The human relations approach was an improvement over the classical one in terms of considering that workers’ personal needs are important for their satisfaction and productivity. But it fell short of valuing employees’ own perspectives and goals regarding the organization. Thus, the human resources approach takes the basic ideas of human relations and goes one step further. Specifically, it considers employees as assets to the organization who can be fulfilled by participating and contributing useful ideas (Eisenberg, Goodall, & Trethewey, 2013; Miller, 2009).

In Chapter 16, we will introduce you to Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs, which asserts that people must fulfill basic needs (such as obtaining food and shelter) before they can achieve higher needs (such as finding friendship, love, and enjoyable work). As you will discover, Maslow’s work is particularly useful when discussing persuasive speaking, but it has also had a powerful impact on communication in organizations. For example, managers learned that their workers would be more productive if management allowed them to fulfill their higher-level needs (such as self-worth) in addition to their lower-level needs (such as worker safety). And when given more responsibility and autonomy to achieve their own goals, they perform better and remain motivated, which benefits both the employees and the organization (Eisenberg, Goodall, & Trethewey, 2013).

The human resources approach can also be applied to other organizational situations. Imagine that you’re a new member of a synagogue, and your rabbi notices that you have a knack for working with kids. He or she might motivate you to fulfill your potential by volunteering with the Hebrew school class each week. You feel proud of your accomplishments in helping the kids, and your synagogue’s educational mission is also being served. Everyone wins.