c'est quoi les relations humaines?

The human relations movement originated in the 1920s with the Hawthorne experiments. It began as a study of human behavior in groups in the workplace. It began to view the worker as to how well he fit in the workplace rather than as interchangeable parts. Human relations is an ideology of modern business which has grown with increased attention to the human factor.

Some great minds, BS Rowntree in the UK and Elton Mayo in the United States, have contributed to the increase in this ideology. It seems that a new approach in cases involving the employee is both necessary and reasonable.

Rowntree said it was good business to take care of workers and after the companies' interests. This enlightened paternalism  continued the camaraderie developed during the First World War on into the workplace. Productivity has increased, and profits increased for those at the top. The worker began to be compensated by reduction in working hours, bonuses, etc.. all in the name of increased productivity and profits.

At the National Institute of Industrial Psychology, Dr. CS Myers FRS, the director until 1931, empirical studies of industrial promotion, particularly fatigue and problems of employees in general ... After many metamorphoses, the well-being of workers of the Association (1913) was to become modern Institute of Personnel Management (IPM). (http://www.accel-team.com/human_relations/)

Chester Barnard stressed the following:

1. Natural groups, in which social aspects take precedence over functional organizational structures
2. Upwards communication, by which communication is two way, from worker to chief executive, as well as vice versa.
3. Cohesive and good leadership is needed to communicate goals and to ensure effective and coherent decision making

(Wilson & Rosenfeld, Managing Organizations, McGraw Hill Book Company, London, p.9.) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_relations)