Human Resource Management Quotes
Top 30 Human Resource Management
Quotes
No 1 (Best quote!)
Care for both the man and dollar but in case of conflict the man before the dollar ,
- Abraham Lincoln (1809-65), American
president, pictured right.
No 2
Treat people as adults. Treat them as partners; treat them with dignity; treat them with respect
- Thomas (Tom ) Peters, pictured right above, and
Robert Waterman, pictured right, In Search of
Excellence (1982)
Two business leaders agree:
We have a responsibility to our employees to recognize their dignity as human beings,
- David Packard (1912-96),
co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, pictured right .
Treat people with dignity and give them a voice.
- Jack Welch, pictured right ,
General Electric's ex-boss, in Straight from the Gut (2001)
No 3
In the past the man was first. In the future the system will be first.
- Frederick Winslow (F. W.) Taylor, pictured right, The Principles
of Scientific Management (1911)
No 4
Treat your people well and they’ll treat you well.
- Herb Kelleher (1931- ), founder of Southwest
Airlines, pictured right.
No 5
I believe the real difference between success and failure in a corporation can very often be traced to the
question of how well the organization brings out the great energies and talents of its people.
- Thomas Watson Jnr, pictured
right, in A Business and Its
Beliefs (1963)
No 6
We put our love where we have put our labour,
- Ralph Waldo
Emerson (1803-82), American philosopher, pictured right.
Anita Roddick (1942-2007),
pictured right, founder of the British store chain, The Body Shop, paraphrases this:
Put love where labour is.
No 7
To jaw-jaw is always better than to war-war.
- Winston Churchill (1874-1965), British
prime minister, pictured right.
No 8
We build too many walls and not enough bridges.
- Isaac Newton (1642-1726), English
scientist, pictured right.
No 9
Respect...implies the absence of exploitation.
- Erich Fromm (1900 -1980)
German-born American psychologist and philosopher, pictured right.
No 10
Business is people.
- Konosuke
Matsushita (1894-1989), founder of Panasonic, pictured right.
Herb Kelleher (1931-), American boss of
Southwest Airlines 1982-2001, pictured right , agrees
The business of business is people
No 11
Create a family-like feeling within the corporation, a feeling that employees and managers share the same
fate.
- Akio Morita (1921-1999), co-founder of Sony,
pictured right.
No 12
Getting the right people in the right jobs is a lot more important than developing a strategy
- Jack Welch, boss of General
Electric 1981-2001, pictured right.
No 13
People were human beings to him, but to you, a warped frustrated old man, they’re cattle.
- George Bailey (James Stewart) talking about his father to Potter in the film,
It’s A Wonderful Life, pictured
right.
No 14
Tolerance is the first principle of community.
- Helen Keller (1880-1968), American
campaigner for the blind and deaf, pictured right.
No 15
Happiness is achieved by the union and co-operation of all for the benefit of each.
- Robert Owen (1771-1858), English
businessman, pictured right.
No 16
What employees hear is that they’re the firm’s most valuable assets, what they know is that they’re the most
expendable assets.
- Gary Hamel, pictured right above, and
C.K. Prahalad, pictured right, Competing for the
Future (1996).
A multinational executive also asks:
If people are valued, why are we working 12 hour days?
No 17
Good organizations, like the best of cities, will be made up of villages, where people can be individuals and
yet part of a greater whole,
- Charles Handy, pictured right, The Gods of Management (1985)
No 18
Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to your end.
- Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
German philosopher, pictured right.
No 19
Even as the fingers of the two hands are equal, so are human beings equal to one another. No one has any right,
nor any preference to claim another. You are brothers.
- Muhammad (570-632) founder
of the Islamic religion, pictured right.
But the German philosopher, Friedrich
Nietzsche (1844-1900), pictured right , says complete equality is impossible, because of people's
different ability and effort:
Never make the unequal equal
No 20
People are not your most important asset. The right people are.
- James (Jim) Collins, pictured right, in Good to Great (2001)
No 21
Liberté, equalité, fraternité” (Liberty, equality, fraternity).
- Jean-Jacques
Rousseau (1712-78) Swiss philosopher, pictured right.
No 22
Involve everyone in everything.
- Tom
Peters (1942- ), pictured right , American management writer (from Thriving On Chaos,
1987)
No 23
I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
- Voltaire (1698-1778), pictured
right ,French philosopher and writer
No 24
Every soldier must know, before he goes into battle, how the little battle he is to fight fits into the larger
picture, and how the success of his fighting will influence the battle as a whole.
- Bernard Montgomery (1887-1976), pictured
right, British general.
No 25
No business which depends for its existence on paying less than living wages to
its workers has any right to continue in this country.
- Franklin D.
Roosevelt (1882-1945), pictured right, American president.
No 26
Men do not want to be patronized. They want justice.
- George Cadbury
(1839-1922), pictured right, English chocolate manufacturer.
No 27
Great organizations demand a high level of commitment by the people
involved.
- Bill Gates
(1955-), American co-founder of Microsoft, pictured right.
No 28
The real work of the organization is done by the people in it, just as the music is produced only by the members
of the orchestra.
- Warren Bennis, pictured right above, and Burt
Nanus, pictured right , in Leaders (1985)
No 29
Perceptions of fairness are profoundly influenced by the way we are treated, the manner in which information is
given and the means by which views are heard.
- Lynda Gratton, pictured right , in Living Strategy (2000)
No 30
Organizations are like automobiles. They don’t run themselves, except downhill. They need people to make them
work. And not just any people but the right people.
- Manfred Kets de Vries, pictured right, in The
Leadership Mystique 2nd edition, 2006.
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