At Every Level

These findings would tend to indicate that human skill is of great importance at every level, but notice the difference in emphasis.

Human skill, the ability to work with others, is essential to effective administration at every level. One recent research study has shown that human skill is of paramount importance at the Foreman level, pointing out that the chief function of the foreman as an administrator is to attain collaboration of people in the work group. Another study reinforces this finding and extends it to the middle-management group, adding that the administrator should be primarily concerned with facilitating communication in the organization. And still another study, concerned primarily with top management underscores the need for self-awareness and sensitivity to human relationships by executives at that level. These findings would tend to indicate that human skill is of great importance at every level, but notice the difference in emphasis.

Human skill seems to be most important at lower levels, where the number of direct contacts between administrators and subordinates is greatest. As we go higher and higher in the administrative echelons the number and frequency of these personal contacts decrease, and the need for human skill becomes proportionately, although probably not absolutely, less. At the same time, conceptual skill becomes increasingly more important with the need for policy decisions and broad-scale action. The human skill of dealing with individuals then becomes subordinate to the conceptual skill of integrating group interests and activities into a whole.

ACTION POINT: Understand the importance of human skill at the various levels of your organization.