Apparel Industry Management

Apparel Industry Management 3(3+0)

Lesson 12 : Human Relations Management

Importance of Human Relations

1. Predominant place of human relations in business: The place that human relations occupies in business can be illustrated by a set of equations. Let us first look at a worker’s ability. It is generally accepted that knowledge and one’s skill in applying it constitute the human trait called ‘ability.’ This may be represented by the equation:

Knowledge x Skill = Ability
Looking now at Motivation, it results from a person’s attitude reaching in a specific situation. This is the equation:
Situation x Attitude = Motivation

Motivation and Ability together determine a person’s attitude reaching in activity. Thus,
Ability x Motivation = Human Performance
Human performance, ofcourse, has to be mixed with physical factors such as tools, power and materials, to get overall business performance as indicated by the equation:
Human Performance x Physical factors = Business performance
In this overall business equation, the role of human relation is apparent.

2. Human engineering can stream line production: Human relation is the all-pervading force which makes for the success or otherwise of a productive enterprise. Adequate finance, better quality of raw materials, improved machines, speedier transportation, reduction in waste and efficient processes-all are necessary to accelerate production; but industries are not composed of machines, raw materials, finance and processes only. They need human beings too, to process the materials, man the machines and control the methods. It is said that 85% of the producing assets of a business are human assets and that the managers and employees of a business are worth approximately fifteen times as much as its physical assets. A study team to Russia and Czechoslovakia point out that machinery in textile mills in India is generally good and in some cases even superior to the machinery employed in these two countries. Yet labour productivity in these two countries is higher, both in quality and quantity. Among the reasons given, one major reason may be interpreted as a lack of attempt to understand the labour and giving less importance to human aspect in the industrial process. This reflects upon the importance of human relations in industry. Peace, productivity and progress can be achieved only by a human approach to labour problems. Nationalization is not a panacea. It is only by regarding worker as a human being fist, and worker next, that better result can be expected.
3. Moral justification for human relations: A third justification for managerial interest in human relations, and one which many would claim is the most fundamental, rests on moral grounds. Employees are human beings, just as are members of management and ownership, and are, therefore, entitled to certain human rights. They should be treated with the same respect for their dignity that may other human being can claim.