People are not "useful"

"Usefulness shouldn't be used to describe people."

The problem with the idea of "human resources" is that people are not resources. People have resources. They have tools, skills, and solutions. But having is not being. Having a skill, a profession, or even an identity isn't being those things. Because you can't have "who you are." You can only be it. Just like everyone else.

Comments

[Tom Haskins]

Hi Joseph
Thanks for giving us this to ponder. I had fun with it. Here's some of my reflections:

Companies that think they have slots to fill set up HR departments to find pegs to put in their holes. Those companies act like they are a machine in need of more parts. If the humans feel degraded, depersonalized, dehumanized or decontextualized, that's not the company's problem. What is being sold to customers is set in cement. Creativity has already left the building. Perhaps the customers want the same old same old, cannot appreciate greater customization, have no use for better service, or cannot afford premium deals. On the other hand, the company's procedures may be so complicated, inter-dependent or costly that there's no messing around with bright ideas, creative problem solving or new approaches.

Companies that hire resourceful humans regard each employment candidate as unique. These enterprises are re-inventing what they do, how they do it, and how that better serves their customers. Creativity is in the building, as well as the hearts and minds of everyone there. They treat each others as humans who have resources, just as you recommend. People feel upgraded, personalized, humanized and contextualized. The customers feel well-served and treated to more valuable possibilities as the company evolves.

[Supernetuser]

Let's look at this issue in a dystopian sort of way for a moment. Humans are resources to companies, nothing more. A company has their own social security number and is basically treated by the feds as something to be protected over the people who work at the company. The CEO has the most money/the most worth/the most creativity at his disposal while an underling cannot hope to ever make waves or risk being fired. We are all corporate drones unless you happen to be self-employed at a small company. If you think about it, we barely own our own bodies since they come with a social security number too.