1.1 Why Study Human Relations?

So, what is human relations? We can define human relationsRelations with or between people, particularly in a workplace or professional setting. as relations with or between people, particularly in a workplace or professional setting. From a personal perspective, there are many advantages to having good human relations skills. First, several of the top reasons people lose their job relate back to a lack of human relations skills—for example, the inability to work within a team, insubordination, or poor performance. Other reasons, perhaps not directly related to human relations, include absenteeism, stealing, political reasons, downsizing, and sabotage. Second, people who communicate goals, take initiative, and show leadership potential are more likely to be promoted. In fact, according to personal development guru Brian Tracy, 85 percent of your success in life is determined by how well you communicate and inspire others to take action. Another reason to develop good relationships with others relates to your own personal happiness. A lot of joy can come from having positive, happy relationships with others.  

Consider John, a very talented project manager but lacking in human relations skills. While he is easily able to plan and execute the finest details for a project, no one likes to work with him. He doesn’t make an effort to get to know his team members, comes across as unapproachable, and people are afraid to ask him questions. How successful do you think John will be in his workplace? While he has the skills necessary to do the job, he doesn’t have the people skills that can help him excel at it. One could say he does not have emotional intelligence skills—that is, the ability to understand others—therefore, he may always find himself wondering why he isn’t more successful at work (we will discuss emotional intelligence in Chapter 2 “Be Your Best Self”). While project management skills are something we can learn, managers find it difficult to hire people without soft skills, or human relations skills. We aren’t saying that technical skills are not important, but human relations skills are equally as important as technical skills to determine career and personal success. Consider human relations skills in your personal life, as this is equally important. Human relations skills such as communication and handling conflict can help us create better relationships. For example, assume Julie talks behind people’s backs and doesn’t follow through on her promises. She exhibits body language that says “get away from me” and rarely smiles or asks people about themselves. It is likely that Julie will struggle with the human relations aspect at work and in her personal relationships. If Julie had positive human relations skills, there is a much better chance she could be more successful. 

We can benefit personally and professionally from good human relations skills, but how do organizations benefit? Since many companies’ organizational structures depend upon people working together, positive human relations skills reduce conflict in the workplace, thereby making the workplace more productive. Organizational structuresRefers to the way a company arranges people, jobs, and communications so that work can be performed. refers to the way a company arranges people, jobs, and communications so that work can be performed. In today’s business world, teams are used to accomplish company goals because teamwork includes people with a variety of skills, which results in a flattened organizational structure. Because of this, we will likely have more interactions with a bigger variety of people, which of course, requires human relations skills. When using human relations skills in a team, a better product and better ideas are usually produced. In most businesses, to be successful at our job, we need to depend on others. The importance of human relations is apparent in this setting. If people are not able to get along and resolve conflicts, the organization as a whole will be less productive, which could affect profitability. Many organizations empowerWhen an organization gives the employees freedom in making decisions about how their work gets done. their employees; that is, they give employees freedom in making decisions about how their work gets done. This can create a more motivated workforce, which results in more positive human relations. We will explore this topic further in Chapter 7 “Understand Your Motivations”. Another reason why human relations is important is due to the concept of a gig economy or a consultant economy. A gig economyA system in which companies hire independent workers for specific periods of time. is defined as the hiring of people for a predetermined length of time. To obtain these “gigs,” human relations skills must be part of the toolbox of any employee.

Most organizations employ a total person approachThis approach recognizes that an organization employs not just someone with skills but, rather, the whole person.. This approach recognizes that an organization does not just employ someone with skills but, rather, the whole person. This person comes with biases, personal challenges, human relations skills, and technical skills, but also comes with experiences. By looking at a person from this perspective, an organization can begin to understand that what happens to an employee outside of work can affect their job performance. For example, assume Kathy is doing a great job at work but suddenly starts to arrive late, leave early, and take longer lunches. Upon further examination, we might find that Kathy is having childcare issues because of her divorce. Because of a total person approach, her organization might be able to rearrange her schedule or work with her to find a reasonable solution. This links to human relations because we are not just people going to work every day, we are people who live our personal lives, and one affects the other. Because of this, our human relations abilities will most certainly be affected if we are experiencing challenges at home or at work.

Human relations, however, was not always central to the conversation on organizational success. In fact, until the 1940s, little thought was given to the human aspect of jobs. Many of the jobs in the early 1900s were focused on production and located in factory-like settings where the jobs themselves were repetitive. The focus in these types of work environments was on efficiency. We can call this time period of human relations studies the classical school of managementA time period relating to the research of human relations that focused on efficiency. The time period for this school of thought took place from 1900 to the early 1920s.. This school of thought took place from 1900 to the early 1920s. Several theories were developed, which revolved around the idea of efficiency, or getting a job done with the least amount of steps.

Frederick W. Taylor was an engineer who today is known as the father of scientific management. He began his career in a steel company and, because of his intimate knowledge of the industry, believed that organizations could analyze tasks to make them more efficient.

Following his work, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth performed numerous studies on physical motions workers took to perform specific tasks and tried to maximize efficiency by suggesting new ways to perform the tasks, using less energy and thereby being more efficient.

While Taylor and Gilbreth’s research was more focused on physical motions and tasks, Henri Fayol began looking at how management could improve productivity instead of focusing on specific tasks and motions. Fayol created the Fourteen Principles of Management, which focused on management but also hinted at the importance of human relations:

Fayol’s research was some of the first that addressed the need for positive human relations in a work environment. As further research was performed into the 1920s, we moved into a new period of human relations studies called the behavioral school of managementA period of human relations studies during the 1920s when employees had begun to unionize, and researchers began to look at the human aspect of workers.. During this time period, employees had begun to unionize, bringing human relations issues to the forefront. Because workers demanded a more humane environment, researchers began to look at how organizations could make this happen.

One of the more notable researchers was Elton Mayo, from the Harvard Business School, and his colleagues. They conducted a series of experiments from the mid-1920s to early 1930s to investigate how physical working conditions affected worker productivity. They found that regardless of changes such as heat, lighting, hours, and breaks, productivity levels increased during the study. The researchers realized the increased productivity resulted because the workers knew they were being observed. In other words, the workers worked harder because they were receiving attention and felt cared about. This phenomenon is called the Hawthorne effectA phenomenon coined during the 1920s during a series of experiments where workers had higher productivity because they were being watched by researchers and felt cared about. (named for the electrical plant where the experiments were conducted).

In the 1950s, researchers began to explore management techniques and the effect on worker satisfaction. This was called the behavioral science approachA period of human relations studies during the 1950s when researchers began to explore management techniques and the effect on worker satisfaction as opposed to earlier years where the focus was more on productivity.. These techniques used psychology, sociology, and other human relations aspects to help researchers understand the organizational environment.

Since the 1960s, research on human relations has been much easier to assimilate because of technology and a focus on statistical analysis. Hence, this is called the management science schoolA period of human relations studies during the 1960s when the research on human relations was more focused on statistical aspects, due to the increase in technology.. So, while research today focuses on the human relations aspect, we are now able to use complex statistical models to improve efficiency and productivity while still focusing on the human relations component.

While we discuss the impact of technology on human relations throughout the book, it is important to mention the immense impact technology has had on this field of study. The inability to see body language indicators in virtual communication situations can make it more difficult to communicate using traditional methods, but software options like Zoom or Teams as face-to-face options can help alleviate some of these issues. Also, consider that through globalization, we are working with people from all over the world in many time zones who have different perspectives. Between technology and globalization, humans have never before (at any time in history) had the opportunity to work with such a diverse group of people, using so many various methods of communication.

Many organizations today are focusing on how to use technology to save workers time commuting to work, which is in part a result of COVID-19. In fact, about 16 percent of companies in the world employ a 100 percent remote workforceThe practice of employers allowing employees to perform their jobs from a location other than a central office operated by the employer.. Global Workplace Analytics cites the following benefits to remote work:

Besides the flexibility it offers employees, it offers benefits to employers too. For example, productivity increases, workers have higher performance and engagement, and retention increases. Also, companies save money by having remote workers, due to not needing to have as much office space. However, there are some key drawbacks:

While technology has greatly impacted human relations at work, there are some common denominators for human relations success in today’s workplace—whether or not technology is used. These factors will be discussed throughout this book:

We will focus on human relations in a work setting, but many examples will also relate to personal settings. The examples provided will give you tools to have positive relationships with coworkers, supervisors, and people in your personal life. These positive relationships—both at home and at work—help us become more rounded, happier individuals. This is good for everyone, including the company you work for.