HUMANISTIC APPROCH TO PEOPLE MANAGEMENT AND IMPACT

ON THE EMPLOYEES

McDonald and Starbucks

Abstract:
Humanistic approach to people management is merely an idea based on human needs
and values. According to this theory of management employees in the organization are not
seen to be economic asset who are valued primarily for productivity but as people with
complexity of their needs and desires for meaningful and varied daily and casual tasks at work.
On the other hand, the theory of organizational humanism is quiet different which emphasis on
the use of human intrinsic motivation to groom personal qualification to increase the economic
efficiency of an organization. The key purpose of both the theories i.e. Humanistic approach to
people management and organizational humanism is particularly the same to achieve
organizational optimal productivity. It is being always expected from the organization that
when organization made emphasis on employees to make them socially responsible, the
activities of Human resource management (HRM) “Humanist” do affect the organizational
performance through better worker attitudes and behaviors and there approach also emphasis
the usual human needs and is oriented to the development of human virtues. There is always
being a considered that concern with humanistic approach to people management are mostly
directed towards theoretical concepts rather than empirical research.

Examples of two current organizations whose humanistic approach to people management

having impact on employees.

Lets considered an example of two organization currently working in Australia since decades
and having multiple branches through out the Australia and operating sustainable and
profitable business and providing benefits to the general public that are McDonald and
Starbucks.

McDonald and Starbucks humanistic approaches to people management and its impact:

Autonomy:
McDonald and Starbucks first component of humanistic perspective of people management is
autonomy involved. These both companies are providing supportive environment that enable
employees of the organization to exercise freedom in decision making process and that is
important characteristic of being “humanist”. Authorizing autonomy in job characteristic is
discretionary power of employer either he involved his subordinates or employees in decision
making or giving autonomy to do something or not. McDonald and Starbucks involve their
employees in decision making in annual meeting which is also a positively related to self-
esteem and higher autonomy demonstrate positive behaviors such as low absenteeism, higher
job satisfaction, job commitment.

Development:
The second perspective of humanistic approach of people management is development.
McDonald and Starbucks provide their employees a challenging task at every level where it can
increase the level of the employee’s abilities. The task are not so difficult which cause
frustration and dissonance and helpful to the employees to enhance their motivation and
ability to do further. McDonald and Starbucks treat their employees as an important asset by
perceiving and providing them a development opportunities for them which also creates a
strong corporate climate that suggest them that organization is willing to invest in them and
treat them well than others.

Trust:
The third component of humanistic approach to people management is trust. Trust can be
defined as “willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the
expectation that the other will perform a particular action important to the trustor, irrespective
of the ability to monitor or control that other party”. McDonald and Starbucks having work
relationship based on trust and mutual respect therefore the employees of McDonald and
Starbucks having better attitude and interpersonal relationships among the organization’s
members. These companies believe that it is possible to postulate that trust promotes
commitment.

Self Determination:
The fourth component of the humanistic perspective of managing people is self-determination.
It refers to whether an individual is self-motivated or not. McDonald and Starbucks provide
employees to have self-consciousness and freedom to make their own decision, determine
their own destiny in organization and grow by following the rules of the organization.
McDonald and Starbucks believe that fulfilling psychological needs create high self
determination that is associated with positive outcomes, such as well being and work
commitment.
Conclusion:
According to my study I came to the point that commitment from employees is a challenging
task for the organization, as the formation of commitment is a complex process. It is important
to note that satisfying employees’ personal needs, alone, is not the only way to build
commitment in the workplace; there is also a requirement for enough support of social needs
from the organization. Employees were found to be more committed and improve productivity
when they feel satisfied with organizational social responsibility. The manager must be aware
that an employee’s behavior is connected to their feelings and self-concepts. This explains why
when employees feel positive about their firm’s overall activities and corporate humanistic
responsibilities, their work commitment increases. As employee commitment and firm success
is interrelated, organizations should practice a humanistic approach in their corporate social
responsibility because this approach is likely to strengthen employee commitment in a
workplace.