Firsthand knowledge of “humaneering technology” and the concept of “humaneered work-systems” is generally limited to those people who have been directly involved with this new thinking. Therefore, for most people, a brief definition here and some explanation of humaneering’s origin would be helpful.

The vision for a humaneering technology was first conceived in 1940 by industrial psychologist and Purdue University professor, Joseph Tiffin. In his words...

The value of learning more about ourselves and human nature is obvious. Our social, political and economic theories rest ultimately upon our understanding of human nature. Upon sound knowledge of human nature depends the possibility of directing social changes, so as to make social institutions and practices better suited to human needs. As citizens, then, we need to make our beliefs about human nature as sound and rational as possible. The nineteenth century was marked by great achievements in engineering. Advances in psychology, sociology, and physiology should lead to as striking advances in “humaneering” during the twentieth century. (Bold emphasis added.) The Psychology of Normal People (1940) p.24.

Today, humaneering is managerial technology that integrates human-science-based knowledge concerning work into a new applied science. It is defined as “the application of biological, psychological and social science principles to the design, development, and operation of economical and efficient organizations, processes, and human work systems.” In comparison, engineering differs by its application of physical science principles to structures, equipment and machine-like processes.

Engineering and Humaneering

Most revealing from our extensive application of humaneering technology during the past 20 years is the potential negative effect of engineering design principles and methods on work that requires discretionary behavior. Just as machine work needs to be engineered, we have learned that human work needs to be humaneered. Furthermore, since all work contains some functions that are machinelike (i.e., technical behavior) and some that are human-dependent (i.e., discretionary behavior), the best performance is achieved when both engineering and humaneering are utilized for their respective functions.

pepitoneworldwide developed “High-Definition Work Design” to precisely apply the right managerial technology for the right kind of work, substantially increasing the predictability of work performance and the precision and control of management. Research indicates that most work is under-designed, relying on little more than a job description, training, coaching and performance evaluation for achieving performance objectives. High-Definition Work Design invariably results in a quick 20 to 40 percent improvement in worker productivity, even for top performers.

The engineered design of work (essentially in pursuit of automation) has been so successful as a universal method for improving performance and productivity that this approach is unwittingly applied to all work as the best way to optimize results. In many organizations, engineering-based management methods (e.g., tightly-coupled processes, procedures, training, evaluation, quantitative measures) are not only the standard tools of managers, but they are the only tools. What goes unrecognized is the need for a very different approach to the design and management of discretionary work (e.g., adaptive, nonlinear, self-paced)—work that depends highly on people, not machines, for the creation of market value.

The professional staff at pepitoneworldwide encourages organization leaders and human resource practitioners to learn more about humaneering technology and what it can do for their operations, and to support the Humaneering Institute initiative.

Jim Pepitone frequently addresses industry, professional, and management groups on humaneering technology and its potential for business and government operations. Please contact him directly at jimpepitone@pepitone.com for more information.

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