Thursday, July 24, 2008 Cortez: On Upholding the Dignity of Man in Work By Jaime V. Cortez Business and Society
LAST week, I had the privilege of attending a forum on good governance. The speaker, a well-accomplished government executive, has touched on several key issues and raised various brilliant ideas, among which were on the brain drain problem, the role of technology in national development, productivity, the importance of complementing physical development with social reorientation, systematic planning, rule of law, order and political will. He also emphasized the importance not only of working, but of working well.
I could no less disagree with most of the points he discussed, except on one thing: the inclusion of "man" in his list of resources at any managers' disposal, in addition to materials, equipment, facilities, money, information and time.
This I believe should not be the case. Viewing man as a mere resource is a remnant of the old classical economic school of thought. Man, even in politico-economic organizations, should not be debased to this poor stature. He should in fact be the center of all economic activities, the organizer and user of all other resources, and the ultimate beneficiary of profits or returns derived from operations.
Compared to other resources, only man is endowed with intellect. This gives him the ability to think: to know, understand, analyze, synthesize, apply and evaluate. Likewise, only man is endowed with an affective faculty. This enables him to feel all kinds of emotions and experience various moods - things that inanimate resources can never enjoy. Most important of all, compared to other resources, only man has a soul. He was created in the likeness and image of God, and was given the command to fill the earth, subdue it and rule over it.
It is therefore not surprising that the Church, in its social teachings, put so much premium to the role of man in work. In various documents such as the Rerum Novarum (1891), Quadragessimo Anno (1931), Mater et Magistra (1961), Lumen Gentium (1964), Gaudium et Spes (1965), Laborem Exercens (1981) and Centesimus Annus (1991), the dignity, purpose, duty and right to work, and the primacy of labor were emphasized.
Among many other things, the teachings stress that:
(1) Human work is prior to other elements of economic life. The relationship between labor and capital must be regulated by the "primacy of labor." Labor is the primary subject; capital is the instrumental cause.
(2) Work is both a right and a duty. Workers have a right to productive work, to earn decent and fair wages, to be provided with safe working conditions and to form unions to protect their interests. On the other hand, they have the duty to deliver a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, to treat employers and co-workers with respect, and to carry out their work in ways that contribute to common good. Of course, our modern-day Labor Code contains additional provisions along this line.
(3) As a human activity, work must correspond to the dignity of man. By working, man must become more human. Work must be a means for the worker to perfect himself, not to degrade him or to diminish his dignity.
Contemporary developments in management theory and practice, may these be in human resource development, production and operations, marketing and finance, are welcome. These should, however, be in the light of realizing organizational goals and objectives while simultaneously fostering the development of the worker as a total person. Work should be for man, not man for work.
*Dr. Jaime V. Cortez is currently the Research and Planning Director of Holy Angel University, Angeles City. He can be reached at profcortez@yahoo.com or at jcortez@hau.edu.ph.
