Vulnerability in Business

I have been reading Traction by Gino Wickman. As well as the great input for the entrepreneur world I inhabit for work, it has been validating personally for the approach I take with dealing with people at work.

Over the last 50 years or so the Personnel department has given way to Human Resources. The issue I have seen for many years is that there is a wholesale dehumanization of people with a move to viewing them as merely a resource.

The term resources within a business context will likely first conjure the thought of money. “Working capital, the life blood of a business” is something I have heard for many years in the business community and it is still a popular phrase. The  transposing of values here was not lost on me. Humans have became resources whilst money has has been anthropomorphised.

These changes in language have far ranging effects. In general money tends not to have an emotional response to it's use in business yet the language of life blood places very people based values upon it. On the other hand people feel, they are emotional yet are viewed as a resource, stripping them of their very nature.

Many corporations will talk about a happy work culture but many know this is glib platitude in many instances. Some companies do walk the walk, a popular example being the Virgin group, where Sir Richard Branson is cited often for his beliefs of looking after the employees first whole will then look after the company.

Humans are vulnerable, they feel, they have emotions. Vulnerability is a strength of its own. Consider that for a moment. Vulnerability is often associated with being weak, fearful, and exposed. But what would happen if:
 you let your colleagues see who you really are
 what you do best you did more of
 you let your leaders know you have doubts at times
 you listened more to your colleagues
 you understood your weaknesses and let go of some of the things you don’t do very well
 and instead you other who excel at those things take them on
 you asked for help?

In Traction, Wickman talks about letting go of the vine, the vine that you have been holding on to.

Those that have been around me for any time will know I talk about Cost, Price and Value. These three are often cited round sales like activities. The questions go along the lines of what does it cost to make the widget, what price is the widget being sold at and what's the value of the widget to the purchaser. I hope it is obvious that the relationship of these three leads to to understanding of profit, loss, sales, customer satisfaction and disappointment and so on.

However, the notion of cost, price and value can be applied to other areas of life too. What's the cost of a friendship, what's the price of a friendship and what's the value. I pick this example, not because I am a cold hearted friend but because I recently helped someone understand the extent to which they were being used and abused in a relationship – sometimes the cold hard truth is exposed simply and with clarity.

And so it is with vulnerability. What is the cost of being vulnerable in our relationships, personal and at work? What is that cost, probably cast in terms of risk, and what is the value.

To me the value has always been apparent. People feel. Treating them as such makes all the difference in the world to them and from a management only perspective, as Sir Richard Branson has noticed, employees that are happy look after the company. It's good for the people and it's good for the bottom line.

Personally, I would like to see the language around HR changed.