Is it okay to call Employees As 'Resources'?

@thebigk • Oct 26, 2024

Oct 26, 2024

2.4K

I've often had problems with employees (read humans) being called 'Resources' under the name 'Human Resource'.

Look at the Wikipedia Definition of 'Resource' - A resource is any physical or virtual entity of limited availability that needs to be consumed to obtain a benefit from it.

Wikipedia says the following about "Human Resource" -

"Human resources is a relatively modern management term, coined as early as the 1960s - when humanity took a shift as human rights came to a brighter light during the Vietnam Era".

The problem started when managers started looking at their team as a 'resource' - something they can use to obtain benefit from it. Well, that's what I think. What's your opinion?

Dilbert-Strip-Carbon-Paper

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itchap

@itchap-RKJQDB • Dec 14, 2010

I think it is right to call an employee as resource as look at the following lines which i take from Wikipedia itself.

"Human beings are also considered to be resources. The term <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Resources" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Human Resources</a> can also be defined as the skills, energies, talents, abilities and knowledge that are used for the production of goods or the rendering of services.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Wikipedia:citation Needed</a>
In a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_management" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Project Management</a> context, human resources are those employees responsible for undertaking the activities defined in the project plan."

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Ankita Katdare

@abrakadabra • Dec 14, 2010

The_Big_K
Carbon Paper has higher priority 😁

Dilbert shows why getting a job is so appealing. 😛
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aj_onduty

@aj-onduty-BvuwMK • Dec 14, 2010

I am a layman in HR things, but isn't human resource a term given to the 'service offered by humans' rather than 'humans'? I hope that is the difference. Please correct me.
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Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Dec 14, 2010

To me, resources is all about Printer, Computer, Software, Hardware, Machines etc. The topic of debate is whether we should consider humans in the same category. 😀
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aj_onduty

@aj-onduty-BvuwMK • Dec 14, 2010

I hope I am clear with that point, Humans are not the resources, service given by humans(which they provide for their pay-cheque) are the resources.
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Gurjeet Singh

@gurjeet-LUX7B1 • Dec 14, 2010

But now the companies following the same ,for example in a particular Release how many resources occupied?
the effort required by paricular resources etc,I am also wondering they take us like this !!
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makru921

@makru921-Am65Ah • Dec 14, 2010

Considering that employees are assets of the company, we can obviously call them resources - for companies obtain benefit from employees. The height of considering employees as resources, which i have seen, is where i work. Being an organisation providing services to the oil field industry, we charge the customers for our service man-hours. In our ERP system, every employee's ID number is equivalent to the serial number of any asset (tools or machinery). So when we charge our customers fot the engineer's service, in the ERP, we make an invoice with the 'asset serial number' of the employee (which is his HR ID number).

So when it comes to money and profits(where everything finally comes to i suppose!), employees can be considered as resources..😀
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Ankita Katdare

@abrakadabra • Dec 14, 2010

I think there is a thin line of difference between 'considering' the employees as resources & 'calling' them a resource.

I for one, would not have liked calling my employees as a resource. It sounds just too mundane! :-|

According to me, employees should be treated as the most important part of the organization so that they truly love being a part of it and every morning when they rise, they have the same enthusiasm to get back to work.
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Radhika Deshpande

@radhika-o4Adk0 • Dec 15, 2010

If company treats their employees with proper attention, works on improvement of employee satisfaction and performance, preserving there personal health and well-being,enable work-life balance then calling employee as resource or anything will not be a problem.
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Deepika Bansal

@deepika-jf1ysv • Dec 15, 2010

AbraKaDabra
I for one, would not have liked calling my employees as a resource. It sounds just too mundane! :-|

According to me, employees should be treated as the most important part of the organization so that they truly love being a part of it and every morning when they rise, they have the same enthusiasm to get back to work.
I too agree with AKD. It is very disrespectful to call employees as resources... After all it is the employees whom these companies are ever trying to retain in their organization through incentives etc... They have got a separate department in their organization too only for human RESOURCES.
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Yamini L

@yamini-uMEVDQ • Dec 16, 2010

Employees are human beings with great minds, who can think and act. I am not at all for calling employees as resources. In fact, corporates are treating employees like renewable resources. They are trying to exploit and extract as much from their employees.

A sense of belonging is required. Mutual respect and self esteem is all the more important.Because they are considered as resources, employees are developing a " work for what you are being paid" kind of attitude.
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