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Employees Are People, Not Resources

by Robert Dempsey on November 6, 2009

When you see employees as people rather than resources, your view on what information they should have access to changes, and the barriers to communication can be broken down.

Full Transcript

Hey everyone.   This is Robert Dempsey, I am Robert Dempsey, (laugh) CEO and founder of Atlantic Dominion Solutions.

And I am recording this in downtown Nashville where I am for the Enterprise LAMP Camp and tomorrow I’ll be in Franklin, Tennessee, speaking at the Big LAMP Camp.

And so far, I’ve been lucky to avoid any arguments with any PHP folks about which is better using rails or PHP or any of this.  Now there’s a guy that’s going to be talking about migrations and that problem, trying to pick a fight, but I’m going to avoid that as best I can.

But anyway, today I wanted to talk about something really quickly that I feel is important and something that has seemingly, companies have kind of lost sight of, and that is that employees are people and not resources.  And that’s kind of interesting that we have this department of a lot of businesses called Human Resources.

And really, I think that when we view employees, and I’m actually pretty sure that when we view employees as resources and not people, we start to value the folks working with us and for us very, very differently.  And one of the main issues that I see in businesses and what causes a lot of strife and what have you, is information.  And mainly the lack of information flow to people.

And when you view people as resources and not as people really, then that causes some major issues.  You really value them differently, you value their contributions differently and what you give to them is, I think oftentimes, a very minimal approach.  So, you have like dev teams that aren’t given enough information from the business side because people start saying, well, they’re developers why do they need that information?  Marketers, sales people might hoard information.  You have these just information silos.  And that causes extreme consternation for people within the company.

So, you know, we really need to shift the focus back.  And I see it shifting back which is good, I think it needs to happen on a much larger scale.  And again, just viewing people, viewing employees as people again and not as resources.

So, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on these topics and I will see you tomorrow from Franklin, Tennessee.  Have a great one.  Thanks.  Bye-bye.

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Tagged as: business, employees, transparency

  • I couldn't agree more. The only thing I'd add is that there are levels of that view. My current company has taken this to a level that is quite sophisticated, I have to say. The executives have come up with a system that not only treats employees as resources, objects in my view, but also one that treats employees on a certain level as interchangeable components. The individual skill and specialism is completely diminished, and since all employees are now interchangeable, pluggable parts, their opinion does not matter.

    It's quite demoralizing, actually.
  • That's a horrible state of affairs, and in my opinion, a horrible way of treating people and not a type of place I would want to work or a company with which I would want to do business. The obviously don't get it, at all. Good luck with your situation.
  • Thanks, I'm looking elsewhere to continue my career. What I will do is send this video to the numerous directors, vice presidents and the CEO on my way out. Maybe having this opinion come from a third party might do something to raise awareness.

    Edit: Sorry, one more addendum. People at this company look at their jobs as just that, jobs. I look at it as a career. This makes me care more about the process and the treatment I receive from those above me. Companies who want code monkeys couldn't care less if an employee is seen as an object. Obviously, this is not a company career-oriented people should work at.
  • marcgravez
    Srdjan, I hope that the management of your company doesn't pay attention to Websites like this one. In this economy its still better to be working than not. I wish you luck leaving on your own terms.

    The advice we *really* need is how to determine whether a company really cares about its employees -- during the interview process before we join! Every company says they care about their employees. In other words, they "talk the talk." But in my experience, very few actually "walk the walk." I did work at one such company; General Instrument in Horsham, PA. They had a slogan "Tie goes to the employee." And things really worked that way, at least until the merger and the dotcom bust.
  • That's a great point Marc. I'll talk with folks and come up with a list of questions that you can ask of your interviewers to help you determine this so you don't end up working for someone that doesn't care about you. Thanks for the comment.
  • marcgravez
    You're welcome. I'm pretty sure your list won't include "Is this a good place to work?" I don't think its possible to guarantee anything, but I think you can improve the odds. It may even be less a matter of asking questions than being careful to "listen between the lines." I'll look forward to what you can come up with.
  • Thanks for your comments Marc and your experience. I'll try to come up with some questions that can at least help someone figure out if the company cares or not, and I'll look for your comments there too. See you next weekend. I'll be wearing a bright red backpack that looks like a jetpack :)
  • Hey Marc let me know if this helps: http://blog.adsdevshop.com/2009/11/10/will-your...
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