The Humanized Workplace de Jerome Braun foi um dos muitos livros que tive que ler
para a cadeira Seminar in Management nos meus tempos de estudante de gestão.
Foi um livro que gostei e que me marcou talvez por, na altura, trabalhar em
Recursos Humanos (RH) e também porque de todas as areas em que ja’ trabalhei,
RH ser a que mais gostei. No outro dia estava a
arrumar umas coisas e encontrei um “book report”, uma critica que tive que
fazer ao dito livro. Reli o que escrevi e que já me tinha esquecido. Fiquei
pasmada o quanto ainda é relevante – talvez agora mais do que nunca. O
objectivo deste post nao é repetir tudo o que então escrevi, gostava apenas de recomendá-lo vivamente
a quem, como eu, trabalha/ou (ou esta’ interessado) nas seguintes disciplinas:
gestão de recursos humanos, psicologia e sociologia do trabalho – assim como a
quem ocupe actualmente cargos de gestão. Por ser ainda tão
relevante, estou a pensar comprá-lo
e usá-lo como referência. Incluo um
link para quem estiver interessado, mas se acharem o preço proibitivo
aconselho-vos a o lerem numa biblioteca, que foi o que eu fiz. E já agora, se alguém souber onde se compra mais
baratinho, agradecia um link. Muchas gracias.
Disse que não queria
repetir o que escrevi, mas resolvi incluir alguns extractos/passagens “just to
wet your appetite” (disclaimer: what
follows is written in American-English):
From a Human Resources standpoint, it was with great
interest that I read Jerome Braun’s The Humanized Workplace. This is a
book that proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that companies that treat their
workers with respect, care and admiration are the real winners; companies where
workers must wear name tags, where CEOs, COOs and the like barely leave their
corner offices and where most are not even aware of their company’s mission and
Theory of the Business, are the
losers. Yet, some of these organizations have grown so large that superiors (no
longer familiar with day-to-day operations) feel that they must rely on report
systems to help them look over people’s shoulders; not unlike public managers,
many private sector managers feel that without excessive control measures chaos
would endure. The effect, though, is paranoia, which is hardly conducive to
productivity.
Managers hung up on a pyramidal structure of authority (that
often goes far beyond what is necessary to manage intelligent workers)
frequently use the claim of scientific management to bolster their powers –
forgetting, in the process, that scientific management does not mean endless
nagging.
Management is more psychology than science;
unfortunately, many managers believe in managing by intimidation, by reminding
workers who is boss and by refusing to accept the reality that empowered
workers who feel self-fulfillment, pride and ownership in their work are much
more productive than those who dread Mondays and Sunday afternoons and spend
the rest of week going through the motions and looking forward to the weekend.
Learning how to relate to others and getting the most out of a company’s most
valuable resource is, indeed, an art.
I also make reference to Douglas McGregor and the book The
Human Side of Enterprise, where Mr. McGregor discusses Theory X and Theory
Y of management . I tend to subscribe to the latter, which argues that
intrinsic rewards, e.g., pride and work-ownership are what really motivates
most people, whereas the former argues that workers can only be motivated with
extrinsic benefits, e.g., money. And I conclude that Braun’s historical perspective
of the Humanized Workplace proves this very point.
Managers should not be like policemen watching the work
of others, and they should not be like kings who inherited their positions.
Managers should be planners, advisors, trouble shooters; they should stand by
their subordinates when senior management exerts unfair pressure, but they
should be equally able to remind workers of the financial condition of the
company when they start being wasteful. Managers need to listen – the basis of
all good communication which, in turn, eliminates so many problems.
This is also a book that paints a very bleak picture of
the current malaise that plagues labor-management relations, at a time when the
gap between the powerful and the powerless seems to be widening in the United
States and in so many other parts of the world. It is because workers are so
painfully aware of the problems plaguing American business unionism that union
membership has been steadily declining for years; and as Union membership
declines, Mr. Braun reminds us of the inhumane conditions in which coal
miners, industrial workers and other blue-collar laborers were subjected to in
a not too distant past. While making this point, Mr. Braun also reminds us of
the correlation between social justice and productivity.
It talks about the current trend towards industrial
engineering, which tries to increase productivity with a very poor
conceptualization of the human costs.
It mentions how most workers are burned out by the time
they reach their mid-thirties and how many of those workers are apathetic and
feel helpless.
It talks about the discrepancy between the salary of an
executive in Europe and the salary of an American executive when compared to
the lowest-paid employee; how today’s typical American company is full of
workers who do not contribute to their full potential because they fear the
authoritarian they work for; how, as a result of a culture of endless
paperwork, division of labor and loss of teamwork, otherwise decent folks spy
on one another, do not communicate their concerns out of fear and do not trust
each other.
Some
favorite quotes:
1 – “If
American business is going to compete globally, it’s going to have to learn
that workers cannot just be used up and thrown away.”
2 – “Too
many managers who pride themselves on being shrewd are shrewd the way a con man
looking for money is shrewd.”
3 – “The
reality of a manager’s ego is often obvious to everyone but himself.”
4 –
“There is no science of management, just the art of administration.”
5 – “If
managers want worker loyalty, they’re going to have to give it.” (this is
probably my favorite).
With engaging and witty style, Braun describes not only
what is wrong with corporate America, but also how its (numerous) problems can
be fixed.
