A Brief: The Lost Art of People Management

As our business grows, it becomes increasingly necessary to delegate responsibility and to encourage men and women to exercise their initiative. This requires considerable tolerance. Mistakes will be made. But if a person is essentially right, the mistakes he or she makes are not as serious in the long run as the mistakes management will make if it undertakes to tell those in authority exactly how they must do their jobs.— William McKnight

We are so lost on the technicalities of management such MBO (Management By Objectives), TQM (Total Quality Management), TPM (Total Preventive Maintenance Management), etc., that we lose sight of the most important aspect of managing –PEOPLE.

The old school of management thoughts have relegated People Management to HR Practioners, hence the correlation between HRM and people management. In the last ten years (or more) there has been a paradigm shift in this arena. While HRM practioners still carry the strategic role of HRM, people management is now being imbued and strengthened among line managers and supervisors. This is but fitting. After all, they are in direct contact with the majority of the organizations’ personnel.

People management, i.e., in a restrictive sense means the ability to lead, motivate, discipline, train, and develop people, is now a required competency among managers and supervisors. Regardless of the rapid globalization and the dominance of internet as a prime medium of communication across organizational levels, people management will remain an indispensable skill required for effective management.