Literature a pedagogical tool for HR Management and Learning & Development

Journal of English literature and language [JELL], Vol. XI, No. 2. ISSN 0975-6930
LITERATURE A PEDAGOGICAL TOOL FOR HR MANAGEMENT AND
LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT
Dr. Harmik Vaishnav Dr. Shalini S
School of Liberal Studies Institute of Law
Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University Nirma University
INTRODUCTION
Literature and HR Management prima facie seem to be poles apart in terms of study
and practice. Literature is about creativity, fiction, emotions, poetry, language,
description, narration etc. and HR Management is about recruitment, retention,
performance, motivation, change management, policies and laws etc. They do not
seem to be in proximity from any angle. Let’s look at it differently: literature is for the
people and of the people, it talks about human life, psychology and emotions. The raw
material is ultimately human being and so is the end user. Human Resource
Management is also about people i.e. Humans, dealing with them, helping them,
motivating them, taking care of their emotions, respecting their positive and trying to
improve their negatives etc. Can HR Management stand independently if the ‘human’
factor is removed? Can HR Management function if ‘psychology’ and ‘emotions’ are
not heeded? Can HR Management function if it does not understand ‘human
predicament and situations’? Ask any manager or business leader and the answer will
be universal….No.
Human Resources Management and Literature, both as disciplines of study, have a
lot of proximity in terms of philosophy, dealing with humans and human predicament,
character and personality, product quality that can stand the test of time, universality
of certain principles etc. management and Literature both deal with case [story] study
form in education as well as tackling a situation. HR Management adopts certain things
like stories, quotes, language skills, narration and description techniques in training,
performance management, branding, etc. to be more effective and Literature can take
corporate life and management challenges as raw material for it creation. “It is

generally been thought that there is some sense in which literature should ‘hold the
mirror up to nature’. It should be ‘life-enhancing’ or ‘a criticism of life’.” [1]
Human psychology and situation are involved in both the fields and that makes the
study and practice more interesting and challenging. Simultaneously, both
Management and Literature have to consider the contemporary norms, regional
flavours and be dynamic and adaptable to avoid redundancy. It is also interesting that
both challenge the existing norms and practices and also enable human intellect to
develop and also hone the mind and thought process. Management as well as
Literature facilitate the education and functioning of other fields like law and legal
machinery, education, philosophy and even technology to some extent. Moreover,
both the fields focus on human predicament, problem and solution as well as throw
light on the bigger picture of preventive measures be it at individual level,
organizational level or societal level. “Fundamentally, our problem arises from our
failure to . . . ground ourselves securely on the humanistic tradition, of which literature
is a chief expression and from which the profession should draw nourishment and
direction” [2]
DISCUSSION
Literature and Management are taught, read and practised separately and they have
their own watertight compartments. The challenge is to amalgamate them practically
and for practical purpose. Management Gurus and Leaders have frequently showed
the path by using literature in one or the other way in their meetings, training sessions,
lectures and writings. However, there is lot of scope of amalgamating Literature into
Management study and vice versa. When the question of amalgamating is there we
discard superiority of one branch over the other. The amalgamation is to facilitate the
study and pedagogy of the main branch and to strengthen it with the other’s desirable
qualities. This amalgamation of one branch into another is not new for the sake of
education or enhancing the core competence. This discussion would endeavour to
suggest, mainly, how Literature can be amalgamated into the study and practice of
Management- HR and Training specifically and also what aspects of Management can
a student of Literature or author understand for better output and enriching their field.
Literature is known by two major genres- Fiction and Poetry. Fiction or storytelling has
become an effective tool and method of thought provocation, discussion, motivation

etc. In Management studies they use case studies for the same purpose. Case studies
and stories are the two sides of the same coins, albeit narrated differently. In a story
there are literary elements of emotions, flowery language, narration, description etc.
and in a case study there are facts. But both primarily deal with people predicament,
situation and provoke thoughts on them.
Story telling has been the best and time-tested method of inspiring, creating
awareness and understanding and driving the mind to reach morals and interpret
them. The fictional situations presented in literature can tell a great deal about
psychological, political and social situations, and the individual you deal with. The
societal or professional situation depicted in literature offers fertile possibilities of
exploring, contemplating and debating various dimensions of human situation and co-
relating it with management case studies. Though some literature cannot instruct its
readers about real situations, they can still educate students of management about
the human condition in hypothetical manner.
Stories have also been used by teachers as a tool to work on comparison and critical
thinking. A set of stories is given to the students and after the preliminary discussion
they are asked to find out parallels and contrast among the stories. This enables them
to view a situation or predicament from various angles and ultimately helps when they
are dealing with different situations and sets of human resources. They can also co-
relate the stories with real case studies of corporate, deliberate upon social situation
and professional situation. It helps in representing their case in a different light and
citing points from similar cases or precedents to make his case stronger and more
convincing. Haven’t the managers formed a liking and habit of reading fiction and
corporate novels that give insight into human psyche, cultural contexts etc. “Along with
its strategic value as a branding concept, storytelling can also be hugely effective in
operational communication purposes. One example is when we use stories to
communicate our purpose in a given context e.g. a simple anecdote that we share with
our colleagues when explaining a point, or reinforcing an argument. Even the smallest
anecdote contains the four key elements of storytelling and it travels by word of
mouth.” [3]
Moreover, literature helps to develop solutions using a hypothesis and fiction. The
stories provide tremendous scope of human and societal wisdom and people can

understand the problems and devise solutions based on fiction and fictional
characters. It also helps in developing certain strong personality traits like
determination, moral courage, resilience etc. and how courageous people have
changed the societal and professional patterns. Corporate and Business novels and
stories started cropping up in the later part of 20th Century. The authors take the
business scenarios and mould them with an element of fiction using literary devices.
This enables the people to see the humane side of business, people in corporate and
their identification beyond the glass cabins and board rooms. In this way literature has
already started taking the business scenarios as raw material for creation thus
heralding the partnership. As vividly portrayed in the book Barbarians at the Gate, R J
Reynolds executives eventually lost passion for anything except making themselves
rich through a leveraged buyout. [4]
Many novels, that are not business novels, can be read and studied by Management
professionals or they can be included in Management education or corporate training.
They can give ample raw material of gaining insight into various facets of human
psychology, emotions and dealings. Study and subsequent discussion of fiction will
develop critical thinking, logical thinking and also facilitate in developing Emotional
Quotient which is the need of the day in business world and it is inevitable if you are a
manager dealing with people around you. “We must create learning environments that
let students draw on the internal resources that brought them to college in the first
place. As instructors, we must focus our attention on creating an environment where
students can gain knowledge and skills in critical thinking and problem solving in their
chosen areas of learning. [5]
An effective and popular manager or trainer is also a good storyteller. He/ she narrates
stories to drive home a point, lead the team towards a common thinking, modifying
behavioural patterns and of course for motivating.
Poetry is a very popular and one of the oldest genres of Literature. Everyone is not a
born poet but everyone has the fine and sensitive elements of a poet in self. The
human elements like sensitivity, sensibility, language etc. are inborn and if honed
potentially, miracles happen. Practical things like reading poems on topics related to
law and writing poems on the same subjects are effective experimental tools.

This poetry writing in Management study or corporate training can become a landmark
experiment of creativity, developing thought and sensitizing. The students read a lot
of poetry, jot down the points for their writing and express their sentiments, ideas, fears
and concerns about law and justice in form of poetry. The students do lot of
introspection about the key themes, their own vision and ideas before writing poems.
They can dig deeper and understand the concepts of management and relate it with
the practises better and express still better with the form of poetry. They also have to
do language study or consult for using language, words to make their poems effective.
Sensibility is developed and reflected in the works of these future torch-bearers of
corporate management and they start forming their professional and individual vision.
Many poems and shayris or shlokas are quoted freely by management faculties,
trainers and corporate leaders for effectiveness and for adding weight and subtlety in
what they mean. “Another, and very important, feature which I think is to be found in
almost all good literature is what I shall call ‘moral consciousness. By this I mean a
feeling on the part of the writer and conveyed by him to the reader, that the words
‘good’ and ‘evil’ have a real meaning- a meaning which lies beyond the ideas of right
and wrong that happen to be accepted at one particular time and place. [6]. Poetry as
a genre is known for invoking and addressing fine sentiments, morality and moral
consciousness. Poetry is also helpful in maintaining intellect-emotional balance thus
leading to work-life balance as well. “Emotions play a critical role in the success of
every organization. Emotional undercurrents are present in almost every area of the
organization, and they influence employee morale, customer loyalty, and productivity.”
[7] And understanding of the ‘what’, ‘why’ of emotions of the employee is obligatory for
an HR Manager or any manager to be effective and striking the right balance.
A management professional needs to be confident and good communicator. And if the
person wants to rise on the ladder, he/she must be good at presentation skills, public
speaking, body language etc. These are the skills inevitable today for any business
leader or manager dealing with people. Technical knowledge, at a certain level, takes
back seat and soft skills, wisdom, people skills take the driver’s seat to steer yourself
and the organization. Study and reading of Literature helps you to acquire the needed
wisdom and people skills. One old genre of Literature is Drama. It is a unique genre
of literature as it is both a literary genre as well as a performing art. It is also one of
the oldest genres of literature. It is a unique combination of writing, speaking, body

language, theatrical arts like lights, positioning etc. Drama provides ample of scope
for learning of communication skills and spontaneity which are much needed for a
management professional.
Performing a play also enables students or professionals to overcome stage fright and
develop confidence. Performance or speech in front of an audience is considered as
an extreme test of person’s confidence and mind-matter-heart synchronicity. It also
helps in opening out of an introvert or shy person. You can win the respect and loyalty
of your subordinates, create good impression on superiors and earn affection and
favours from customers and other stakeholders if you are a good communicator and
presentable. It is the core to a charismatic personality. No wonder why film stars are
considered to have a charismatic personality and have fan-following. “Whether it is a
matter of closing a deal or asking for a raise, or motivating a salesforce of 5000 or
negotiating one-to-one, of buying a new company or turning around an old one,
business situations almost always come down to people situations. And it is those
executives with a finely tuned people sense and an awareness of how to apply it, who
invariably take the edge. Business situation, of course, are just that- situational. But
whenever possible- whenever a definite conscious act will generate a consistent
subconscious response. [8]
Literature has certain distinctive dimensions like the use of language, originality,
creativity, facilitation of wisdom development and critical thinking and it gives various
views on people, predicaments and philosophy of life and management. Study of
literature would inculcate the above mentioned traits in one’s personality and of being
different-professionally, personally and philosophically. “Creativity is something new
to the existence. A creative person must conceive of something new and envision how
it will be useful to the society.” [9]
Literature has abundant such gems to be dug and worn for embellishment as well as
use. “The core of our method was a systematic process of contrasting the good-to-
great examples to the comparisons, always asking, “What is different?”
We also made particular note of “dogs that did not bark.” In the Sherlock Holmes
classic “The Adventure of Silver Blaze,” Holmes identified “the curious incident of the
dog in the night-time” as the key clue. It turns out that the dog did nothing in the night

time and that, according to Homes, was the curious incident, which led him to the
conclusion that the prime suspect must have been someone who knew the dog well.
In our study, what we didn’t find- dogs that we might have expected to bark but didn’t
–turned out to be some of the best clues to the inner workings of good to great. When
we stepped inside the black box and turned on the light bulbs, we were frequently just
as astonished at what we did not see as what we did.” [10] “To learn about another
country, to appear well educated, to pass examinations or simply to enjoy oneself- all
these are reasons for studying literature…by studying literature we are in some sense
making ourselves better people: literature is something from which we get moral
education.” [11]
Management case studies be it HR case studies, Marketing, Operations etc. are filled
with human interaction, intervention, follies and triumphs. This is plentiful material and
food for thought for a literary person. Novelists and poets can dig deep into these
humanistic aspect of corporate cases and present it with a different angle for different
understanding for people. They can use the embellishment of language, narrative and
descriptive techniques and highlight the sentimental values behind the façade of
professionalism. “Mark Stevens, consultant in the field of marketing and management,
met with a job candidate whose credential showed great promise, but he was
disappointed when the interview did not go well. He threw away the applicant’s resume
after he left. The next day Stevens received a FedEx package from the candidate. It
contained a book of poetry on human loss and a letter about his mother, who had died
that week. The applicant knew he had not made a good impression and asked for a
second chance. After the second interview, the candidate was hired.” [12] Literature
can put forward a different image and understanding.
CONCLUSION
Acceptance remains a major challenge in all facets of life and work. Here too,
accepting literature for the study of management courses or for being a more effective
manager would be a challenge of acceptance first and then incorporation in course
structure. Even for a writer who observes society and people around, acceptance of
business or corporate world as a fertile ground for creation and plantation would be a
challenge. “In the process of coaching, it is critical to understand the difference
between what people say and what they do. You have to learn how to do the same

thing. I would recommend that you spend some high-quality time and effort to become
a student of people.” [13]
Most of the management people and literary figures would think both the fields are
different but they are not. The above discussion strived to prove that both the fields
operate at and with psychological and sentimental width and depth of human life.
Management and Literature both aim at understanding people, their wants, desires,
habits, thoughts, sentiments etc. “A person’s true nature, true self, cannot change with
situations. It is totally consistent. The better you know that person, the more you can
get beneath the facades, the more accurately you can predict how he or she is likely
to react or respond in almost any business situation. This knowledge is invaluable.”
[14] and then they build their creations and campaigns around this wisdom and
knowledge. Literature facilitates the learning of management concepts, holds a mirror
to show another angle, a periscope too to enable a manager to see above the surface
and beneath too. This can be used to formulate a corporate order.
Literature primarily gives pleasure and appeals to the senses and with this it can be
used for education in the field of management and law first. Both Management and
Law share good amount of proximity with Literature as human life is the central figure.
As study of various laws like consumer laws, labour laws, taxes etc. are inevitable for
a management student or professional, study of literature in management education
will facilitate better insight into various dimensions of management and render
enhanced effectiveness and all round development of a manager. “It may be true that
studying literature and Humanities will not help us to feed the hungry today or to save
one human life tomorrow. Taking a longer view however it is possible to see this kind
of study as almost the most important of all: for by studying good literature we learn
more about human problems and difficulties; by studying the literature of other
countries we begin to understand that these problems are shared by all mankind.” [15]
The article is based on personal experiences, reflection, reading and interaction with
various professionals and scholars of the authors. It does not have any empirical study
and it does not also propagate any topic or pedagogical tool. It only attempts to
amalgamate the two distinct disciplines, Management in general and Human
Resource Management in particular and Literature, find parallels between the both
and logically and academically suggests what aspects or genres of literature can be

used for enhancing Human Resource and Learning and Development function of a
management student of management professional. It also tries to explain how these
aspects of literature can be used as tool in Human Resource Management pedagogy
and practice as well as in corporate training, especially managerial and soft skills
training. The article has also stressed the importance understanding psychology and
human predicament through literature and how study of literature can enhance people
skills and communication skills of management professionals.
REFERENCES
1. Rees, R J “English Literature”, Macmillan India Ltd., New Delhi. 1998. Pg. 5
2. Smith, J. Allen. “Aspects of Law and Literature: The Revival and Search for
Doctrine.” University of Hartford Studies in Literature 9 (1977): 213–22.
3. Fog Kalus, Budtz Christian, Yakaboyly Baris, “Storytelling: Branding in
Practice”, Springer, Berlin 2005. Pg. 50-51
4. Collins, Jim “Good to Great”, Random House, London. 2001. Pg. 10
5. Pew Stephen, Andragogy and Pedagogy as Foundational Theory
for Student Motivation in Higher Education, Student Motivation Volume 2, 2007
6. Reece, Barry, “Human Relations”, South-Western Cengage Learning, Canada,
2008. Pg.220
7. Rees, R J “English Literature”, Macmillan India Ltd., New Delhi. 1998. Pg. 8-9
8. McCormack, Mark “What they don’t Teach you at Harvard Business School”,
Profile Books Ltd. London. 1984. Pg. 9
9. Gupta, S L & Mittal, Arun, “Entrepreneurship Development”. International Book
House Ltd. New Delhi 2011. Pg. 57
10.Collins, Jim “Good to Great”, Random House, London. 2001. Pg. 10
11.Rees, R J “English Literature”, Macmillan India Ltd., New Delhi. 1998. Pg. 13
12.Balderrama, Anthony, “Finding a Job Using Uncommon Search Tactics,” The
News & Observer, November 30, 2008, Pg F1
13.Rohlander, David “The CEO Code”, Jaico Books, Mumbai. 2013. Pg. 29
14.McCormack, Mark “What they don’t Teach you at Harvard Business School”,
Profile Books Ltd. London. 1984. Pg. 21
15.Rees, R J “English Literature”, Macmillan India Ltd., New Delhi. 1998. Pg. 15

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