The Challenge of Human Resources in Management. When facing a crisis, a change in organization, a difficulty with an individual in particular, Managers often turn to their Human Resources Department or Consulting expert firms outside their company. BUT not surprisingly,  the "HR" content you give to your Management Style and Behavior are the keystone to success, in any business, in any situation, especially the worst, and in most cultures. This assertion seems obvious but when it comes to looking at the facts in small, medium or big businesses, the problem remains .

Summarizing thoughts on my past Management Experiences for a conference at ESSEC Management, I picked up an "old" book, "The Problème du Chef" ("The Chief's Issues") written in August 1946 by a French Psychologist Henri Arthus.

The first thing that stroke my mind was the title itself referring to the "Chef". In French, the word "Chef" has had in the past 40 years a negative connotation, referring more to the old fashion, «military» conception of Man Management. The most commonly used word today is «Manager». Excepted in the world of cooking or «French Cuisine»,  the word «Chef» has  taken an emotional dimension good or bad according to the emotional relation created by the «Chef» with his team or staff or employees: the expressions «Le «Chef» («Boss» in English) is really nice» against «He is just the «Chef» («Boss»)» said without a smile, or with some deception in the tone of voice.

What is interesting in Henri Arthus’ book is the human dimension given to the word «Chef», summarized in the following quote, in the preface:

"The «Chef» is in charge of men. He has the intellectual capacities, the professional knowledge, the experience to analyze and give instructions to his men. But in his responsability as a trainer, a leader, the above qualities are less efficient than his mental and ethical values, his quality of heart and soul.»

The quote continues: « This problem is at the heart of the present issues that France as a country is facing in the economic battles it has to face. These battle will be won not only by the level of knowledge of it’s troops, but mainly by the psychological ability of the leaders to make people follow them in the right direction...their ability to lift mountains as we usually say. The confidence that men and women place in their leaders comes from the recognition of this ability.»

Re-reading this quote, I was thinking that the «R» in «HR» could stand more for Relation than for Resources, or should it be for both at the same time.

Training on the human content of Man Management should start right at the start of learning Management and Business. Looking at the programs of most MBAs and other business programs, the weight given to professional skills such as Finance, Marketing, Supply Chain, and other key functions of any business is excessively dominant. The share given to understanding how individuals act and why, subjects that have been studied extensively,  is left for the Human Resources optional courses.

Modern Manager freshly coming out of school are offered Man Management position with little tools to understand the dynamics that drive their teams to perform or not. And the key role played by their attitude, by their behavior in dealing with problems and issues engaging their men is too often considered as a natural gift of life: «Does he have it or not?».

For me «To be or not to be» is not the question. How to become conscious of the human mechanisms at stake ? How to be conscious of who you are as an individual interacting with other individuals from your own culture or from another one ? What do my human values become with things turn wrong ? These are some of the real questions to be asked ? The technicality of Human Resources and management is easy to acquire. The Human Dimension of Management is also if taken seriously right at the start.

Are you ready to follow your «Chef» in hell? What if answering this question was a keystone to working on «HR» in management