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Putting the human back into human resources | Mary Schaefer | TEDxWilmington

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    Who here has heard the
    term human resources?
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    Who here has used the
    term human resources?
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    Who here thinks they know what
    the term human resources means?
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    Yeah.
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    Many times when we talk
    about human resources,
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    we're talking about that
    function in an organization that
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    handles the people stuff.
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    And what I'm here to
    talk to you about today
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    in putting the human back
    into human resources,
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    I'm here to talk to you about
    infusing more humanity back
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    into the workplace for
    those human beings who
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    happen to be employees.
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    You're going to hear me today
    use the word humanly a lot.
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    And when I have conversations
    with people about this subject,
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    that word often gets fed
    back to me as humanely.
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    And so let me be really
    clear on what I mean
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    by humanly versus humanely.
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    To me, when employers are
    treating employees humanely,
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    they're providing them bathroom
    breaks and water fountains.
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    To me, for employers to
    treat employees humanly,
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    it's to address the very
    human needs, such as the need
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    to be appreciated,
    the need to belong,
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    and the need to feel
    like you're making
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    a meaningful contribution.
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    Now, what does that look like?
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    20 years ago, I worked at a
    chemical plant in West Virginia.
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    And I was a project
    team leader implementing
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    a module of SAP software.
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    Some of you may
    have heard of it,
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    and it was the raw
    materials module.
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    And many of the people on my
    team were shop floor employees.
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    That means they were the people
    on the shop floor handling
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    the chemicals.
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    And one of them came
    to me and asked me
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    if I would help him develop
    so he could advance.
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    He wanted to get promoted.
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    And I was thrilled to hear this.
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    Now, this is interesting
    because, at the same time,
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    at this point in time, shop
    floor employees were not
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    viewed as people who
    had hopes and dreams
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    and who wanted to
    learn and grow.
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    And so I was more
    than glad to help him.
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    I talked with his supervisor.
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    He didn't report
    directly to me, and I got
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    his supervisor's permission.
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    And at the same time, I made
    the same offer to anyone else
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    on my team who was interested
    in developing and growing
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    in order to advance.
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    And three more people
    took me up on that.
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    Now, let's fast
    forward a few years.
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    Three out of those
    four people got
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    promoted into exempt positions.
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    One started traveling the
    world as an SAP consultant,
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    another became a
    supervisor, and a third
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    became a highly valued SAP
    resource within his division.
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    That third one is
    particularly close to my heart
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    because, when I started
    at that chemical plant,
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    he was sweeping the
    floors in my building.
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    Now, you might be wondering,
    Mary, what did you do?
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    I didn't really
    do anything fancy
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    that you couldn't find
    in any management book.
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    I think what I might have done
    a little differently was I
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    believed in these people.
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    And when human beings
    are treated in a way
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    that they are capable of more,
    they rise to the occasion.
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    So that was a nice story.
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    And is there a really--
    there's a problem here, Mary,
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    that needs a remedy?
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    Yes, there is.
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    The Gallup organization--
    among other things,
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    the Gallup organization studies
    corporations, employment,
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    and employee engagement.
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    And in their 2013 report on the
    state of the American workforce,
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    they tell us that 70% of
    the American workforce
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    is disengaged,
    with 20% described
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    as actively disengaged.
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    That's a whole lot
    of human beings
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    who are not getting their
    needs met, such as the need
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    to be appreciated,
    the need to belong,
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    and the need to be making
    a meaningful contribution.
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    I've been in business
    for years now.
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    And when it comes to
    putting meeting human needs,
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    as I'm describing them
    to you as a priority,
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    it tends to take a back seat.
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    And I find that curious
    because when any of us
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    are stewards of an
    asset like a car,
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    we wouldn't think of not
    giving a car what it needs,
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    denying a car what
    it needs in order
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    to work at peak performance.
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    Why would we treat our human
    resources any other way?
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    Again, this isn't
    just a nice story
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    that I'm telling
    you and a nice idea,
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    treating more people humanely.
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    It has bottom line
    business impact.
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    Researchers have shown
    that when human needs are
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    met for employees at work,
    the more they are met,
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    the higher the engagement.
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    Engagement, meaning that
    people want to be there
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    and they are willing to
    go the extra mile even
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    when nobody is looking.
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    Higher engagement has
    been positively correlated
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    to increased profitability.
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    What's that worth to us?
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    Well, here's one thing I know.
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    Again, that Gallup
    study I was describing,
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    they also tell us that through
    unskilled and unqualified
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    managers at work, they're
    impacting their organizations
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    by $450 billion to $550
    billion worth of productivity
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    annually by undermining
    employee engagement.
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    Yes, that was billion with a B.
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    But I'm not here to spout
    statistics to you today.
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    I want to talk to you about
    what Any of you here listening
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    to me today can do about this.
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    And I understand if
    you may be having
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    a reaction something like this.
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    Mary, if you think
    that I'm going
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    to impact some big organization,
    that is way over my head.
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    That's got to come
    from the top-down.
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    Or you might simply
    be thinking, Mary, you
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    can't make people who don't
    already value people suddenly
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    value people.
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    And you know what, I get that.
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    What I want to ask
    you today is to let
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    your own experience guide you.
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    And I want you to take a moment
    to think about a time at work
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    when you were made
    to feel good, or you
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    made someone else feel good.
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    I have a friend who told
    me he had a manager who
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    used to check in with him every
    day, and he really meant it.
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    This man remembers
    this from 20 years ago.
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    You can have that kind
    of impact on people.
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    I have a friend who has a
    colleague who brings her coffee
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    to her desk occasionally.
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    He tells her it's because
    she looks like she needs it.
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    She says it makes her
    feel someone noticed me.
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    I belong.
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    I'm seen.
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    And you can do this even if
    you're not in the workforce.
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    I stood in a grocery
    line one time,
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    and as a disgruntled customer
    in front of me moved away.
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    I told the cashier she had
    handled him really well.
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    And by the expression
    on her face,
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    I saw that she felt
    seen and appreciated.
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    And that's all we really want,
    as human beings, is to be seen.
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    We are feeling beings.
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    We want to feel
    appreciated, like we belong
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    and like we can
    make a difference.
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    You don't have to be a project
    manager like I was in order
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    to believe in someone.
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    So what I want to ask you today
    is to make a commitment with me
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    to take the responsibility to
    honor someone's worth at work.
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    And I know this is not just a
    commitment that I'm suggesting.
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    This doesn't happen suddenly,
    but it's also a journey.
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    And through your
    journey, I hope you
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    come to see this
    vision in action
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    and see it bring its
    power to reality.
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    Thank you.
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    [APPLAUSE]
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Title:
Putting the human back into human resources | Mary Schaefer | TEDxWilmington
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Duration:
09:37

English subtitles

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