EM ES & Beyond

The term “Human Resources” is often refered to illustrate the human input in a business. It could literally be refered to the act of man to build and civilise the universe with the talent god has bestowed.

“…Human resources is a term with which many organizations describe the combination of traditionally administrative personnel functions with performance management, Employee Relations and resource planning” (Wikipedia). The concept seems to be derived from the Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Contemporary analysis emphasizes that human beings are not “commodities” or “resources”, but are creative and social beings that make class contributions beyond ‘labor’ to a society and to civilization. The broad term “human capital” has evolved to contain some of this complexity, and in micro-economics the term “firm-specific human capital” has come to represent a meaning of the term “human resources”. Wikipedia.

Various literature is found in the field of human resources and it is one of the most talked about areas in academic debates and in businesses. It is a term that represents staff in businesses. And if you think about it deeply, you will hear a lot about the importance of developing a sound human resource for businesses to flourish or to succeed.

Think about it . . . if a business is to suffer for any reason, this ill-fated resource is first to be ignored, binned or cruelly treated. And than we hear layoffs, redundancies and notice chits. Imagine a company using the term “over-staffed” in a particular situation when they realize the business is staffed more than required. But if you think deeply, is it really the consequences of overly staffed or poor allocation of the resource itself. We never hear people talking about, things like more than required land resources, natural resources such as coal, petroleum, agriculture or livestock. Firms, corporations and countries fight for them, risk the ties for the sake of dominating them.

Considering the very nature of the term “human resources”, to me, it is often a term that is hijacked by businesses to gain their desired dividends with a mass usage of man in whatever way possible. Some keep a reasonable balance, few understand and treat human as a necessary resource and many just use the term and fail to treat it as an essential resource.   ends.

Literally, ‘Kaizan‘ illustrates, ‘Change for the better’ or ‘improvement’. In management terms this word is often referred for workplace quality improvement strategies that reduce waste and create a “quality-centric” approach in achieving desired results. This philosophy is inspired by a total devotion of maintaining an ongoing improvement strategy. Kaizan is practiced among various cultures, different levels of successful organizations, in personal development programs, and virtually every aspect of human life if improvement is considered a basis for great achievements.

Kaizan is believed to be derived from a Japanese philosophy which was initiated with an all-out improvement program in 1950s. Japanese created an image that reflects to high reputation where even a same brand if produced in two different nations, most prefer to own Japanese manufactures. Research has proven that quality prevails over the rest thus with Kaizan philosophy, Japanese manufactures determined to create the “quality” image that has greatly benefited the whole nation especially after a war devastated nation in early 1950s Continue reading »