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The moral responsibility of people managers

Victoria Dmochowski

"All people managers have a responsibility to look after their staff. This is not just a financial or performance responsibility - this is a moral responsibility, it's part of being a human." says Tony Vickers-Byrne in TV interview: bit.ly/2SVLh9a 

If people tend to be promoted into management roles because they're expert in their field rather than experts in managing people, are we expecting them to do too much safeguarding of people?

Does your organisation train line managers on how to manage people or does HR tend to step in when things go wrong? What does support for transitioning into management roles look like?

Parents
  • "the very purpose of limited liability was to liberate business from the constraints of ethical scruples"

    source:
    www.vhi.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/.../paper-WS-rona
  • in reply to Daniel Rodger
    Daniel, what is your fundamental point? That limited liability companies are inherently immoral?

    I’m not going to take your long post point by point, but I think that the quotations and examples you have collected don’t add up to a particularly good case. You are focusing on shareholder liability and shareholders do indeed have some legal protection. However, in the average British company, the shareholders don’t actually run the business and won’t have been responsible for the improper storage of goods that lead to houses burning down. Responsibility will sit with the people who have the power directly to influence how things are done. Try buying some shares and go to a few AGMs to see how much power you have to influence how the business is run and how much responsibility you think should morally be yours in an industrial accident.
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  • in reply to Daniel Rodger
    Daniel, what is your fundamental point? That limited liability companies are inherently immoral?

    I’m not going to take your long post point by point, but I think that the quotations and examples you have collected don’t add up to a particularly good case. You are focusing on shareholder liability and shareholders do indeed have some legal protection. However, in the average British company, the shareholders don’t actually run the business and won’t have been responsible for the improper storage of goods that lead to houses burning down. Responsibility will sit with the people who have the power directly to influence how things are done. Try buying some shares and go to a few AGMs to see how much power you have to influence how the business is run and how much responsibility you think should morally be yours in an industrial accident.
Children
  • in reply to Elizabeth Divver
    I suppose my fundamental point is that I don't think limited liability cares about the moral, it cares about the financial: to maximize profits.

    I watched an interesting video the other day about a bike shop. The staff didn't like the control from management, and experienced anxiety and depression. They decided to set up the same business as a Cooperative, sharing the profits, and the anxiety and depression went.

    thank you