THE philosopher Martin Bauber propounds an interesting theory                                                                                         
about people and their relationships.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                      
He says that these relationships are two-fold:                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                      
I-It relationship. Here Man always asks the question "What's                                                                                          
in it for me?" He always expects something back from these                                                                                            
relationships.                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                      
Man will therefore try to organise, use, abuse, control and                                                                                           
dominate everything and everybody. This would include the                                                                                             
environment, the rivers, forests and even officemates and                                                                                             
neighbours.                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                      
There will generally be a tendency to treat things as objects.                                                                                        
Common words associated with this category of relationship are                                                                                        
profits, efficiency, zero-sum game, exploitation networking,                                                                                          
etc.                                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                      
I-Thou relationship. In this relationship, one does not expect                                                                                        
anything in return. Emotions such as respect, love,                                                                                                   
friendship, honour and loyalty exist for their own sakes.                                                                                             
Here, one would seek harmony, balance and the principle of                                                                                            
"take only what you need."                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                      
Words such as care, share, love, friendship and honour would                                                                                          
fall into this category.                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
People often shift from I-It relationship to I-Thou                                                                                                   
relationship and back. For example, after going to the mosque,                                                                                        
church or temple, one could be in the I-Thou sphere. On                                                                                               
returning to the office, as work catches one could quickly                                                                                            
shift to the I-It relationship.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                      
It is generally true that I-It relationships would show short                                                                                         
term results. In the long run, these relationships would just                                                                                         
be based on "so long as you are holding a particular                                                                                                  
position."                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                      
The I-Thou relationship may take longer to show results but it                                                                                        
nevertheless is a more lasting, fruitful and fulfilling one.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                      
Khalil Gibran's point on lasting friendships comes to mind.                                                                                           
One should take them as a "sweet responsibility; never an                                                                                             
opportunity."                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
One needs to reflect constantly to check and ensure what                                                                                              
sphere one is in. It struck me how often managers treat people                                                                                        
like objects; opening the rule book at the slightest hint of a                                                                                        
problem.                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
How much the worker can produce, at what speed and quality                                                                                            
would become the paramount concern. In the midst of                                                                                                   
benchmarking and optimising, one at times forgets that there                                                                                          
is a person and "soul" in question.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                      
Sometimes bosses behave as if they possess the very soul of                                                                                           
their people just because they pay them salaries. People need                                                                                         
to be treated like people.                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                      
On the other hand, there are many enlightened employers today.                                                                                        
A number are multinationals but not-so-big ones, like the Body                                                                                        
Shop, Tom of Maine, Charles Schwab Corporation, Aveda                                                                                                 
Corporation and Kao of Japan, have taken initiatives in this                                                                                          
area.                                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                      
In the management sense, the I-It relationship managers will                                                                                          
always only look at the bottomline, shareholders value and                                                                                            
their own respective pockets.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
These I-It stalwarts would indulge in common fads like cost                                                                                           
cutting, downsizing, laying off people, buying companies and                                                                                          
selling their "parts." A classical example of this type of                                                                                            
relationship is cited by Ghosal in the Sloan Management                                                                                               
Review.                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                      
Scott Paper went through all the processes. It was,                                                                                                   
re-engineered, restructured, down-sized, outsourced and its                                                                                           
people retrenched. To the shock and dismay of the remaining                                                                                           
staff, the company was sold off to its "traditional enemy,"                                                                                           
Kimberly Clark.                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                      
The CEO, appropriately called "Chainsaw" Al Dunlop, justified                                                                                         
his action by claiming that he was looking after shareholder                                                                                          
value. While enhancing shareholder value, he destroyed the                                                                                            
company. This "auto-dismemberment," as the authors call it, is                                                                                        
indeed shocking.                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                      
On the other hand here are companies like Disney, Hewlett                                                                                             
Packard, Asea Brown Boveri, 3M, Microsoft and Kao, which seem                                                                                         
to excel with I-Thou relationships.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                      
They are continuously bringing out new products and                                                                                                   
technologies. They do not fear expansion or diversity. They                                                                                           
are upbeat and gung-ho about strategy and direction.                                                                                                  
Interestingly, these I-Thou companies have created more                                                                                               
shareholder wealth than the break-up experts.                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
Andy Grave, CEO of Intel, could ask his people to do things                                                                                           
that other CEOs can't even think of. In the early 1980s many                                                                                          
electronic companies were laying off people. Andy Grave                                                                                               
adopted the 90% rule, meaning that everyone, including the                                                                                            
chairman, should take a 10% pay cut. This was done to avoid                                                                                           
lay-offs.                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
Not wanting to lose good people whom they had nurtured over                                                                                           
the years, Grave sold 20% of the company to IBM for $250mil.                                                                                          
Cost was still high, so he introduced the 125% rule. This                                                                                             
meant every one had to work 10 hours more a week with no pay                                                                                          
increase, to avoid cutbacks.                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                      
It was only after all these steps were taken did he decide to                                                                                         
close some operations. It was an open and exemplary practice.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
Motorola takes the employability of its people seriously. The                                                                                         
organisation is decentralised in terms of resource management                                                                                         
and decision making. However, employee education is managed at                                                                                        
corporate level, through the Motorola University.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                      
Each employee, including the CEO, has to undergo a minimum of                                                                                         
40 hours of formal course work every year. A couple of years                                                                                          
ago, Motorola Malaysia embarked on a programme to train its                                                                                           
assembly line operators.                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
An initiative was the formation of teams "composed of simple                                                                                          
kampung girls" who discussed ways to improve the workflow of                                                                                          
the assembly lines. A number of these people moved into                                                                                               
positions of line leaders, supervisors and executives.  Some                                                                                          
went on to earn a diploma in supervisory management.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                      
Lately, Motorola has come out with its "Individual Dignity                                                                                            
Entitlement(IDE) programme where Supervisors have to discuss -                                                                                        
six questions to a quarterly basis. Any negative reply is                                                                                             
considered a quality failure. This new moral contract puts                                                                                            
Motorola in the forefront of -people management.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                      
Auto Deck Inc, a software developer, is training its managers                                                                                         
to be career counsellors. Managers are to regularly meet with                                                                                         
their staff and discuss work and promotion opportunities.                                                                                             
Seeing the value of people and the possibility of losing them                                                                                         
to the competition has made this company act thus.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                                      
Ian I. Mitroff reports the result of a study on spirituality.                                                                                         
He defines spirituality as "being connected with one's                                                                                                
complete self." People who thought that their organisation was                                                                                        
"more spiritual" also saw it as "more profitable" This was                                                                                            
because they were able to bring more of their "complete                                                                                               
selves" to the workplace. They were able to give more of their                                                                                        
creativity, emotions, intelligence -and passion. They loved                                                                                           
the I-Thou relationship in their set-ups.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
Kao of Japan stands out as an I-Thou company. Yashio Maruta                                                                                           
always introduces himself as a Buddhist scholar first and then                                                                                        
as president of Kao. To him, they were linked. He has co-opted                                                                                        
the two Buddhist values of respect for the individual (no                                                                                             
elitism or, authoritarianism) and a commitment to learning.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                      
It is said that collaboration organization wide is stupendous,                                                                                        
especially in the sharing of knowledge and expertise. Maruta                                                                                          
calls it the "power of collective accumulation of individual                                                                                          
wisdom" and this is what will help the organisation flow like                                                                                         
a stream. No wonder Kao is making waves.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
In this era of a transient workplace, the traditional I-It way                                                                                        
of managing people is not going to work. Organisations that                                                                                           
treat people with dignity and as a powerful resource are going                                                                                        
to excel.                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
Organisations that make it known that day-to-day comfort is                                                                                           
important and show a genuine interest in their people will                                                                                            
forge ahead. Organisations should endeavour to harness the                                                                                            
whole person. They should look at people management as an                                                                                             
I-Thou relationship.