Page 29 - AIMA : Foundation Day Souvenir

A MATTEr OF EMPATHy
Challenging as it may be, human resources management is an interesting job, provided one does it with passion and patience.
J devaprakash, Tarapur Atomic Power Station
Twenty-first century is witnessing the age of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). With an exploding growth in the digital field, computers have begun to influence human life deeply, replacing them in numerous industries. Robotic surgeries have become common in the healthcare sector. Robots and AI are ruling our homes too—from the vacuum cleaner to mood based lighting system, mankind’s dependency on machines is surging largely. What’s more, robots that can mimic many human activities, have already been put into service. Still, human brain is the best in the world. With about 100 million neurons—the information messengers—the mind of a human is superior to a computer in many aspects. It has the ability to think and has senses like logical reasoning, judgment, and creativity. Besides, emotions make humans a breed apart. So, handling of humans, particularly in organisations, is no simple task. When handling a machine or a computer that does not think, the human
operator remains authoritative, but when handling a human who has cognitive abilities identical to any other human, the manager or the handler goes diffident.
According to whatishumanresource.com, there are five ‘M’s—management, money, machines, materials, and methods—in an organisation. Human resource management (HRM) is all about first M, the men. From recruitment to retirement, HRM is involved in every facet of the workforce, but this is not an easy task. Every individual is unique, and has with the ability to manipulate the other four ‘M’s, which makes HRM a crucial aspect of any organisation. Smooth handling of HRM also streamlines other aspects such as production, sales, marketing, purchase, etc.
Over a century, HRM has been studied in depth and practitioners of human resources have developed numerous strategies to effectively deal with workforce which is the foremost asset of a company. Here are some of the ways HR managers can rely upon for fruitful human resource management:
• Listening is caring
We have two ears and one mouth. If these are used in ‘this same proportion’, particularly by HR managers, it will lead to genial employee relations. Listening is the key to problem solving. Even if a manager is in a helpless state, if he just listens to the employee, the situation he could turn the situation from hostile to placid. Showing interest in understanding the issue will give the employee a feeling of repose.
• Make them feel comfortable
Often, employees visit HR department when they believe that some injustice has taken place—toward themselves or towards other employees. During such truculent times, the HR manager must remain calm and attempt to make pacify the complainant first—get them seated, offer something to drink or eat, etc. Once peace
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