Mike
Judge has retired as personnel director for Peugeot after 37 years in the
profession. He stepped down from this post on 1 January 2001.
He
believes the most significant change he saw in that time was the introduction
of industrial relations legislation in 1978. Judge said, "This resolved a
vast amount of problems and cut down on the number of strikes. Employees
finally understood how their actions affected the bottom line of the company."
His
greatest challenge during his tenure was turning the company around after it
was brought from Chrysler Europe for $1 in 1978. "We stepped in and
improved internal communications which was vital for the morale of the
workforce," he said.
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Judge
also introduced employee surveys every two years in order to get vital feedback.
He scorns the use of "human resources" to describe the profession.
"It’s
a very demeaning term for people. I can’t think of one employee who would
consider himself a human resource. This term makes people think that they are
not worth the chips on their table."
