborators on the successes, errors, fears and satisfactions that their responsibilities they generate.
in his book The Culture CodeDaniel Coyle offers recommendations to convey a sense of purpose by clearly identifying where it is required job and where creativity.
The focus on craft refers to responsibilities whose success depends on the person’s knowledge and ability, so it is necessary to establish clear direction and controls. The director must base the training of people on the repetition of activities accompanied by constant feedback. Experiential learning accelerates the development of the required skills.
The focus on creativity refers to tasks that require empowering and enabling people to develop certain skills and attitudes. The director must offer support and tools for his team to make and implement decisions in carrying out their work. Achieving it requires being attentive to the dynamics of the group, reinforcing their creative autonomy and giving them the assurance that failing does not bring negative consequences, of course celebrating and acknowledging when the team takes the initiative.
Finally, identifying a team’s purpose and building on it allows the manager to harness the sense of belonging to align the energy of the collaborators towards the creation of a dynamic work system that responds quickly to the uncertain environment we live in.
Get it back the human side of managing people can make a difference to attract, develop and retain talent, we must seek to build an organization where the collaborator is listened to and considered, where they have freedom of action in certain aspects and their personal-family environment is valued. Therefore, the equitable thing is to commit, collaborate and support not only in achieving business objectives but also in maintaining this system of interaction, knowledge and positive impact for all members.
*The author is a professor and director of the Personnel Management area at IPADE Business School (@AlejandroVazquezRios)