Managers, have a good think about how you treat your people.
We are not slaves!”
Yes … one of the employees said that one day in the organization in which he worked, but why did he say it? It came from someone who was monitoring the employees and then submitted a report to the general manager, stating that a number of employees are consistently late for work, documenting cases of absence, sick leave and emergencies.
This angered the general manager, and a series of punishments began for everyone, leading to tensions between the employees, the monitoring unit and the management. The atmosphere of the organization became charged with negativity, transforming the overall climate into a toxic work environment.
Are some managers still practising a form of slavery towards employees? Do they believe they truly own them? Unfortunately, yes. There are still remnants of the administrative behaviour that was practised before the Industrial Revolution, despite the existence of labour unions, multiple employee unions and government legal entities that regulate the legal relationship between employees and supervisors.
They impose many restrictions and regulations that reach an unreasonable extent in proper administrative dealings that maintain the positive psychological state of employees. They demand employees to achieve the highest levels of performance. Sadly, they live in an unreasonably delusional state of mind.
But who should we blame? After giving it some thought, my thinking led me to point the finger of blame at Human Resources Managers. It is their responsibility to conduct regular meetings and educational workshops for all levels of management.
They should also train employees in discipline and compliance with the organization’s rules and policies. It is also expected of them to make it clear to all administrative, technical and other employees that they can turn to the Human Resources unit if they encounter difficult problems.
If they remain incapable of correcting misconceptions and continuously studying and evaluating administrative systems to ensure alignment with the organization, they will lose the trust of employees and managers. Their management will become purely executive and not strategic. Employees will consider it worthless, and, on the contrary, they will see it as against their interests.
Furthermore, the diversity of roles also requires flexibility and embracing diverse work philosophies, allowing managers to balance between those tasks and the achievement of the agreed-upon objectives in the strategic plan. The Human Resources Manager should have played a pivotal role in participating in the development of the strategic plan known as strategic Human Resources Management.
In conclusion
Employees are not slaves and should be respected because they are the valuable tools that work towards achieving the organization’s goals and strategic objectives.
Human Resources Management in organizations needs to maintain a culture of administrative and legal knowledge dissemination, being convincing to all employees of its effectiveness and strategic role within the organization.
Managers should interact with employees with flexibility, ensuring that the organization does not lose its prestige and that employees do not lose their dignity, while achieving the planned objectives and goals.
Shaban Sabbah has more than 14 years of experience in human resources, strategic and operational planning, and quality management. He is a researcher interested in critical human resource management topics, and has rich experience in raising and discussing human resource management topics with professionals and those interested in the field.
