There is a tendency to treat people based on how you refer to them. A lot of companies are choosing to shift away from words like employees or worse still resources. Notice how all notices, policy documents avoids the word employees and prefers words like ‘colleagues’, ‘managers’ and more?
Companies are increasingly coining words to refer to their employee base and also use this as a means to induce pride. Starbucks refers to all its employees as ‘Partners’, Subway refers to them as ‘Sandwich Artists’, IBM goes for a very simple not too creative but effective ‘IBMer’.
What term does your company use? A lot of managers in my company have a habit of referring to people as ‘resources’. I’ve faced innumerable cribs that employees are increasingly feeling more like ‘resources’ and less like ‘human beings’. Maybe it’s time to shake things up a bit and call them ‘Stars’ instead?
Do you think this works or is just another trend?
The HR Business Partner Story 