The Bible offers valuable insights and directions for people managers. It shows us how to fulfill our duties in a way that honors God and not just the management or the employees.
People managers are responsible for strategies that will bring significant impact on the performance, culture, and well-being of their organizations. But how can they do this effectively and ethically?
One way is to understand the biblical foundations of leadership and people management.
By understanding these, talent managers will not only improve their own skills and effectiveness, but also honor God and serve others in their roles.
If you want to enhance your Christian spiritual quotient and understand our calling as people managers, please sign up on the form below.
To give you a foretaste of what I am advocating, let me share some biblical principles that applies to the different silos of talent management and stewardship:
Talent Acquisition
Getting the best talent for the organization is a key role of a people strategist.
“Do you see people skilled in their work? They will work for kings, not for ordinary people.”
Proverbs 22:29
Good Stewardship and Talent Development
As the business environment constantly evolves, capacity building or scaling-up employee KASH is a core responsibility of a people strategist to help the business adapt and thrive in the new conditions.
Matthew 25:14-30
“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was going to another place for a visit. Before he left, he called for his servants and told them to take care of his things while he was gone.
He gave one servant five bags of gold, another servant two bags of gold, and a third servant one bag of gold, to each one as much as he could handle. Then he left.
The servant who got five bags went quickly to invest the money and earned five more bags. In the same way, the servant who had two bags invested them and earned two more. But the servant who got one bag went out and dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money. “
After a long time, the master came home and asked the servants what they did with his money. The servant who was given five bags of gold brought five more bags to the master and said, ‘Master, you trusted me to care for five bags of gold, so I used your five bags to earn five more.’ The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good and loyal servant. Because you were loyal with small things, I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my joy with me.’
“Then the servant who had been given two bags of gold came to the master and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of gold to care for, so I used your two bags to earn two more.’ The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good and loyal servant. Because you were loyal with small things, I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my joy with me.’
“Then the servant who had been given one bag of gold came to the master and said, ‘Master, I knew that you were a hard man. You harvest things you did not plant. You gather crops where you did not sow any seed. So, I was afraid and went and hid your money in the ground. Here is your bag of gold.’
The master answered, ‘You are a wicked and lazy servant! You say you knew that I harvest things I did not plant and that I gather crops where I did not sow any seed. So, you should have put my gold in the bank. Then, when I came home, I would have received my gold back with interest.’ “So, the master told his other servants, ‘Take the bag of gold from that servant and give it to the servant who has ten bags of gold.
Those who have much will get more, and they will have much more than they need. But those who do not have much will have everything taken away from them.’ Then the master said, ‘Throw that useless servant outside, into the darkness where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.’
Total Rewards
A savvy HR professional can create a competitive total reward that reflects nature of employment, employee performance and employer generosity.
Performance Based Compensation
Remember this: The person who plants a little will have a small harvest, but the person who plants a lot will have a big harvest. 2 Corinthians 9:6
Employer Initiated Generosity
Matthew 20:1-15
“The kingdom of heaven is like a person who owned some land.
One morning, he went out very early to hire some people to work in his vineyard. The man agreed to pay the workers one coin for working that day. Then he sent them into the vineyard to work.
About nine o’clock the man went to the marketplace and saw some other people standing there, doing nothing. So, he said to them, ‘If you go and work in my vineyard, I will pay you what your work is worth.’ So, they went to work in the vineyard.
The man went out again about twelve o’clock and three o’clock and did the same thing. About five o’clock the man went to the marketplace again and saw others standing there. He asked them, ‘Why did you stand here all day doing nothing?’ They answered, ‘No one gave us a job.’ The man said to them, ‘Then you can go and work in my vineyard.’ “
At the end of the day, the owner of the vineyard said to the boss of all the workers, ‘Call the workers and pay them. Start with the last people I hired and end with those I hired first.’
“When the workers who were hired at five o’clock came to get their pay, each received one coin. When the workers who were hired first came to get their pay, they thought they would be paid more than the others. But each one of them also received one coin.
When they got their coin, they complained to the man who owned the land. They said, ‘Those people were hired last and worked only one hour. But you paid them the same as you paid us who worked hard all day in the hot sun.’
But the man who owned the vineyard said to one of those workers, ‘Friend, I am being fair to you. You agreed to work for one coin. So, take your pay and go.
I want to give the man who was hired last the same pay that I gave you. I can do what I want with my own money. Are you jealous because I am good to those people?’
Empathetic Leadership
Empathetic leadership means having the ability to understand the needs of others and being aware of their feelings and thoughts.
Be sure you know how your sheep are doing and pay attention to the condition of your cattle. Proverbs 27:23
Organization Development
As the business environment constantly shifts, one of an HR professional’s key role is to lead organizational engineering to help the business adapt and thrive in the new conditions.
Also, no one ever pours new wine into old leather bags. Otherwise, the new wine will break the bags, the wine will spill out, and the leather bags will be ruined. New wine must be put into new leather bags. Luke 5:37-38
On Rest Day and Leaves
“You must work for six days, but on the seventh day you must rest—even during the planting season and the harvest season.. Exodus 34:21
Crowds of people were coming and going so that Jesus and his followers did not even have time to eat. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves, and we will go to a lonely place to get some rest.”. Mark 6:31
Due Process
Due process, in its simplest form, simply means the right to be heard and presumed innocent before passing on judgement. God is the author of due process.
“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”. Isaiah 1:18
Example:
“The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made.
One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.
At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees. Then the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” “Who told you that you were naked?” the LORD God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” Then the LORD God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
Then the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.” Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live.
And the LORD God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.”.Genesis 3:1-21
Regulatory Compliance
One of HR roles, is to ensure that we are compliant to the rules of the land.
“Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. Titus 3:1
Human Rights in Business
As HR professionals who follow Christ, another key role is to initiate and implement rights-based management practices.
“Do not take advantage of a hired man”… Deuteronomy 24:14
“Be fair in your judging. You must not show special favor to poor people or great people but be fair when you judge your neighbor. Leviticus 19:15
Speak up and judge fairly and defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31:9
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