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THE MEANING OF
HUMAN RELATIONS
There axe a number of ways in which a manager can motivate his personnel. He
uses motivation when he exercises leadership, when he instructs his personnel,
and when he communicates with them. But the manager has a number of additional
relationships with his personnel, both business and personal, that are not
strictly leadership, instruction, or communication. These business and personal
relationships are many and varied and important. Some of them are social, some
are psychological, and some are economic.. The hmnun relations aspect of
the manager's job includes relations with fellow managers, customers and
suppliers, other members of the community, and especially employees. We discuss
primarily employee human relations.
Human relations concerns: (1) the different types of wants of all people
dealing with the organization, and (2) the relationships (technically called
interaction) of those people as they seek mutually to satisfy those wants. It
involves the way people react to each other and to the organizational structure
and procedures which management sets up. Economic wants and relationships are,
of course, important in a business organization; but human relations also
includes social and psychological wants.
The three basic wants - economic, social and psychological as they are
expressed by all people interacting with an organization, give us the boundaries
of human relations in business. Good human relations tries to satisfy
those wants. Good human relations is the medium for effecting the maximum
satisfaction of the economic, social, and psychological wants of all
people having relations with an organization which has the objective of
increasing productivity.
A manager practices human relations every working day. If he did not, he
would not last long as a manager. Human relations is, therefore, something with
which managers are acquainted from first-hand experience. It is so much a part
of managerial experience that, when it is discussed, managers often retort,
"That's just good common sense. I've been doing that for years I"
Strictly speaking, managers who make that remark have a good point. Much of
human relations is common-sense applied psychology and sociology. Any successful
manager practices some of these ideas and principles every day.
Now, look at the problem from the other side. If good human relations is
"just common sense," why is it so scarce • so uncommon? Why
is it so difficult to use? Why was it not generally adopted by managers 50 years
ago? Surely they had "common sense;" The real truth is that common
sense is only a part of human relations - often a small part. Human relations
also requires the learning of technical knowledge about people, the development
of human skills, development of a philosophy, and research into conditions
affecting each situation.
All these things must be sought through study and experience, because they
are not often a manager's natural inheritance* Used in this sense, good human
relations is the most UNCOMMON common thing there is!
What about the argument, "I've been doing that all the time"?
Really, there is no argument* Present-day managers do practice good human
relations. The real problem is that they do not practice it enough. There
is universal agreement that human relations is not used adequately in most
organizations today* Many managers do not use fully the human relations ability
they now have; others have failed to develop it. Experience shows that a manager
can improve this ability through training and self-development, and that it pays
big dividends.
A STUDY OF HUMAN NEEDS:
| SOCIAL |
acceptance,
belonging, respect, friendship (the desire to stand in)
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| ECONOMIC |
food,
water, shelter, clothing, safety, security (the need to just stand up)
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| PSYCHOLOGICAL |
self-esteem,
accomplishment, fulfillment,
to be somebody,
the desire to stand out)
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Human effort is purposeful
Effort is motivated by the desire to satisfy needs
Needs can be classified
As a need is satisfied, it fails to motivate further effort
New needs arise before current ones are satisfied
Most needs are insatiable
Different people have different needs
Each person's needs change with time
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