The Human Element is a systematic methodology for improving the way people work together created by Will Schutz, Ph.D. It produces an atmosphere where teams operate to their full potential utilizing every member’s contribution, everyone tells the truth, and each person takes full responsibility for his or her behavior and feelings.
The Human Element creates this by helping people increase candor and truth telling, and reduce or eliminate unproductive defensive behavior, leading to:
- Enhanced organizational culture
- Better and faster problem solving
- Improved teamwork
- Faster and clearer communication
- Increased social intelligence
- Fewer interpersonal problems
For the organization, this means:
- Increased productivity
- Lower turnover
- Faster times to market
- Improved innovation and problem solving
- Greater flexibility and capacity for change
The Human Element is based on three fundamental change principles:
Truth – Truth is the grand simplifier. It improves organizational effectiveness by making teams, decision making, and individual performance more effective, faster, and ultimately more profitable for the organization. Choice – The choice principle creates accountability. Everything that happens between people is the result of the choices each person has made—both consciously and unconsciously. Each one of us is 100% responsible for ourselves and our situation and no one is to blame.
Awareness – The higher our level of self-awareness and self-esteem, the more our behavior is rational and not defensive.
When applied in organizations, these principles change many of our common beliefs about they way people work, resulting in a set of new assumptions.
The Human Element provides organizational solutions by addressing the often unspoken interpersonal issues affecting performance, including defensiveness, poor communication, lack of candor and accountability. By dealing with root causes instead of superficial behaviors, The Human Element enhances the effectiveness of other organizational initiatives including those aimed at quality improvement, customer relations, safety, efficiency, and innovation.
The Human Element helps leaders and managers know themselves in their roles, gain focus and clarity of vision, and help their organizations and teams flourish. They gain understanding of how people operate, how to support their subordinates, and learn to practice effective methods for dealing with such crucial issues as performance appraisal, job fit and satisfaction, teamwork, internal and external group dynamics, and individual and group problem solving and decision-making.
The Human Element helps teams elicit maximum participation of all members, which enhances everyone’s feelings of responsibility and competence. They are thus able to come together to create healthy dynamics that lead to increased productivity, more innovation, and better problem solving.
Organizational development consultants, coaches, trainers, and human resource professionals use The Human Element and its underlying methodology to deliver effective and long-lasting interventions, and create conditions where people, teams, and organizations thrive. Psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses, and others in the helping professions use the self-awareness and interpersonal behavior portions of The Human Element for effecting positive, lasting change.
Frequently Asked Questions
DIG DEEPER …
We invite graduates of The Human Element Certification volunteer for internship
positions for any of our public programs. For more information,
contact Ethan Schutz at ethan@theschutzcompany.com or (914) 595-6332.