Classical Management versus Human Relations

In terms of workplace cultures, I've had the opportunity to experience both a bureaucracy and the human relations model. Several years ago, I worked for our government, in what our textbook and prevailing notion would surely describe as a modern day bureaucracy. We had a fixed division of labor, leaders who ruled from the top down and a clear set of rules that were outlined in quite possibly the thickest binder known to mankind. Furthermore, once I identified a way to improve the organization's position, my ideas were discarded because it did not follow procedure. I could go on and on, however, the point is that if it were possible for bureaucracies to exist today, then I uncovered the holy grail.

Within the past several years, opportunity has brought me to a medical device company in the private sector. Throughout my time, I have noticed that our human resources department attempts to play a role in defining the companies culture; 360 degree feedback, employees evaluating their managers and health and wellness programs are just a few of the mechanisms that are used to align the organization within the human relations approach.

I respect the notion of "romanticism" and "cow sociology" that is depicted in our textbook, after all, many of us are able to intuitively dissect the true intentions of the human relations approach. However, as society's attitude towards work changed, business was required to change on equal footing or deal with the consequences of low employee morale. The textbook takes us from empire societies and slavery which was basically authoritarian control to the industrial revolution, which led to the creation of formalized bureaucracies. Now the human relations model is the prevailing norm, yet another benefit of modern society.

Worst case scenario is the human relations model has the potential to patronize the cynics among us. We must consider whether the company really values employee feedback in the all encompassing sense, or does it merely serve as a sounding board for the malcontents to express themselves under the illusion of management's concern.

Personally, I value the human relations management style because it provides an avenue to make my job more efficient. The logic is that if I can identify a way to make our business model more competitive, then the modern day management style provides me with an outlet to do so. I simply have to "sell" my idea up the chain of command. However, I do not confuse human relations with human emotions, as this is not the intended purpose of the structure. I still receive orders on a daily basis, have multiple deadlines and have sacrificed "my time" on behalf of the business. What has not changed since the eighteenth century is that modern day companies simply do not care how I feel, rather how much I produce.

-Squid