few decades, we have witnessed the development of a feminine
and masculine multiethnic workforce (even transgender
in some countries), of all ages, social environments, with various
curricula, and so on. The monolithic nature of the workforce
seems to belong to the past, but tensions subsist even
though laws in several countries prohibit discrimination. There
is, therefore, a need to become more sensitive to difference
and to adopt management styles, which reflect that difference.
Last, workers are also consumers and that dimension cannot
be excluded from our conception of germane topics in person
management as a human life must not be conceived in isolated
fragments (the employee at work) but constituted of many
inter-related dimensions (employee, consumer, parent, citizen,
player, etc.; see also Cleveland, Byrne, & Cavanagh, 2015).
A Generalist View Instead of a Specialist View
Kaufman (2007) in his review of the historical evolution of
the field reminds us that in the personnel management era, a
generalist stance was the norm:
It goes on to say that the term “personnel” as used in the USA
stresses that the function is “recognized as part of the
Management” and that personnel is not just a staff function but
includes “anyone who supervise employees, from the assistant
foreman to the president.” (p. 25)
In contrast, HRM has evolved and defined itself as a specialized
field of study, a kind of technocratic solution to the
human “problem” in organizations. A question could then be
asked: Are the other business specialties not concerned with
human beings? Nevertheless, being the specialist of the
human “variety” of resources, hopefully on par with the
other organizational resource specialists, entails professional
opportunities and financial privileges. However, this has
been gained at a price far too high in our view: the dehumanizing
of organization, the reification of the discipline, and the
subservience to economic elites often oblivious to those not
in the fold. We believe that person management is best understood
as the management of management and calls, for that
reason, for a generalist stance, which embraces all the aspects
of management. Organizations are many things, as Morgan
(1986) has aptly shown, but fundamentally it boils down to a
tool at the service of humanity; not the other way around. In
becoming a specialty of “the using up of humans as resources,
among others,” HRM is oblivious to its most noble aims, the
complexities, and the possibilities implied by them, which,
we insist, is a tool for the betterment of human beings. In that
sense, it must be reformed in a profound way.
Ethical Comprehension of Behavior Rather Than
Moralizing of Behavior
From our prior comments, we can conclude that we need a
nuanced ethical comprehension of human behavior and
endeavor in organizations. But more often than not, what we
observe in HRM practices is a moralization5
of the actions of
the participants in organizational life, mostly directed to
lower level employees and aimed at achieving purely economic
goals. The flourishing of behavioral codes of conduct,
of so called ethical codes (which are purely deontological, if
not legal, in their conception and application), cannot replace
the moral subject, that is, a person. Human beings are the
sole repository of moral impulse, moral imagination, and
moral conduct. What must be put forward is the possibility of
developing and using, beyond bureaucratic control, the
moral compass guiding persons. All the ethical codes in the
world will be of no avail if there are no moral human beings
to comprehend them, interpret them, and correct them as the
situation commands. We are conscious that some people
cherish the idea that human being cannot be moral if they are
not constrained to be.6
It is not a belief we share, as history
had amply proven otherwise; on the contrary, human beings
are the only and last moral bastions. Following the rules
blindly had resulted in all sorts of disastrous and inhuman
deeds.7
This is not to say that rules are not important but that
they alone cannot be the solution. We need persons with real
ethical understanding, not the factice or cosmetic window
dressing offered by many ethical codes, which is all the
morality some organizations have to offer (Pinnington et al.,
2007).
Some Operational Characteristics
Following our discussion on principles used to manage persons,
we will now look at elements characterizing implementation,
which will help understand how person management
could distinguished itself from HRM in concrete organizations.
We are not exhaustive in this demonstration.8
We will
present only a few salient examples, which are impartiality,
the sharing of advantages and risks, the use of tools, the
implied time horizon, the hidden costs, and, as a synthesis,
the articulation of different types of logic.
Impartiality in Human Relation Rather Than
Impersonality
Managers and employees have traditionally had an impersonal
and task-oriented relationship with one another. This
impersonality was put forth to avoid nepotism and favoritism.
Impersonality refers to an abstraction of the person.
With this impersonality, a human is not a subject, but instead
an object, and persons need to be recognized as subjects. So,
to avoid favoritism, we have to use another principle of
action, which is not fraught with difficulty like impersonality.
Duhamel (2003) distinguishes impartiality from impersonality.
Impartiality does not require that you be friends or
that you make friends, but if you do have friends, you are
linked to them through social obligations that fall under the
criterion of impartiality. Özler and Buyukarslan (2011)
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8 SAGE Open
define impartiality as the opposite of favoritism. It combines
individualist and collectivist dimensions (like the notion of
the person). The difference between impersonality and
impartiality is not just conceptual. In a practical way, impersonality
puts processes at the center of organizations and
makes them responsible for all actions. As Bauman (1994)
have aptly commented, if things go wrong within an organization
where the responsibility is impersonal, the result is
astonishing: In practice, nobody is held responsible if everyone
has followed the rules. When nobody feels responsible,
horrible deeds could be accomplished. Impartiality allows
person to be responsible and promotes relationship between
different persons, not necessarily friendship, but openness to
others.
Sharing of Advantages and Risks Rather Than
Asymmetrical Power and Advantages
Much has been said about the financial risks incurred by
entrepreneurs and investors in business projects. In this matter,
the most adverse outcome is bankruptcy, which happens
quite frequently with small businesses. Yet, employees also
experience risks and inconveniences. Senior executives are
in a distinctive situation because they can negotiate considerable
advantages that often shelter them from the basic
contingencies of everyday life. The situation of “mere”
employees is strikingly different. Certain employees risk
their health, even their lives. Each year, in every country,
work-related accidents and deaths paint a sad picture. When
we add employees who have mental health problems in the
workplace, it seems that any financial compensation would
seem negligible for those facing these risks. But work is
rarely a choice; it’s a necessity for most people. We must
also take into account the inconveniences and sacrifices
necessary for employees to obtain a position, not to mention
to keep it. Thus, employees must be mobile and available;
they must accept the fact that work ties are weak and that
they will have to cope with the business cycle. Although the
notion of suffering at work has long interested specialists,
few have highlighted the advantages of pleasant working
conditions. It is possible that the Puritan attitude, which
stemmed from Protestant work ethics, has held up the development
of a work organization focused on the well-being of
its employees, and not solely on work discipline as it is usually
understood (Barbash, 1984). Relationships with colleagues
have long been recognized as a key factor of
resilience in the workplace (Brun, 2002). Contrary to competitive
situations in which workers are pitted “against”
each other, cooperation and participation foster interpersonal
ties, which permit the unfolding of positive effects
through supportive social relationships. In the same way,
hierarchal relationships within the workplace provide a
plethora of possibilities, which stems from the style of leadership
adopted, a style that must be chosen to induce respect
and morality toward the employees.
Considering the set of